Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Our Relationship to the Law

The praise of the saints in heaven is as follows in Revelation 5:10-11:
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

Paul wrote many things about man’s relationship with the law in the book of Romans that has confused the church for many years. Even today, the debates on the New Perspectives on Paul bring that confusion into high relief. Reading Paul in the context of this passage brings light on Paul and the law.

In the old covenant, man was under the law and the law was administered by angels. However, since the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the law is administered in heaven by a man. Christ, the God-man, rules over all creation. And as this passage makes clear, he has caused us to rule with Him on the earth.

If we are to rule, we are now judges. How does a judge relate to the law? This is a question that many Americans will understand. Is a judge above the law? While some may answer yes, the proper answer is no. If a judge fails to maintain the law, he is not worthy of the law and should be impeached. If a judge will not keep the law, he shows the law not to be the law. For law exists to formalize the proper customs of a society. See William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Law of England.

Is a judge capable at all times to keep the law perfectly? Again, this is a question that Americans should understand. The answer is no. The American legal system is founded upon a principle of proper appellate courts and at the apex of that system is a Supreme Court. A trial judge may get a ruling wrong, but there is recourse to a higher appellate court and ultimately to the Supreme Court. The appellate court corrects and admonishes the trial court in his exercise of the law, and the trial court corrects his behavior accordingly. This is how we should act.

Christians have been called to rule with Christ on the earth, but they have not been called to rule as circuit riders with no superior authority. They have been called into Christ’s body, the Church. Ruling within Christ’s body is the only way in which the Christian may rule within a proper appellate system. When we sin, we are not rejected by God but admonished by our mother Church, Christ’s bride. We live our lives accordingly. Only by the Sabbath principle of six days labor and one day rest and worship and communion with God may we engage in this proper role.

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