Back to Law and Gospel

This Sunday, I will be presenting the following to my Bible Study Class.

As I reflected on my wrestling with the Law/Gospel dynamic, I remembered a scene from the movie "Luther."

The night before Luther was to present himself before the Diet of Worms, he spent the night in his room cursing the devil.  At one point, he settles himself down, lies prostrate on the floor and begins repeating over and over the words his spiritual mentor taught him to say.  Referencing Jesus, Luther says, "I am Yours.  Save me."

It is in that spirit which I wrote the following:

Addendum: God’s Will is Equal to Christ’s Will

St. Paul writes these words is 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and 11:

23"All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. 24Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, 26for "the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s." 27If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—29I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks? 31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. 11Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

And again, Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2:

3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
In both of these instances in Scripture, St. Paul brings to the awareness of those hearing his letters the calling a Christian has to follow and imitate Jesus Christ.

Some years ago, a popular fad took hold as teenagers wore bracelets with the letters "WWJD?" The letters stood for "What would Jesus do?" Some mocked the wearing of these bracelets as superficial and trivial.
What would Jesus do, indeed? Those mocking this fad deemed Jesus would come into the world and die for it, so to ask such a question somehow demeaned His sacrifice and his actions on behalf of the world.

Yet, what if those who were wearing those bracelets had it right? What if a Christian’s continual task in life is to ask the question, "What would Jesus do in such a situation?" and then try one’s best to act accordingly?
Scripture leaves little doubt a Christian is called to imitate Christ and have the same mind as He did.
And how did Christ handle the Law?

We can unequivocally say at times He made it more strict, and at other times He made it more flexible.
For instance, in Mark 2, we have an instance of Jesus "loosening" the law:

23 One sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ 25And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ 27Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’
On another occasion, Jesus made the law more strict (Matthew 5):

27 ‘You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
On yet another occasion, Jesus changes the consequences of the law (John 8):

3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."
There is no clear cut measure by which we can say Jesus handled every single law which He came into contact with. Yet, he did give us insight into the two most important laws (Mark 12:28):

28One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29Jesus answered, "The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."
St. Paul echoes these words, but he adds one caveat (Galatians 5:14):

14For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
It seems to us, a true test of which laws must be followed and which laws can be loosed is how they relate to loving God and loving one’s neighbor. As followers of Jesus, it is paramount that we seek to do the same. This does not necessarily make things easier for it requires us to embody the mind of Christ–something sinful beings have a hard time doing.

Therefore, when seeking to loosen laws, we must do so with an abundance of humility and an overall concern for how our actions will affect those around who we are trying to reach with the good news of Jesus Christ.