Temptation is a constant feature of life this side of glory.

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5.12, 13

It’s not that believers – and the Church as a Body – are not to exercise judgment against sinners. They are, as our Lord Jesus explained, and strictly according to the standards of righteousness in the Law of God (Jn. 7.24; cf. Deut. 16.18-20). But since the Church is not the state, she may not wield the weapons of the state in seeking to achieve justice. The state may wield these, and should, but this is not our concern here. Rather, the church applies the methods of church discipline in order to cleanse the Body of sin and to restore relationships and justice among the members.

Jesus outlined the steps of church discipline in Matthew 18.15-20. If a brother sins against another, violating one of God’s Laws, the one offended must go and confront his brother, calling him to repentance and standing ready to forgive and restore the relationship when repentance is in evidence. If that private confrontation does not produce justice, the one against whom the transgression has been committed must take another church member with him – one who knows the situation – to confront the sinner. Hopefully, the testimony of two witnesses will be compelling, and repentance will be achieved.

Suppose that fails, however. In that case, the one offended against must take the sinner to the church – typically, to its rulers, the elders and pastors of the church. There a formal charge can be laid; the leaders of the church can weigh the evidence and claims, and, through prayer and searching the Scriptures, reach a just judgment and a course of action for its implementation.

The Law of God continues to guide our moral conduct, but the discipline of the church is the only sanction church leaders may apply in seeking to restore justice. Where church discipline is ignored, justice and transgression will likely be present, and this short-circuits the blessing of God to His people.

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I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 1 Corinthians 6.5, 6

The state, as Paul and Peter remind us, has been established by God to accomplish His good purposes (Rom. 13.1-4; 1 Pet. 2.13, 14). Thus, believers must work within the civil structures of society to ensure that governments act in accord with the teaching of God’s Law. The Church must not presume to enact civil judgments against its members or others. Rather, because the state also is subject to the righteousness and justice of God’s Law (Ps. 9.7, 8: Dan. 4.27; Matt. 14.1-4), believers must labor to persuade civil magistrates of the essential wisdom, goodness, and justice of the Law of God.

This they do through the political process, electing leaders who fear the Lord and auguring for laws that reflect the character and purposes of the Law of God. But even in this arena believers must remember that, in the age of grace, not even the vilest offender is completely cut off from the reach of God’s Spirit and Truth. Penalties for violating the Law of God must, therefore, leave room for grace to work; they must not be so harsh as to harden the hearts, but they must be sufficiently harsh as to achieve justice and encourage behavioral change.

There is a role for civil government to fulfill in overseeing a just society, where neighbor-love obtains through submission – even grudging submission (Ps. 81.15; Ps. 66.3 – both, NASB) – to the standards and sanctions of the Law of God. But in the Church, no actions must be taken against offenders of God’s Law to which they do not willingly submit. The single exception would be in the Church’s authority to excommunicate unrepentant offenders, leaving them to the wiles of the devil and the pleasure of the state until they repent of their wickedness, make all due restoration, and return to their proper place in the Body of Christ.

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I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 1 Corinthians 6.5, 6

We’re examining some of the criteria which must guide contemporary believers in applying the Law of God to life in the Church today. We have said that the Church is not ancient Israel. Rather, as the new Israel, living in the age of grace and the Spirit, church leaders will need to reflect carefully on how the statutes and precepts of ancient Israel are to be obeyed in our own day. We do not keep the Law in order to earn our salvation, but to realize our salvation, prove our discipleship, and thus make progress in spreading the love of Jesus Christ to all men.

Just as the Church is not ancient Israel, so it is not the civil magistrate, either. The statutes and precepts of the civil law of Israel are still binding today – as Paul, James, and Jesus indicate. But they must be interpreted into the life of the new Israel, which, while it is built on the foundation of ancient Israel, faces altogether different historical and cultural contingencies.

The Law of God includes many penal guidelines for achieving justice and restoring order to a community. But the ultimate responsibility for ensuring justice in the civil arena lies with civil governments – local, state, and federal. The Church must not presume on the prerogatives of the state in seeking justice between its members.

Thus, where an infraction has been committed against the Law of God by a member of the Christian Church, believers must apply the principles of church discipline in seeking to restore justice. We shall have more to say about this in due course.

However, where church discipline fails to bring about a proper resolution of disputes, members should expect that the civil government may be invoked or appealed to for a just outcome. The civil courts, however, should be the final bar of appeal for believers in civil matters, not the first.

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But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all…and to Jesus… Hebrews 12.22-24

In the ancient Middle East many cities were founded on what are called tells. A tell is a mound or hill on which a city is located, and many of those cities were built and re-built on the ruins of ancient cities that went before. Each time a city was razed and a new one erected, archaeologists expect to find certain similarities – the “footprint” of the city, building materials, and some cultural items – but also new technologies and artifacts at each successive level of construction.

So it is with the Law of God and the Church. While the Church is being erected on the “tell” of Old Testament Israel, it is not ancient Israel; therefore, while there are certainly many areas of continuity with ancient Israel, and many similarities of purpose and character between Israel and the Church, the Law of ancient Israel must be understood anew and applied in a manner consistent with the age of grace and the Spirit in which the Church is being built.

