Freedom-Life 101:
1. Jesus is our Law
"So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might
be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision of the law" (Galatians 3:24-25, NIV).
As stated in the discussion of Romans 1:26-27, we are made righteous by
faith in God, not by doing the works of the Law. The Old Testament’s
laws had a purpose, but Christians are no longer under the supervision of
the Law. John, the disciple Jesus loved (John 13:23), said:
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ" (John 1:17, NIV). Just as Jesus is greater than Moses,
so too his teachings out rank anything Moses ever said or wrote.
This simply means we are followers of Jesus, not some collection of
laws found in the Old Testament or anywhere else. Jesus is our
example and his teachings are principle-driven, not rule-bound. Love will
always place people above rules, so any given religious law is only pulled-through
to today if it is embraced by Jesus’ "Law of Love"—the
wholehearted love of God and neighbor.
Therefore, when Christians read the Old Testament—and we should—we
are to look for lessons or principles, not exacting rules of behavior. For
example, one key lesson we learn by reading the Old Testament is that of
God’s heart for the poor and downtrodden—we learn about Justice. We
read to learn more about wholeheartedly loving God and all our neighbors,
even as we learn to love ourselves.
Most importantly, because Jesus is our law we need to tear down the
barriers between straight and queer Christians, for as Paul said:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, NIV). Jesus
embraces everyone who comes to him in faith, and so that becomes our model
for inclusiveness within the body of Christ, his Church. We need
each other to be whole, for all types of segregation within and between
churches—whether by class, race, gender or sexual orientation—present
a distorted, freakish image of the body of Christ.
