Quite a contrast to the “religion of peace,” as our dear leader often refers to Islam, isn’t it? Well written.
Real good.
This would be confusing without more elaboration, as it does not state where the moral requirements come from, as they are certainly not subjective. Which MacArthur does not teach , upholding that
"What you and I do with God's moral law will bring upon our lives a direct effect."
What you and I do with God's moral law will bring upon our lives a direct effect. How we deal with God's law will directly affect us.
On the one hand, in some sense, the law passes away. It is no longer binding ceremonially, civilly, and in the sense of its moral consequence and penalty. But in another sense, the law is still binding, so that Paul can say, "I delight in the law of God. So the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." He's saying, "I delight in it," in chapter 7 and, "I fulfill it," in chapter 8.
We don't want to be libertines, we don't want to be legalists, we just want to be law-abiding believers
Yet he also lacks balance in while erroneously teaching you can "go ahead and do what you want anyway, and turn your back on God, and disobey Him as flagrantly and openly as you want" thinking this is what the Lord meant in Mt. 5:19 - and still be considered one who has saving faith. Besides the texts (Gal. 5:14; Heb. 3:9,12,14; 10:38) we have previously debated, the classic Calvinistic doctrine of perseverance of the saints would require that such a one repent and be restored in fellowship with Christ before he died to be considered saved, not simply be called the least in the kingdom.
What needs to be said is we are not under law as a means of salvation, which excludes any system whereby a soul earns eternal life, becoming good enough to be with God, and that while the typological ceremonial law is abrogated, (Heb. 9:9,10; Col. 2:16; Gal. 4:10) that the moral law is upheld under the New Covenant, as seen its reiterations of 9 of the 10 commandments as well as the others.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) (Ephesians 6:1-2)
Yet the Law is not actually our standard, but Christ is, who supremely fulfilled it. And thus we seek to fulfil the righteous intent of the law, not simply the letter. And it is not Moses who administers the Law to us, but Christ, calling us to practically be what we are positionally by faith in Him and in Him If we are washed, sanctified, justified new creatures in Christ, and accepted in the Beloved by faith and made to sit together in heavenly places, then think and live like it.
Likewise, obviously, we are free from all Gentile religious ceremony and superstition...We have no need to yield to custom or ceremony or human opinion.
Except in December!
I believe most members of churches formerly connected to the state/civil govt. don't understand that the Cross changed everything. In many instances we see a Jewish model carried forward. However, Jesus Christ changed all that. He paid the price so no new sacrifice needs to be made and he established a decentralized body of believers united by faith not institutional control.
Gamecock posted a great thread a couple weeks ago that I believe was authored by Tim Keller. In it Keller made the point that the state as an implementer of religious punishment for sinful behavior ended after the Cross because the penalty for sin was paid and Christianity was not established by Jesus Christ as a state religion. However, history shows that we ignored this within 300 years of the crucifixion and again at the initial stages of the Reformation.