The new covenant has been preached for 2000 years.  It should be safe to assume that we have put our childish ways behind us.  By now, we should know that we are no longer bound by Old Covenant law (or any other law), our duty is to live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  That is; “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” (Rom.7:6)

 

IF WE ACT IN LOVE TOWARDS GOD AND ONE ANOTHER (THE OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM FAITH), WE FULFIL THE REQUIREMENTS OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS!

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Sadly, men have short memories, and over the last 2000 years men have done a pretty good job of trying to turn the new covenant into another set of rules, regulations and rituals. 

Why?  Because men who lack faith need to feel that they are in control.  During the old covenant, God related to his people through a priesthood, and many theologians want to keep it that way.  They have convinced many believers that the only way to know God's will, is to ask them, rather than asking our Father in heaven.  They have put themselves in a position of authority between man and God.  But Scripture clearly tells us, "Now I want you all to realise that the head of every man is Christ." (1 Cor. 11:3)  It is also written, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ." (1 Tim 2:5)  We no longer relate to God through a priesthood, but through his Spirit.  "For you did not receive a Spirit which makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, Abba Father." (Romans 8:15)

 

Jesus called the pharisees “hypocrites and blind guides”. (Matt 23:13,16 and 23.)  Now, we know that our Lord is never wrong.  It is obvious then, that the pharisees the Lord was speaking to were in fact “hypocrites and blind guides”.  

Did they intentionally set out to become so?  Of course not! They obviously thought they were doing God a service by keeping his people in line, but they lacked the faith and the love to do it God’s way. 

 

In their zeal for the letter of the law, they missed the purpose of the law, and went hurtling down their own path to destruction, which prompted Christ to call them “sons of hell” (Matt 23:15) and "whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones” (Matt.23:27)  as well as "snakes and vipers" (Matt 23:33).

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THE PHARISEES DID NOT BECOME THIS WAY ON PURPOSE! They did what they thought God wanted them to do. They went to the synagogue when they were supposed to, they knew the laws of Moses, they tithed, they prayed often (long and loud). They had the respect of the synagogue going masses. They did all the right things! Didn’t they?  BUT: They lacked the key ingredient that has been given freely to every born again believer in Jesus Christ. 

They lacked a true relationship with God.  “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.  Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for every one who believes.” (Rom.10:2-4).

The Pharisees knew God’s law and simply wanted to see people obeying it. They thought that if they enforced God’s law well enough that they had done their job.  But they did not understand the purpose of the law, which prompted Christ to say, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness." (Matt. 23:23).  

 

Sadly, men are still doing this today.

Theologians will say ‘you must not work on Sunday’, even though God’s word makes no such assertion. They tell us ‘you must give ten percent of your income to the church’ even though God makes no such demand!  They tell people ‘You are not married unless you have had a church ceremony’, but the Bible makes no such claim. They tell us to obey their commands, rather than God’s.  They have no authority to demand these things.  These men are simply “law makers”.  

 

I will give an example of the kind of preaching that legalism leads to:  A local Pastors wife was preaching one Sunday, about 'submission to the authorities'.  She told the congregation a story, as an example of her own 'submission'.  A friend had brought a DVD movie over to her house, so that they could watch it together.  Upon opening the DVD, the pastor's wife noticed that it was a pirated copy, so she told her friend that it would be wrong to watch it.  There is nothing wrong with this story so far, but there was a hitch.  The Pastor's family actually owned a collection of pirated DVDs, which they had brought back with them from their holidays overseas.  The Pastors wife went on to justify this, by telling the congregation that their DVD collection was pirated in a country where the piracy laws did not apply.  She also said that there was no law in Australia against importing DVDs which had been pirated overseas.  This meant that, according to the letter of Australian law, her family was not sinning by owning and watching these DVDs.

 However, we are not called to obey the letter of the law (whether God's or man's), or to declare ourselves righteous for having obeyed it.  The fact is, whether the DVDs were pirated in Australia or in another country makes no difference to the owner of the movies; their property has been taken without them being paid for it.

 

  The Pastor and his wife had committed the same offence as their friend.  They had taken the property of the copyright owner, without paying the owner for it.  Then, they used the letter of the Australian law to excuse their behaviour.  The companies that make movies are the owners of these movies and have a right to be paid for their work.  The pastor and his wife had stolen from them just as their friend had.  There was no difference!  Yet the Pastor's wife had pointed out the friend's offence, while denying her own.  "You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?  You who preach against stealing, do you steal?" (Rom. 2:21)  We are also told, "Love your neighbour as yourself.  Love does no harm to it's neighbour.  Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law." (Rom. 13:9-10)  Technicalities of law do not excuse us from our sin.  If we steal from our neighbour; we do them to harm. 

I am neither judging nor condemning the Pastor or his wife for their transgressions.  We are not called to judge one another but to encourage, to admonish and to forgive.  We are also called to repent, and this requires us to acknowledge our own sin first, rather than using legal technicalities to deny it.  "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." (1 John 1:8-10)

 

This is why we are told  "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.  We all stumble in many ways." (James 3:1-2)  

 

 These new age law makers use rules in an effort to give themselves more control.  This is what the Pharisees and teachers of the law did!  In some extreme cases, they will even require their ‘church members’ to sign a contract, which binds them to man made rules.  They crave law because they do not understand the Spirit.  

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