Re: [TruthTalk] Christ and the Law

[Terry Clifton]

Jesus does not talk just to make noise, John.  Those who love Him hang on every word He says.  The sermon on the mount is most valuable to me.  I believe that those who divorce and remarry for reasons other than sexual sin are living in adultery.  I believe you will be blessed when you hunger and thirst for righteousness or when you show mercy. I intend to keep going the extra mile, giving the shirt off my back, and turning the other cheek.  Often it costs me to do this, but the price I pay is nothing compared to the price Jesus paid for me.  If it is legalism  to follow His instructions, then I plead guilty to being a legalist. Terry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A few additional comments    -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org Sent: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:04:45 -0500 Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Christ and the Law     Regarding the recent discussion about divorce and remarriage:   My advice to couples finding themselves in impossible or difficult situations includes admonitions to try to work things out.   I do not view the Sermon on the Mount as a legal document.   My God is not a legalist.  And a thorough going exegetical study of Romans 2 and 3 ( those comments discussing "law" and "the Law")  gives the student reason for resisting the temptation to turn the Sermon into nothing more that a statement of the "New Law."     "You have heard it said"  is a passage of thought used in the Sermon.   It refers the listeners  (and readers) to what was said in the Law of Moses.   "Eye for an eye" is a part of the law as found in Leviticus.  Divorce for reasons other than adultery was a part of the Old Law.   Walking the second mile was a change from accepted cultural values.   "Sin" in the Law of Moses   was not defined as a matter of the heart  -  it was an event. Christ teaches us how we should pray, yet not a single prayer in scripture is of the pattern example including the Lord's prayer in John 17.   He speaks of perfection as the Heavenly Father is perfect (substitute "maturity"   --   it makes no difference) and in so doing,  presents an impossibility.    ; Christ challenges all of this and more.    In this sermon, Christ intensifies the burden of law  -  knowing that in time and in Him we will not be called into account for law's violations.   Additionally,  with this Sermon,   He establishes the radical nature of His thinking, of His Lordship.    The Sermon is never referred to as NT writers seek to establish their teachings.          When was the last time you plucked your eye or cut off your hand or gave your clothing to your enemy?  He knows that no one under the law is "holy"  (7:11)  and His teaching just makes things worse.   If you do not tie this Sermon to Paul's discussions on The Law and law in general;  if you do not accept the teaching that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, that Spirit leadership frees us from the Law and law in general  --  then you will miss the point of the Sermon entirely.     The time and content of this sermon is critical to understanding just what the Master had in mind in terms of ultimate purpose.    Jd