Is Mosaic Law Nothing But “Legalism”?
Is following Old Testament law nothing but “legalism”? Here’s what leading Christian Reconstructionists think. Considering their growing influence in American politics, this should either terrify or excite you.
The American Vision is an organization following the works of RJ Rushdoony, the Father of Modern Christian Reconstruction.
What’s Christian Reconstruction?
It’s also called Dominionism.
The focus of Dominionists is to make God’s Word the law of the land.
But that’s unconstitutional!
Dominionists plan to replace the Constitution with God’s Word. It’s not unConstitutional if the Constitution is changed to meet God’s standards. Mike Huckabee proposed it himself, during his 2008 primary campaign — in which he won nine states.
But Christians are all just right-wingers. The GOP is collapsing anyway, so who cares?
A bit of excellent reporting before my time on this site (Should Christians Support Obama?) lays out some facts about that most liberal of Lefties, Barack Obama. The conclusion drawn was that Obama does embody most Christian values. His recent court support of the Defense of Marriage Act (which he’d told gay activists he would overturn during the campaign), comparing gay marriage to incest and child rape, is further demonstration that Obama is first a Christian, then a politician.
So you’re saying Christians are everywhere?
You betcha! From Sarah Palin to Hillary Clinton, from the Democratic National Committee to your local school board, Christians are becoming more politically active. And fundamentalist Christians are taking a “stealth” approach to get in . . . then use their power to advance Dominion.
Since 78% of Americans are Christian, it’s easy for them to get a majority . . . even if only a fraction of that 78% would support the Dominionist agenda if they were aware of it.
What can I do about it?
The most important thing is to be informed. Pay attention to what your elected officials say . . . and what they do. The two often don’t match up.
You could, instead, do exactly what they’d like you to do . . . disregard this site and others like it and go about your daily life. Read the National Enquirer so you can keep abreast on the latest pop star scandals, and People so you can see Michelle Obama’s latest fashions. Don’t pay any attention to silly things like elections. And whatever you do, don’t subscribe to the RSS feed! You don’t want to know what Christians are doing. It’ll just upset you.
Oh, wait. You’re reading here. I guess you’re interested.
I’ve never heard of this “American Vision”. Why should I care what they think? If I’ve never heard of them, surely nobody has!
We looked them up on Alexa.com, a website traffic-ranking site.
Americanvision.org ranks 34,463 of all sites in the United States, and 139,904 worldwide. By way of comparison, Americans United for Separation of Church and State ranks 65,042 in the US, and 213,937 worldwide.
Yes, American Vision is fairly popular, if not with your (or my) social circle.
So, the main topic: Mosaic Law; is it “legalism”? Back to the American Vision article!
This fairly popular site leads with the following commentary:
. . . in response to the question by the Pharisees about which is the Greatest Commandment, Jesus quoted the Mosaic law, in particular Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5. Jesus went on to say that “on these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets” (Matt. 22:40). Jesus did not say that because of these two laws the law passes away.
That’s right. All the Law depends on those two commandments. Those two commandments do not, according to the Bible, obviate the Law.
This is why evangelicals object when it is said that “we don’t have to condemn homosexuals/women who leave abusive spouses/people who practice other (that is, false) religions”. According to the Bible, the Law is still 100% in force. The following clearly demonstrates this fact:
Jesus had His most vocal disputes with the Pharisees. This has led many Christians to believe that Jesus was opposed to the law, that He had come to nullify the law, because the Pharisees were all about keeping the law. The Pharisees, contrary to popular opinion, did not keep God’s law. They were not “the best people of their day.”[1] . . . The commandments of God were neglected by the Pharisees (Mark 7:8). They “nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep [their] tradition” (Mark 7:9). Jesus told the Pharisees that they had the devil as their father (John 8:44), not because they kept God’s law, but because they substituted it for a set of man-made traditions.
Sounds like Catholics to me.
We are used to thinking of the scribes and Pharisees as meticulous men who carefully observed the jots and tittles [of God’s law]. This is not the portrait found in the Gospels. The scribes and Pharisees that Jesus encountered were grossly, obviously, and flagrantly breaking the Mosaic law, while keeping all kinds of man-made traditions. Jesus’ condemnation of them in Matthew 23 certainly makes this clear, as does a famous story in John 8. There we read that the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman taken “in the very act” of adultery (John 8:1–11). How did they know where to find her? Where was the man who was caught with her? Apparently he was one of their cronies. Also, when Jesus asked for anyone “without sin” (that is, not guilty of the same crime) to cast the first stone, they all went away, because they were all adulterers.[2]
Interesting assumption and interpretation by Mr. Jordan. Surprisingly, it’s consistent with the Biblical worldview.
Does keeping the law save us? Did it save the Israelites in the OT? James tells us that “for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). One sin, one transgression of the law, is enough to condemn us to eternal judgment . . . Salvation is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8–10). In this sense, we are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14).
But does salvation by grace through faith mean that Christians are free to live any way they please since they are “redeemed from the curse of the law”? Paul asks it this way: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Rom. 3:21). In another place Paul tells us that “the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:8).
No one ever was or ever will be saved by keeping the law. This is the Bible’s point when Romans 6:14 says that the Christian is not under the law. This is far different from saying that the Christian is not obligated to obey the law as a standard of righteousness. In the very next verse, Paul states, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” (6:15).
Sin is defined as “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Obviously some law is still in force or there would be no sin, and if there is no sin then we do not need an Advocate with the Father.
While there are many questions about which OT laws still apply under the NT, there is no debate that keeping God’s law is an important part of the Christian life.
So, while they hold back from the most obvious Scriptural reference:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
. . . the folks at American Vision do make it clear that Christians are under the Mosaic Law . . . all of it, excepting the parts relating to sacrifices.
Unfortunately, I haven’t yet seen where they explain why Christians aren’t required to provide blood sacrifices. Have you?
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You brought up the point about how many of the religious people are elected and then become more extreme once elected. I have noticed this with a small number of elected officials, mostly at local areas. I always wonder how they can lie outright to get elected and still believe they are doing right? The laws which he is talking about in these sections, don’t they cover lies? I get the impression that one violation of these laws is the same as violating all of them. Wouldn’t this mean that lying to get elected means that they aren’t supported by their god?
Good evening, Baconsbud, and my compliments on your taste in food.
I’d like very much if just one of the “liars for Jesus” can explain to me why what they do is any different from Muslims who lie to infidels because the Koran gives them permission? Hey, at least they got permission; Christians fundies just take it upon themselves to be the liars and hypocrites.
I do like bacon but I got this name because I named my dog Bacon.
I read somewhere that some christians believe that the commandments actually only apply to other christians of the same belief system. As I understood it, it is ok to lie to someone not of the same denomination. You also have those that believe it is ok to lie as long as it is for what they believe is good. I don’t believe they see this type of action as hypocrisy and that you are wrong for thinking it is. I’m not sure how they can justify this to themselves but it seems they do.