Law Summaries in the New Testament
After this brief seminar on the different ways the Law is
represented in the Old Testament, it should be easier to spot it in the
New, if it is in fact restated. We might not recognize the summaries, or
restatements, but it's because we simply do not read the whole of the
Word. Or again it's that disturbing tendency to ignore what God wants
and do our own thing instead. Let's look at some of the places the Law
is restated in the New Testament. We'll save the words of Jesus on the
Law for last, and we'll start with James because he uses the (now
familiar) theme of widows and orphans.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God
the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and
to keep oneself unstained from the world.
(James 1:27, ESV)
Do you recognize the equivalence in this statement to the many
summaries of the Law in the rest of the Bible? Can you see how wrong the
people are who say that the Law isn't restated in the New Testament, and
therefore we don't have to do it? The Law is restated so many times in
both Testaments it should be easy to spot. I think the reason we don't
see it is because of hard hearts.
Summaries of the Law from Paul
Paul also gives us
summaries of the Law. He just focuses on love and the Spirit, both of
which are integral parts of the Law. You would think "love" would be
enough of a Law (as in 1 Corinthians 13). But we have to define love by
the Words of God because too many forget the Bible and think love is
just squishy feelings. Paul summarizes what it means to love, showing
details like you would find in a dictionary when looking for a
definition of the Law.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold
fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo
one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in
spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to
show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse
them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in
harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the
lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but
give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible,
so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never
avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to
drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9–21, ESV)
Paul pretty much quotes the "cease to do evil, learn to do
good" thing again, just slightly different than Isaiah. And of course,
good is God's Word or the Law. Evil is anything that goes against it.
Love and the Spirit are infused all throughout the Law, which is
something many people try to forget. Next Paul expands on the idea of
love.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other,
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You
shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are
summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love
does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the
law. (Romans 13:8–10, ESV)
Paul sums up the perfectly loving Law here by noting that love
"fills up" the Law. The Law is like notes on a piano, but love is the
spaces between the notes. Love wraps around, in and through the Law like
sunlight in the trees. Timothy gets another summary from Paul where a
bunch of ideas are all equated together with righteousness, which is the
Law. Then the Ephesians and Galatians get similar summaries of the Law
delivered by Paul.
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
(1 Timothy 6:11, ESV)
(for the fruit of light is found in all that
is good and right and true), (Ephesians 5:9, ESV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23, ESV)
These three summaries are very close to our summaries from the
Prophets, aren't they? We can see that Paul talks about the Law quite a
bit. It's just from a different angle than simply quoting a list of
regulations. He comes at it from the angle of love. Love is the core of
the Ten Commandments and all the other Laws too. The first command is to
"love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul and strength." Paul
restates the Law repeatedly for those who have ears to hear and eyes to
see. It's pretty apparent that the prophets and Paul are in complete
agreement with God's Word taken as a whole. How about this next quote
from Paul for a summary of the Law?
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of
light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to
discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5: 8b, 9, 10 ESV)
"All that is good and right and true" surely includes the Law,
especially since Paul says the Law is "spiritual" (Romans 7:14) "holy,
and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). You can't get any more holy,
righteous and good than God's will expressed in the Law.
Summaries of the Law from Jesus
And now to wrap up the thought of God's restatements of His
Words in many and sundry ways throughout the centuries, we look at the
summaries from Jesus.
“So whatever you wish that others would do to
you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12, ESV)
Jesus not only sums up the Law here, He does it by giving an
all-around guideline for the entirety of God's Word. This is not a
replacement for the Law; it is the heart of God's Laws. This summary
wraps around all the other summaries and the Law even as it is expressed
in a list of commands.
The reason God had to make Law in the first place is because
the human heart is naturally self-seeking and needs to be schooled by
God's Word. If you want to know how to properly interpret a Law, this is
the code-breaker. Does a law seem to be confusing? This will straighten
you out. Are you a little murky on some obscure aspect of someone's
theology? Simply apply this nifty idea and suddenly it will be clear to
you. God loved us first, while we were yet sinners, and it's only
reasonable to return that love through the Laws that God graciously gave
us. Here's another "restatement" of the Law from Jesus.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21, ESV)
There you go. The will of the Father was given in the Law. We
do the will of the Father when we follow a Law; any law and every law.
