"The Year of Living Biblically"

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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Heiberg (Ariel) on January 16, 2009 at 9:04am

John said:

You do not truly 'stone adulterers,' nor put homosexuals to death, nor stone to death any who 'transgress His covenant,' nor give others "blows that wound" to cleanse away evil," nor gag every woman in church...
I could go on... point being that Jesus taught to straighten out so much of the old Jewish tradition.
The day-to-day living dictums as shown in the books of the Old Testament were written for a pre-scientific and pre-technological time. God gave us minds to discover the deeper intracacies of life, and with that pass away all superstition and violent penalties stemming from ignorance.

The detailed laws, instructions and "violent penalties" of the Old Testament have NOTHING to do with ignorance, superstition, science or technology, or any other lack of knowledge by the people of that time.

The God we serve today is the same God who wrote every word, every 'jot and tittle' of both the Old and New Testaments. Every word was written by the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit. Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change"

We are no longer required to fulfill the "day-to-day living dictums" because Christ has ultimately fulfilled the requirement of the Law, NOT because we have "discovered the deeper intracacies of life" by the musings of our own minds. God still hates adultery, homosexuality and every sin by which I transgress His covenant, but thanks be to God, Christ has taken upon Himself the "violent penalty" which I deserve.

The Law teaches me of the Perfection of God, and that I am incapable of keeping it to the level of perfection that God requires - Mat. 5:20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." In light of the absolute perfection of God's Law, I understand my absolute dependence upon His Mercy and Grace which is available to me in Christ, Who alone has fulfilled every requirement of the Law. Gal. 3:24,25
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on January 16, 2009 at 1:18pm

Jim Robbins wrote, "What would it look like to take every command in the Bible at face-value? As literally as possible, trying to get at the command's intent... for a whole year?"

I'd say you'd be missing the entire point of scripture for a year.

Take a close look at Exodus 19. The children of Israel were offered something spectacular: to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a particular treasure ... if. There was an "if," and that's where the disaster started. "Im shamo'ah tish'm'u b'kolee, or "If listening you hear my voice." Starting at verse 10, God then commands the people to make themselves holy and to set the mountain apart for two days in preparation for God's arrival on the third day. The final instruction was, "Bim'shoch ha'yovel, heimah ya'alu ba'har." This was the critical command, and to this day most translators cannot bring themselves to render it as written.

The people did not as a whole prepare themselves, did not make themselves holy. They could not bring themselves to ascend the mountain when the horn sounded louder & louder. And if they had, many (not all) of them would have died trying to enter God's presence.

So instead of intimacy, they got Exodus 20 et. al. They got commandments.

Commandments are what you get when you cannot handle intimacy. Intimacy is far more dangerous and unpredictable. You must be holy (separated) before you can enter God's presence and live.

If you don't believe me, just remember what was in the Ark of Covenant, and what happened when people tried to look inside (I Samuel 6:19). Or you can watch Raiders of the Lost Ark - so much more fun to watch NAZIs slaughtered. Or you can take Paul's word for it.

Or you can have commandments.

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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Heiberg (Ariel) on January 16, 2009 at 2:35pm

Amen. Thank you Randy for that additional insight.

As I shared a short time ago, Jesus calls us to intimate friendship with Him - Mat. 7:21-23; Jn. 15:14,15. Following rules and formulas may look like the easy way, but intimacy is what He truly desires for us.

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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Heiberg (Ariel) on January 17, 2009 at 1:54pm

John said:

Wow, Gunnar.

So incredibly rude.

But I'm sure you were the only one among us that knew those things, and it was your sacrificial duty to put me to rights.

Preach elsewhere, brother.

It is never my intention to be rude. I'm sorry if I came across that way.

The Bible IS the Word of God, and I will stand by that truth. If I have misunderstood what you appear to say in your statement, please clarify.

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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Heiberg (Ariel) on January 17, 2009 at 3:16pm

John,

I am truly sorry for responding in such a reactionary manner. I will seek to do better in the future.

G.

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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Heiberg (Ariel) on January 17, 2009 at 7:43pm

John said:

Apology accepted, but I decline to expand in this area.
Our theology does not appear to have enough in common to permit an honest discussion.
I fear ostracization, ridicule, and dismissal.
I will not expose myself to that.
Better to stay within bounds--the 'prevailing wisdom' is less dangerous that way.

Fair enough. That we are both here at RH.net tells me that we likely have more in common than we do in difference.

I realized, sitting here behind the 'safety shield' of my computer screen I had responded in a way I never would if speaking face to face.

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