The battle of the definition of Christ is underway again. Is Christ the incarnation of the Mosaic Law or is He a statist humanist (Whom we define as we go along)?
There are those who, in a vain attempt to justify studied ignorance God’s Law, pit the summary of God’s Law against the nitty gritty details and specifics of God’s Law. This goes along with a general rejection of the, so called, “Old Testament” as irrelevant and with a general feeling that the specifics of the law are what the Pharisees and hypocrites believed in and were condemned for. They, on the other hand, are more concerned with the weightier matters of the law (caring for widows and orphans, and loving your neighbor as yourself) and not the trivial details (like, say, exactly who should be doing this and how).
This of course, leaves them free to fill in the details with man-made rules and regulations while still feeling quite Christian. In fact it was not long ago that a socialist / humanist from the far left made the point on C-SPAN that the state (in this case Washington DC) was fulfilling the Christian mandate to love your neighbor as yourself and justified more social spending and higher taxes to that end. Without the details of the law of God, his evangelical opponent had nothing authoritative to offer in rebuttal.
Over time, Christians will find themselves squeezed between an acceptance of humanism and an acceptance of the ongoing validity of the details and specifics of Biblical Law. They have internalized a great deal of humanist presuppositions which control the way they vote, how they educate their children, who they look to for health care, and economic blessings, how they arrange marriages, etc.. Yet they profess Christ, the walking incarnation of whole-hearted obedience to every regulation and specific requirement of the Mosaic law, who came to reconcile us to the Mosaic law and bore for us the condemnation of the law that put us at enmity with God. The question is, which side of their split personalities will win out. They must either change their values or redefine Christ in the image of a statist humanist. It is the definition of Christ in the specifics of the Law of God that stands in the way of the humanist redefinition of Christ.
To make the case clearly now:
- The Mosaic Law is the perfect written reflection of the character of God.
- The Messiah is the perfect incarnate reflection of the character of God.
- Love is putting the Mosaic Law into force as the Messiah did.
God revealed his character in the written Mosaic Law in all its details and specific requirements. He defined love as putting that Law into action. He put the Law into living form in Christ Who was therefore the incarnation of the Law and therefore became love. We are also to incarnate that Law, putting it into action and thus demonstrating love to our neighbor and thus reflecting God’s character in our relationship with others.
For more on the specifics of God’s Law and how it differs from humanism see the books by R.J. Rushdoony at: www.chalcedon.edu and www.chacedonstore.com
For deprogramming from humanism and learning to see Scriptures as a whole unity, see: www.wholebible.com