I was driving at 2am tonight and came to a stop sign, I admit I didn’t come to a full stop but I slowed down enough to see whether or not there were any cars, but it was a ghost town, there were none.
It reminded me of my sunday school teacher I had when I was a kid, she said that if we ‘california roll’ stop signs or go even one mile over the speed limit we are breaking the law and sinning.
After thinking that I thought about the purpose of a stop sign: It’s for us to stop and make sure it’s safe to proceed. At this particular stop sign I slowed down enough to know 100% sure that it was safe to proceed, a full technical stop wasn’t required at this point.
It made me think about sin, as the Bible calls it, the Law. The Bible says, that because of Jesus we are no longer under the law but above it. That’s been a hard thing to understand. But I believe that because of Jesus, we know the purpose of the law and certain rules. And when we know the purpose we know how or if we should break them.
For example, not working on the sabbath, Jesus healed on the Sabbath, because as He said “you wouldn’t see your donkey fall in a ditch and not get it out because it was sabbath”. Or obey your parents, but your parents tell you to murder someone [I am going extreme to make the point]. Basically God and loving people come before all these rules, only because these rules are here to show us how to love God and love people.
An example is speeding. I have heard a few policemen actually say that it is better to drive with the traffic’s speed then obey the speed limit. It’s because if traffic is going 75MPH and you are going the speed limit of 60MPH, it’s actually more dangerous for you to be on the road. Just like there are minimum speed limits some places of 45MPH, but if there is stop and go traffic, you are breaking the law by going 5MPH, by the standards.
It’s really about time and place. I have heard someone talk about their boyfriend, saying, “He obeys the spirit of the law but not the letter of the law”. It made me think that is how we should be. It’s about the overall purpose of that law not the exact thing the law asks you to do [I am talking about the Biblical sense of the word law]. Like if the law, American law sense, was to stop at the stop sign, it’s really asking you to proceed when it’s safe, when the law tells us to go a 65MPH, it’s because that is the estimated safest speed to proceed. Those laws and speed limits were determined with safety in mind, not control. So in the end, we should drive the safest way possible, slow down if the traffic is slowing down, even if it’s under the minimum limit, etc.
The written law of sin was put there with Love in mind, Jesus says that all the laws of the prophets hang on Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.
Because the Old Testament jews didn’t have Jesus, they had no Holy Spirit to discern this. But because of Jesus we have the ability to follow him over the law.
If you claim Christianity, this goes for me too, do everything in Love.
your friend,
-Isaac
[I am not advocating that people run stop signs or speed, if you get that from this, I pray that you read it again. He who has eyes let him see and he who has ears, hear]
2 Comments
when I heard of the “Law” in the Biblical sense (the first few times) I figured it was a bunch of rules, like the 10 Commandments. I like the point you’re making – just because Jesus took the Law and explained how to obey it in Love, and didn’t just trash it out the window, shows us something deeper I think. it makes sense, but when you think about it, the Law is really a reflection of God’s character. God is perfect, but He’s not legalistic as far as “Hey, your mom told you to kill your neighbor and you aren’t planning on it. sorry, that’s a sin!” (I’m using an extreme example here too for illustration’s sake).
but I think – and correct me, please, if I’m wrong in saying so … – but I think the Law stands just as before, He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, how to carry it out in Love, as you’re saying. I think the Law is the perfect way of showing people how inadequate they are without Jesus. if we aren’t in Christ, we’re judged according to the Law, and no human being can ever match its standards, because the Law was made by a Holy God. so really seeing the Law, understanding it’s demands (even in Love, which we can’t have without God, because God IS Love), and realizing our inadequacy outside of Christ is like a means to realizing our own sin, need for repentance, and need for Christ.
I think I went a little preachy, but it just flowed out.. it happens. I said it in Love. the Law is good, and I don’t think it should be disregarded, but also, like you said, it should be carried out in Love and discernment with the Truth that the Holy Spirit brings us.
great job Isaac,
thanks for being willing to be used :)
Thanks for writing this post. Now everything is clear for me.