Faith and the Law and Works
The relationship and tension between Faith and the importance of trying to live by the Law, as articulated in the Bible, has challenged understanding from the beginning. Jesus said (Matthew 5: 17-19):
17 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.18 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.19 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.
And yet he himself did many things that seemed inconsistent
with the law—at least the interpretation of the law practiced by leaders of his
time (and therein lies the resolution—as discussed below, interpretation is
critical).
The early church struggled with the relationship between
faith and the law, working out an understanding at the Council of Jerusalem
under which non-Jewish converts were not required to observe many of the Mosaic
laws and traditions followed by Jews.
That struggle, and
debate, and sometimes confusion has persisted through the millennia. St.
Augustine sought to resolve the issue with the statement, “The law was
given that grace might be sought; and grace was given that the law might be
fulfilled.” But the question remains (and is reflected in Paul’s teachings,
which focus on being saved by faith and not the law, and yet acknowledge the
importance of the law), if the law has been fulfilled in Jesus, are Christians
meant to “practice and teach these commands”?
The law as a gift
In his book Preaching, Keller writes on this topic, referring to the
non-identical twins of legalism (the belief that we must follow God’s law to
the letter) and antinomianism (the belief that we can do what we want and don’t
need to worry about God’s law). Keller says that both of these are born out of
a lack of faith that God loves us and wants what is best for us.
Specifically, Keller writes (p. 54) “Legalism stems from the
belief that we will have to pry blessings out of God’s begrudging, unwilling
fingers with all sorts of observances and performances.” And he goes on,
“Antinomianism assumes the same grasping, ungenerous, and hard God, whose
commands cannot be seen a given for our benefit.”
Keller argues that both of these perspectives are the result
of the fall in the Garden of Eden, where (p.53) “humanity believed the serpent
and this spiritual poison, the ‘lie of the serpent,’ passed deeply into us with
its assertion that God ‘was in fact restrictive, self-absorbed and selfish.’”
The consequence of this is a broken relationship with God: “For both the legalist and the antinomian, obedience to the law is simply the way to get things from God, not a way to get God, not a way to resemble, know, delight, and love him for his sake.” (p.55)
Keller gives us the proper relationship between the law and
faith: “The law can show us our need for the gospel and then, once we embrace
God’s salvation by faith, the law becomes the way to know, serve, and grow into
the likeness of the one who saved us.” (Preaching, p. 51)
God’s law is a guide to relationship with him, not a
checklist to earn his blessing. Otherwise, it’s like a relationship with
another person in which you only did things for the other to get things in
return instead of doing them out of love without any thought of
reciprocation—agape love. God is not seeking a transactional relationship with
us, but one of unconditional love and he calls us to that with him and with
others. Faith is the source of salvation and the driver of our desire to obey
God, and the law is a valuable guide in doing that.
In addition to guiding us
in growing our relationship with God, Paul gives another reason it can be
important to observe the law, even if we have discerned that we are free from
it in a particular case (e.g. which things are okay to eat): Paul tells us to
“take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block
to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9) We are to be careful so that others who may
not have our discernment or knowledge don’t lose faith by thinking our actions
indicate we are ignoring the law. This is an important part of the chapter “You
are a Role Model.”
There are many types of
sin, all of which are inconsistent with God’s will for us and separate us from
God. Ultimately, the law is about helping us understand God’s will for us, but
continually seeking to trust God and be led by the Spirit in discernment is the
path to relationship with him. And it’s not just our actions that matter—Jesus
said that having thoughts and desires that are inconsistent with God’s will for
us (sinful) are the equivalent to having done them, so we must seek the
discipline and wisdom to avoid such thoughts. Still, I know that I will not
always succeed in that—as Martin Luther said on this topic, “You cannot keep
birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in
your hair.”
Again, sin is disobedience to God. The law is a guide, but
sin is about separating ourselves from the guidance of the Holy Spirit no
matter the thought or action —it doesn’t need to be related to anything
specifically in the law. As C.S Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of
people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom
God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” I may think that some things are not
reasonable or fair or the way I think they should be but, ultimately, I have to
accept that the way is as it is and I don’t get to decide it. Again, I am a
sous chef—or even a commis chef or assistant sous chef or apprentice— not the
head chef.
God gave us the law to understand what he expected generally
and what was best for us. If you are in relationship with God then he speaks to
you through the Holy Spirit. In that way, he will let you know what he expects
of you specifically. Generally, it is consistent with the law, but sometimes,
because of mercy or for other reasons, it is something else. Peter was
horrified when told in a vision to eat things the law said he shouldn’t, but he
perceived the message and obeyed God. You are called to be obedient to what he
expects of you. To do otherwise is to sin. Discernment is critical in this and
discussed more below.
Falling away and being
called back
We all sin—sometimes just because we
are not paying sufficient attention to his voice and/or how it should inform
our actions in specific circumstances. But we are called to repent and to have
faith that we are still in his presence and loved as his children through the
life and death and life of him on earth. And we need always to return to
obedience that flows from our love for him and our desire to be closer to him.
Psalm 11:10 tells us “The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. All who follow his precepts have good understanding.” So following
God’s laws seems related to wisdom and the precepts are given as a pathway to
wisdom. Because he is perfectly good, God’s purposes for you are always good.
You will always need the “training wheels” of God and should never feel like
you can safely ride without them. They keep you on the path.
As Timothy Keller has said, “The Bible does not say that
every difficulty is the result of sin – but it does teach that every sin will
bring you into difficulty.”
There are always consequences for our actions—even David, considered “a man after God’s own heart” suffered consequences over Bathsheba and also for taking the census. Consequences can be seen as guidance of a loving father.
Regarding the law, it is important to note that it is
intended for people of faith and Jesus and others didn’t expect non-Jews to be
following it—but he accepted them when they did. The prophets expected the
Jewish people to follow the law, but not anybody else.
Faith vs works
As mentioned above, in addition to
struggling with the relationship between faith and the law, the church has
struggled with the relationship between faith and works since the beginning.
The causality between faith and works and between faith and the law are often
reversed—we often think of works and adherence to the law as the
drivers/determinants of salvation but they are actually the fruits of faith,
which is the driver/determinant. It’s not that works and the law are irrelevant
but they are the result, the evidence, the end, not the means or cause. The
means or cause is faith.
Jeremiah warned that works are not what saves: “Because you
trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken, and shall go
into exile.” Jeremiah 48:7
Sections in this chapter:
- The heart of faith
- The core message and goal for your life
- Seeking to trust God and become more like Jesus
- Knowing your role—and God’s
- Fruit of the Spirit
- Managing our priorities and our praise
- Identity, the creeds, and unity
- The struggle of finding and holding faith
- Faith must be our own
- Levels and types of faith
- Faith vs. knowledge
- Faith and the Law and Works
- Free Will and The Fall
- Seeking to understand the Bible and life through discernment
- The challenge of discernment
- Handling different discernments
- "Our own words"
- Exploring challenging passages and ideas
- The importance of prayer
- Personal reflections
- The importance of living the life
- It’s not too late
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