On the Tenth Day of Christmas....

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Ten Lords a-leaping.

What famous ten of the Bible could Ten Lords a-Leaping represent? The Ten Commandments!
1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor your father and mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 10. You shall not covet thy neighbor's goods.

According to Jewish websites, there are apparently 613 laws in the Torah. Now, this Torah is more than just the first five books of the Bible and the laws contain the Ten Commandments plus many others that further define them and also laws about observing special days.

Remember how I’ve said, we humans like to have the recipe for how to attain God’s acceptance? Well it gets pretty complicated if not for the Good News of Jesus Christ. But even in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew it seems quite impossible. We read from chapter 5 :17-20
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Here we clearly read that Jesus says we need righteousness greater than the Pharisees. The general people knew the Pharisees were dedicated to keeping the law and so how could anyone be more righteous. Remember we have talked about how we are only righteous by being in Christ and cannot earn any on our own merit. In this chapter Jesus is making it abundantly clear that the bar was high… very high. We do not get into heaven because God lowered the bar… we get there because Jesus accomplished the law… now, as he said on the cross, “it is finished”. We can only attain this mark of righteousness by being “in Jesus”.

The next part of the chapter of Matthew goes on to talk about the extent of perfection that is required, by describing that even if you are angry at your brother, you are in danger of the fire of hell. And even if you look at a woman lustfully, in your heart, adultery is committed. Similarly we find absolute judgments for divorce and oaths… and then the command to love enemies. It is all so hard…. And it is meant to be. .

People often make the mistake of trying to justify these hard sayings of Jesus and there are many who define sin in different categories with varying degrees of seriousness. I like to think of the law as a chain. Upon each link is the engraving of one of the commandments. The chain is linked to make a perfect circle. Then when a command is broken so is the link. If a link is broken the whole circle is broken. If we were to look at the link to see which commandment was broken it would make no difference to the outcome as to whether it was a “small” sin or a “serious” sin. The end result is the same and that is, the law is broken. And the Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death. To perfectly live the Christian life is impossible – only Christ can live it

Later in the chapter of Matthew we find Jesus does simplify the law when he is asked which is the greatest: Matthew22:36-40 ““Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””

From this we see a shift in the emphasis from a hard cold law to an attitude of the heart where love is the guide. This was present in the Old Testament also, as we find verses such as:
Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
and
Psalm 51:16,17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.…”
Notice in the verse the reference to a broken spirit and how this fits with our beatitudes in our eighth day of Christmas.

So, we’ve established that we can’t keep the law and that Christ completed it, but what about now? How does it all fit in with now, and should we be observing special days and laws etc...
Colossians 2:16 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.”

The short answer is, “No”. The best example I can give comes from an analogy by the late Major Ian Thomas, where he aligns the Old Covenant law of sin with the Law of Gravity, and the New Covenant law of grace with the law of aerodynamics.
The law of gravity is a reality, (and so is God’s law- it will forever remain a reality) ,but if you get into an airplane you become subject to a new law - the law of aerodynamics. This new law keeps you in the air. If you step out of the airplane, gravity will let you know that it is still there.
If you are in the airplane and start flapping your arms about to try and stay up in the air you’ll be using a lot of senseless energy that could be best served doing other activities (and you’ll look like an idiot!  ).

From the book of Galatians we see that this is exactly how Paul saw the Galatians, who after receiving the Good News “fell from grace” (just like falling from the law of aerodynamics when you step out a plan), by trying to then attain God’s acceptance by works, outward signs and religious activity.

Galatians 1:1- 6 “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

And the passage goes on to explain and emphasis over and over that the righteous will live by faith.
Galatians 1:10- 11 “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.””

THE HEART OF THE MATTER: When we are wasting time and energy in trying to keep the law in a vain effort to justify ourselves before God, all we are really doing is self-centeredly trying to better ourselves instead of spending our energy on love and good deeds, and this is how we truly obey God’s call…. Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy”. and to walk humbly with your God.”

While we remain in human flesh there will always be struggle. No one but Christ can perfectly live the Christian live and this is why the Christian life is called the “exchanged life”.

I was most excited when I noticed that our tenth article of faith from our creed brings light to this discussion on the Law. In the tenth article of our creed we profess that we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

Baptism is how (Spiritually) we exchange our life for Christ’s. It is how we come to have Peace with God.

Just briefly on Baptism; Once again, if we get caught up on the fine details of whether it is a sprinkle or full emersion and how and when it should be done, we would be missing the essential point. The more traditional churches name Baptism a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inner spiritual reality. For some this reality may have already come into being… at the moment that they accepted Jesus into their life (Which is why we see the close connection in the early church, ie, they believed and were baptized.).

Baptism is the renouncing of our own lives and the accepting of Jesus life. This is the “exchanged life”. We receive Christ’s life, as we believe that we, through our baptism, are united to him in his death and therefore live in the reality of his resurrected life.
Romans 6:4 “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

We believe in the ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. This is why, if you have been baptized in one denomination and move to another denomination you do not need to be baptized again, however, I personally believe that there is more to this ‘one baptism for the forgiveness of sin’.

Luke 12:50 “But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!”
Jesus spoke about a baptism that he was to experience. We can best understand if we look at the Old Testament passages from Leviticus 16:21 “He will lay both of his hands on the goat's head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people's sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.”
John the Baptist declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God; John 1: 29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

In the Old Testament, among those 613 Laws, were laws about how sin could be atoned. Jesus is the Lamb of God who died for our sins… how could he die for our sins? How could this happen? Jesus went through a baptism also – he was like that scapegoat from Leviticus 16, and all our sins were placed on him.
The prophecy about the Messiah makes this clear;
Isaiah 53:4- 6 “surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.…”

Truly, we are baptized and our sins are forgiven, but I believe the more profound meaning of the ‘One Baptism for the forgiveness of sins’, is the baptism with which Jesus was baptized in his death.