In a previous blog I wrote that the Bible doesn’t always organize its system of ethics as a textbook would. It does deal with right and wrong, but more often than not it does not do so in the abstract but in describing how people relate to God, whether in hearing His judgment or His word of forgiveness. That doesn’t mean that there is no right and wrong or that the ethics of the Bible are unclear. Rather it means that we gain a deeper understanding of God’s philosophy of right and wrong by coming to know Him fully rather than by merely looking at a treatise on ethics.
What complicates matters is that the explicit ethical content of the Bible differs somewhat in both testaments. Some laws of the Old Testament clearly do not apply anymore, as all recognize. No Christian of any stripe, no matter how inclined they are towards the Old Testament, offers the sacrifices prescribed by Leviticus, even though God was quite insistent on their observance. Why do Christians ignore the rules about the sacrifices while insisting that other rules of the Old Testament, such as those related to sexual immorality, still apply?
I would suggest that a metaphor the apostle Paul uses in Galatians 3:24-25 can solve this dilemma. He argues that the law served as a guardian for ancient Israel, which was still under age at that time. Paul doesn’t develop the metaphor other than to say that being under the tutelage of a guardian is little better than being a slave; the difference comes when a person reaches adulthood. I would like to argue, though, that the rules one learns as a child serve as an example of the sort of rules God gave the Israelites. Just as children retain some rules into adulthood while outgrowing others, so some aspects of the law remain valid at all times while others were outgrown when Christ came. Moreover, even in the rules that no longer apply there are principles that are still relevant.
For example, think of a grown man recalling an incident when he was four. His mother looked out the window and saw him wandering out into the street to get his ball. By the time she ran outside, he was back on the front yard and denied ever going into the street. She reminded him that he had been told never to tell a lie and never to enter the street without being accompanied by an adult. Although she punished him for breaking both rules that day, she punished him more severely for going into the street than for lying about it. Now what is he supposed to think today? He might be tempted to say, “My mother doesn’t still enforce the rule about not entering a street unaccompanied. Therefore, she doesn’t care about lying anymore, either, and I can lie if I want to.” Or he could take a legalistic tone: “I know that lying is wrong and always has been. Therefore, crossing the street by myself must also be wrong.” Most of us would instinctively know that both answers are foolish. There are some rules that apply universally and others that apply to particular circumstances. All people should tell the truth, but those who are not mature enough to cross the street by themselves shouldn’t do so. But even from the rule that has been changed there is a universal principle: crossing a street requires paying attention. Those who cannot pay due attention should be forbidden to cross the street by themselves; those who can pay attention may cross the street on their own.
From this analogy we can understand why God punished rather severely those who broke the Sabbath in the Old Testament days, but that does not necessarily mean that we have to keep it as the Israelites did. The Sabbath was a useful tool to instruct people to take time to listen to God’s Word. As with all the ceremonial law, it trained people to leave behind pagan thought patterns and to look forward to the redemption won by Christ (Hebrews 10:1-4). But once Christ had come, people could look to the reality rather than the shadow (Hebrews 10:1). We can enjoy Christ as our Sabbath rest rather than the earthly Sabbath practiced by the Israelites (Hebrews 4:3, 8-11). In fact, the Scriptures explicitly state that the rules of the Old Testament holidays no longer apply (Colossians 2:16-17). Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5) had the power to abrogate it, much as a parent has the authority to change household rules, and He has done so.
As some rules from childhood are set aside, our responsibility grows, not diminishes. All a four year old has to do with streets is to keep the rule not to cross it. No further thought is required. But older children and adults have much to think about. Have they looked both ways? Is the car really going to stop at the stop sign or is the driver too busy talking on the cell phone? In the same way, it was relatively easy to keep the Sabbath in the Old Testament; one simply stopped working. But entering the true Sabbath rest by believing in Christ (Hebrews 4:3) requires much more attention. It is not a one-day-a-week phenomenon, but a 24/7 one. Also because we grow in responsibility as we mature, there are also some things permitted in our childhood that are no longer permitted in adulthood. Small children are permitted to fidget, but adults are expected to sit still. By the same token, there were things permitted under the Old Testament law (such as polygamy) that are not permitted now.
I will have more to say about ethics in future blogs, but I think some things are clear from this blog and the one I posted on April 15. What at first looks like a chaotic system really is not. There is a system of values that lies behind all of the Scriptures’ rules. One discovers it not merely by looking at explicit laws but also by considering the values that underlie the interactions between God and His people. Even when certain rules are later abrogated, the underlying principles remain in force. If anything, when God lessens the force of a particular rule He actually increases our responsibility because we are ready to bear it. And thus we have an ethical system that is incredibly rich and encourages people to grow and to mature.
© 2010 James A. Kellerman
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