New Covenant Patriarchy

Scripture's Inconsistencies - NOT!

Monday, June 19, 2006

God's Saints vs. God's Law - NOT!

Did Abraham, the Hebrew midwives, Rahab, Jael, David, and God Himself sin by deceiving those who were at odds with God’s will?

This is the implication of those who set the saints of of God against God's Law.  Always looking for a way to escape God's Law they hope to find refuge for their lawlessness in the example of the saints of Scripture.  Others maintain their own "purity of conscience" by calling these deceptions sins, which they themselves would never commit, despite the witness of Scripture that these very acts are held up in Scripture as acts of faith and examples to us of righteousness.

Abraham hid his marriage relationship with Sarah from those who would murder him to get her.

The Hebrew midwives deceived Pharaoh and saved the lives of the Hebrew male new-born babies.

Rahab told the officers of the state of Jericho that the spies had gone away while hiding them and assisting in their escape.

Jael lured Sisera inside for refreshment and a nap and then drove a tent peg through his temple while he slept.

David feigned madness in order to save his life from the hand of the Philistines.

God lured Pharaoh into wilderness near the Red Sea as he chased the Israelites so He could destroy him and his army.

R.J. Rushdoony has said that the source of a society's law is its God.  This is also true of individuals.  You operate by a certain law. You judge according to this law in the jurisdiction that you have been given.  Your mind, money, property, and time are all under your control and what you do with them is directed by the law you operate by.  The source of that law is your god.

All law is war against lawlessness.  Different systems of law thus represent different gods who are at war with one another. The God of Biblical Law is at war against all other gods and their law systems.  He is also a very jealous God.  When another god touches His Bride He gets especially incensed.  When you invite another god into your bosom He becomes livid (as in "a face white with rage").  Be careful whose law you make your own!

Now, we can have many different kinds of enemies.  We may have personal enemies. Others may hate us because we belong to a certain family.  I once was ill treated because I represented a company whose previous representatives were hated.  Being of a certain race, or wearing certain colors, speaking or not speaking with a particular accent may all make us enemies of complete strangers.  There are many real and imagined injustices that people feel need to be paid for and they may see you as having to bear that cost.  Some people play power politics and believe that it is to their advantage to foil or hurt you in some way.  Sin abounds and death follows after.  We are to treat such lawfully (Deut. 22) even when they treat us lawlessly, to seek their good even when they seek our harm. This pleases God and makes for peace.

Then there are those who take it upon themselves to be God's enemies.  They are at war with God, His Law order, and anything else that manifests His sovereignty. They don't just cheat and break the law, they justify and promote the legalization of lawlessness itself. They self-consciously work to undermine the very foundations of God's kingdom. They are professional rapists of the Bride of Christ.  Against all such God is always at war and so should we. 

We do not owe the truth to those who are at war with the truth. 

We do not owe forthrightness to those who have instituted lawlessness.  Yet some suggest that Abraham should have become an accessory to his own murder by revealing his marriage.  They impute sin to Abraham without any foundation in Scripture whatsoever.

We do not owe obedience or honesty to authorities who order evil, seeking to enlist us in Satan's service. Yet pietists suggest the midwives should have just not said anything. That God would have protected them and those baby boys somehow.  Thank God the midwives left us with such a wonderful example of Godly character, and not the weak-kneed, spineless, self-righteous morality of so many of their critics.

We do not owe loyalty to a regime or nation whose cup of iniquity overflows into judgment.  Yet some impute guilt to Rahab; they say she sinned by lying but that God overlooked it. But Scripture gives witness that God lifted her up from whoredom to the very genealogy of Christ. To be loyal to God you must be treasonous to His enemies. Choose whom you will serve.

We may pay death to those who are at war with life.  As did Jael.  What a great saint of God!  Worthy to be celebrated in song. She knew God's law and was easily able to distinguish between hospitality and accommodation of a weary fugitive, and righteous enticement and execution of an enemy of God's Kingdom. Yet some condemn her, thus showing their pretentiousness and ignorance.

Nobody shows modern day peitism for what it is like David does.  He offends modern pietists like no other saint of God, yet no one in Scripture is held in such high regard by God. It leaves His enemies seething inwardly as they look for ways to disparage David's reputation and standing before Christians. A great way to measure the caliber of a Bible teacher or pastor is to listen to what he has to say about David, and Abraham too.

Therefore, study God's Law at the feet of someone who can teach it properly, namely RJ Rushdoony.  There are some 1600 audio lessons to choose from and scores of books and articles. Then you will learn to discern, obey, and love God through both His Inscripturated Word and His Incarnate Word.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Greater vs. Lesser Laws - NOT!

There is, apparently, no end to the ways rebellious man finds to justify breaking God’s Law while claiming to keep it.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The Summary of the Law vs. the Specifics of the Law - NOT!

The battle of the definition of Christ is underway again.  Is Christ the incarnation of the Mosaic Law or is He a statist humanist (Whom we define as we go along)?

There are those who, in a vain attempt to justify studied ignorance of God's Law, pit the summary of God's Law against the nitty gritty details and specifics of God's Law. This goes along with a general rejection of the, so called, "Old Testament" as irrelevant and with a general feeling that the specifics of the law are what the Pharisees and hypocrites believed in and were condemned for. They, on the other hand, are more concerned with the weightier matters of the law (caring for widows and orphans, and loving your neighbor as yourself) and not the trivial details (like, say, exactly who should be doing this and how).