The Law is still valid, but not in exactly the same way it was before the proclamation of the Gospel, the giving of the Spirit, and the new creation. We have not come to Old Testament Israel when we pick up those Old Covenant laws; we are the new City of those who, through faith in Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, are called to live out God’s Law in love for Him and for our neighbors in ways the Old Testament saints simply could not.

This is a challenge for church leaders, and one they must labor to understand and pursue within the framework of God’s more complete revelation in Scripture, as well as from the practice of previous generations of the followers of Christ.

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But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all…and to Jesus… Hebrews 12.22-24

We have seen that the Ten Commandments and the civil laws of ancient Israel still have binding validity on the followers of Jesus Christ. But there are some qualifying criteria which we must understand before we go out and start building railings around our roofs, stoning our recalcitrant children, or driving an awl through some employee’s ear.

Simply put, the Church is not ancient Israel; rather, the Church is new Israel, a new community established on the foundations of the old one – and, thus, having some similarities with it – but identified by new traits and characteristics which guide it in understanding how to follow the Law of God today.

What are the implications of this? Ancient Israel represented a unique combination of priestly and civil rule. It was designed to be, in the purest sense, a theocracy, in which God ruled His people directly through the work of magistrates and priests.

Moreover, ancient Israel occupied a unique setting of time and place. While some of Israel’s laws can seem harsh and unyielding, they put pagan laws to shame with their practical concern for justice, righteousness, and neighbor-love.

But, most important of all, ancient Israel lacked the heart – the Spirit, we should say – for obeying God’s Law (Deut. 5.29; Jer. 31.31-34; Ezek. 36.26, 27). One important implication of this is that the laws of ancient Israel were especially harsh in exacting certain kinds of justice; otherwise, the unbridled hearts of the people would run rampant with passion – as in the Book of Judges.

We may expect that, in this season of grace, in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells within the followers of Christ, some mitigation of the penalties of ancient Israel’s laws is to be expected. This is precisely what we find, for example, in 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul substitutes excommunication for the death penalty, thus leaving room for grace to work repentance and renewal in the sinner.

The Church is not ancient Israel, and the times we live in are times of grace and the Spirit. That will definitely affect how we understand and apply the Law of God to our situation today.

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So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7.12

There are at least five reasons why Christians today should continue to keep the Law of God.

First, the Law of God encodes the very character of God – holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7.12). Since we are God’s children and the Spirit of God is at work within us, transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3.12-18), it makes sense for us to know and follow the Law of God.

Second, the Law of God defines the terms of goodness which must characterize the works for which Christians have been redeemed. When Paul wrote that we are God’s workmanship, redeemed for good works, he clearly had in mind the works outlined in the Law of God (Eph. 2.8-10). Without a fixed standard of goodness like the Law of God, believers will have a difficult time fulfilling their reason for being redeemed.

Third, obedience to the Law of God proves a believer’s discipleship, as the Apostle John explains (1 Jn. 2.1-6).

Fourth, following the teaching of the Law guides us in the way of love. Love is the hallmark of Christian faith, as well as the fulfillment of the Law (Matt. 22.34-40).

Finally, keeping the Law of God, strange as it may seem, appeals to the conscience of the unbeliever. This is because God has written the works of the Law – the basic standards of right and wrong – on the soul of every person (Rom. 2.14, 15). As unbelievers observe Christians living according to the Law, they will be attracted to the teaching of Christ, which is the entry point to holiness, righteousness, and goodness (cf. Deut. 4.6; Mic. 4.1-5).

The Law of God must, therefore, have a vital place in the life of the Church. Just what that place is we will explore in the remainder of this series.

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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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.” Matthew 5.17, 18

It never fails: All I have to do in a sermon, lecture, or essay is mention something about the Christian’s ongoing responsibility to keep the Law of God, and someone will be there to take me to task. “I’m not under Law, I’m under grace.” “You’re preaching salvation by works.” “This is not a theocracy, you know.” So go the objections, some more passionate than others, but each along the same lines.

What do Christians have against the Law of God? Why are we so adamant to deny any ongoing responsibility for walking the same path Jesus walked (1 Jn. 2.1-6)?

Of course, not all the Old Testament Law of God continues to have validity. The writer of Hebrews explains, in chapters 7-10, that the laws defining and guiding the work of priests changed as the Old Covenant was replaced with the New. While we can still learn principles of holiness and right worship by studying the laws of sacrifice, diet, and so forth, these no longer bind us as ethical norms. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that, “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well” (7:12). For the Old Testament priestly rights and duties, Jesus has substituted the sacrifice of His own life, the ordinances and sacraments of the Church, and His ongoing intercessory and sanctifying work.

But that still leaves the Ten Commandments and the civil laws of ancient Israel. The New Testament – beginning with the Lord Jesus – indicates that these have continuing value and must not be neglected or set aside.

Christians are called to keep the Law of God, not in order to be saved but so that they might bring their salvation to light in lives of good works.

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Dare you say anything about this to your pastor and church leaders?

Keep a close watch on your hearts, friends.

The Spirit of God is the River of revival, renewal, and awakening in the world.

Let us go forth with some of His glory on us.