What laws apply?
Day 522, Thursday, Jan. 15
Acts 21:17-36
Even in our day we face the question of how Old Testament laws apply to Christians.
Contemporary debates over sexual morality and sexual identity often raise the question. I have often seen the argument that application of Old Testament laws related to sexual misconduct are no more binding than those that tell people not to wear fabrics that mix different kind of fibers.
The message we get from Jesus in the gospels is a little ambiguous. At times he is emphatic that the law has not passed away. At other times he seems to suggest some freedom from limitations imposed by some laws, such as dietary laws and Sabbath regulations.
Even the modern-day conflicts over immigration often get cast in terms of Old Testament writings about welcoming strangers and foreigners.
Both Acts and the letters show us that these are not new questions. As in today’s reading, Paul is often accused of not requiring gentile converts to obey all of the Jewish law—and the charge is accurate.
In his dealings with the Jerusalem church in Acts it is clear that the Jewish leaders do not expect Paul to demand obedience to the entire law. Acts concludes that some parts of dietary laws are still applicable, as are laws on sexual immorality. “As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
In some of Paul’s own writings he seems to discount even this trimmed-down version of dietary laws and maintains only the part about sexual immorality.
Common sense suggests that some of the remaining laws, like those forbidding murder, theft, false witness and such, remain in effect.
Overall the message of the New Testament is that obedience to God is still required, but working out exactly what that means is no longer as easy as following a clear list of rules.
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Thursday meditation
Psalms 64:1-10
Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.
They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it?” They plot injustice and say, “We have devised a perfect plan!” Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.
The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!
Prayer focus
Show us, Lord, how to lead righteous lives.