This of course, leaves them free to fill in the details with man-made rules and regulations while still feeling quite Christian.  In fact it was not long ago that a socialist / humanist from the far left made the point on C-SPAN that the state (in this case Washington DC) was fulfilling the Christian mandate to love your neighbor as yourself and justified more social spending and higher taxes to that end.  Without the details of the law of God, his evangelical opponent had nothing authoritative to offer in rebuttal.

Over time, Christians will find themselves squeezed between an acceptance of humanism and an acceptance of the ongoing validity of the details and specifics of Biblical Law.  They have internalized a great deal of humanist presuppositions which control the way they vote, how they educate their children, who they look to for health care, and economic blessings, how they arrange marriages, etc.. Yet they profess Christ, the walking incarnation of whole-hearted obedience to every regulation and specific requirement of the Mosaic law, who came to reconcile us to the Mosaic law and bore for us the condemnation of the law that put us at enmity with God.  The question is, which side of their split personalities will win out.  They must either change their values or redefine Christ in the image of a statist humanist.  It is the definition of Christ in the specifics of the Law of God that stands in the way of the humanist redefinition of Christ.

To make the case clearly now:

1. The Mosaic Law is the perfect written reflection of the character of God.
2. The Messiah is the perfect incarnate reflection of the character of God.
3. Love is putting the Mosaic Law into force as the Messiah did.

God revealed his character in the written Mosaic Law in all its details and specific requirements.  He defined love as putting that Law into action. He put the Law into living form in Christ Who was therefore the incarnation of the Law and therefore became love.  We are also to incarnate that Law, putting it into action and thus demonstrating love to our neighbor and thus reflecting God's character in our relationship with others.

For more on the specifics of God's Law and how it differs from humanism see the books by R.J. Rushdoony at: www.chalcedon.edu and www.chacedonstore.com

For deprogramming from humanism and learning to see Scriptures as a whole unity, see: www.pocketcollege.com

Monday, March 27, 2006

Moses vs. Jesus vs. Paul - NOT!

The ongoing validity of all of Gods Law is here defended. This is also a call for the end of Christian doublemindedness with regard to the Law of God. 

Tom Shipley has taught me the importance of the unity and harmony of Scripture. God cannot contradict himself. If He appears to do so, then it is we who are hazy and lazy of mind and full of contradictions and maledictions, not God.  God goes to great lengths to establish the goodness and blessedness of His Law with the command for us to study it, to make it the context in which we live our lives, to make it our mental environment.  Why?  Because it is a true reflection of the character of God.  In fact Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the LawWord of God, which God says is even greater than His name.

First: who is this article addressed to? It is addressed to Christian leaders and teachers everywhere. Beware! You are held to a higher standard by God and your standing in heaven is at risk; to wit:

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of these commandments, the least, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven. (Mat 5:19)

Now, to our present evangelical, antinomian (anti-Mosaic law) mindset, some of what Paul or the other Apostles wrote appears to contradict or do away with God's Law.  This just proves how ignorant we are of the Scriptures, the context of the verses, who they were written to, and the errors they addressed.  Now, if you, as a teacher and preacher find yourself confused by these passages, do yourself a favor and just read them without adding any kind of commentary that would teach your hearers to break even the least of God's Laws.

Let us look at an example of false teaching that has caused many a preacher and teacher to be relegated by God to the lowest position in the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is based on a misreading of Colossians 2:16ff:

Col 2:16ff  Then do not let anyone judge you in eating, or in drinking, or in part of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths, which are a shadow of coming things (LITV)

This is commonly used to teach that Paul is here throwing out all the dietary laws, the Biblical calendar, and sometimes the whole of the Mosaic law till all that is left is "Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself."  Often a handy trash can is created, labeled "Ceremonial Laws", "Jewish Culture", or "Laws of Separation", into which you are encouraged to throw all the laws you don't like, or that are in conflict with our current and local man-made laws and traditions.

Now, God is not doubleminded as we are, that He would inspire the Apostle Paul to contradict Christ or Moses, and make himself least in the Kingdom of heaven himself by teaching the disregard of whole categories of God's Holy Law.  To suppose such a thing is to impune the character of God, and to teach it is to perpetrate great harm upon the saints in your charge and to retard your work in the Kingdom of God.  Better you should play a tape by a true teacher of God's LawWord than to reveal your presumptuous ignorance.  Always assume the ongoing validity of all of God's Laws.

Reading it in context, understanding that he is addressing the Gnostic heresey, that 'matter is evil and unimportant while spirit is good and important,'  Paul is saying, in effect:

"As you enjoy the food and drink that God blesses you with, do not let anyone guilt manipulate you because you are enjoying the eating and drinking of it, or because you are taking part in the feasts and holidays and Sabbaths appointed in the Biblical calendar, which are shadow picture previews of the reality to come."

So it is with all such passages.  Rather than contradict the Law they establish it as the written revelation of the character of Christ.  Do we always interpret and translate correctly?  No, but we should make sure we do no violence to the integrity and harmony of Scripture, and never teach the relaxation of the least of God's laws, much less dismiss whole categories of them.