His Laws are the constitution of His kingdom. They are the framework on
which His kingdom is built. When we go around removing pieces of His
Law, we risk having the whole structure collapse. We need all of His
Words, or none of them. To really frustrate the natural man, Jesus
restates "the Law" again in a way that cannot be explained away.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until
all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:18–19, ESV)
Hmm. Not only does Jesus tell us that not even a dot or small
mark will be removed from the Law, He goes on to say that the person who
"does them and teaches them" will be called great in the Kingdom.
Clearly, believers are to follow the Law. Some argue that the
crucifixion was the event that Jesus meant would "accomplish" the
removal of the Law. So when He died the Law was changed and believers
don't have to follow it. I think this can only be believed if one does
not read the Word, or at best reads only part and does only part. It
should be apparent that heaven and earth need to pass away before the
Law does. Another summary of the Law I think is found in this next
statement by Jesus.
You therefore must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.(Matthew 5:48, ESV)
Perfect? Did Jesus say perfect? We're supposed to be perfect as
our heavenly Father is perfect? How can this be? Isn't it the main part
of most church teachings that we cannot be perfect? Isn't our lack of
perfection what we use to hide behind every time we don't follow God's
will? How many times do you hear people say that "I'm only human" and
"I'm not perfect?" Yet Jesus tells us point blank that not only is it
possible to be perfect, but that it is required of believers to be
perfect as our Father is perfect. Perfection is in God's Word, even
those words that we label Law. One of the meanings of the word "perfect"
is "lacking in nothing." I think in this case perfection means having
all of God's Word. Perfection also means having the fruit of the Spirit
and confessing and repenting when we find ourselves outside of our
Father's will.
For another summary we can include what is called the Sermon on
the Mount. I call it the second Sermon on the Mount, because the first
one was at Sinai. This one is closely related to the first one, but as
usual with our summaries Jesus is going to the heart of the matter. He
restates the Law from the inside out. Nothing He says is new or strange,
because all of it can be found all over the Old Testament.
In three other places, Jesus plainly states that through the Law
comes eternal life. Before you go off on a hysterical tangent about
grace and faith remember that the Law is all of God's Word and includes
grace, faith, love, hope, and the fruit of the Spirit. In other words,
the Law is not a list of regulations, nor is it merely external. His
Word and will goes all the way through us, in us, and around us.
And behold, a man came up to him, saying,
“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to
him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is
good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him,
“Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not
commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” (Matthew 19:16–19, ESV)
And as he was setting out on his journey, a
man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must
I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call
me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do
not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false
witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”(Mark 10:17–19, ESV)
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you
call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the
commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do
not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” (Luke 18:18–20, ESV)
In three different places Jesus refers people to the Law for
inheriting eternal life. He is not joking. There is no facetiousness in
His statements. He is being genuine. However, He doesn't stop with a few
commands. He drives through to what is really missing from the person's
practice of the Law, which is the condition of the heart. If we stop
with a few regulations, if we don't see that love is our motivation, if
we think of God's Word and will as making us do things we don't want to
do, then we don't see at all and our hearts are stone. One more example,
among many others, where Jesus restates the Law.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before
him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one
from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he
will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the
King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave
me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you
clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came
to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did
we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when
did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will
answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of
these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:31–40, ESV)
These are extensions of the widows and orphan summaries. Taking
care of those in need is part and parcel of the Law. And if it freaks
you out that I think Jesus says that the Law saves, try thinking of the
Law as part of the Word of God. If the Word of God doesn't save, then
what does?
All of these summaries contain ideas and themes directly
related to God's Law. Remember that the Law includes love and the
Spirit. Love is a Law, just like all the other laws. Repentance is a Law
(Acts 17:30). There were many in Israel who followed parts of the Law
and ignored other parts, such as love and the Spirit. There were a few
who followed the Law including its provision for love and the Spirit,
and some of these wrote such books as the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ruth.
Prophets understood the inclusion of love and Spirit in the Law and that
was the reason for the call to repentance and caused them to come up
with meaningful summaries of the Law. The Law is not restated in the New
Testament? Look
again.
Shalom
Bruce Scott Bertram