Galatians 3:23-25, “On The Paradox of The Law”

Galatians 3:23-25, “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. ²⁴So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

Paul declares that the law, which revealed our inability to be in complete compliance with the law and/or God’s nature, was added so that mankind may see their need for Christ. The law was the birth pains, through which the wonderful promise made known to Abraham became manifest and fulfilled in Christ Jesus, through whom we, in faith, become righteous before God. There is a paradoxical nature within the law concerning both it’s goodness, it being from God and representing holiness, and while at the same time being a burden unto man, for the law condemns and in the law itself, there is no hope, for all have violated the law.

Furthermore, the strict obedience to the law, can in fact break the law. Again, this is rather paradoxical, but we can reconcile these seemingly contradicting aspects, not by the law, or through man, but rather in Christ. Some, like the Pharisees, held the law to such a strict standard, that they idolized the law above faith in God, thus breaking the law, of which they claimed obedience. It is possible to worship the law itself and forgetting about the conditions of faith that are proclaimed all throughout the scripture. This is not to say that obedience to the law is bad, for this same law is now upon our hearts, but rather by faith, the law becomes represented through our relationship with Jesus. We do not develop obedience in the law and then acquire faith, it has been designed and purposed by God that it be the other way around. This is implicit in the law, but man lost focus as he put his faith in the commands rather than the author.

Realize we still run the same danger today. When we approach the word of God, we need to approach it in and through our relationship with the Spirit, otherwise the Living Word, loses that necessary condition of faith. This is a lesson I need to consistently keep in the forefront of my mind when approaching the Word of God. I study the word, but I have come to understand that the Bible itself can’t save you anymore than the law provided salvation. There are numerous atheists and deists who know the Bible better than some Christians do. Thus, we find that what is contained in the word is a path to Christ, but if we look at the words alone, we are missing the point.

I myself love studying the word, but I also love extrapolating the philosophical points behind the Scriptures. As I have stated before, the enemy and the self, can take even the best intentions and askew them. Thereby, there was a time when I saw that my study of the Scripture wasn’t as God has intended. We are to not seek the philosophical points behind the Scriptures, but rather seek God and we should direct our hearts to developing a deeper relationship with Hm. We shall not forget this, for to do so, we are the same as those who study the law, and forego God. We should let the Spirit speak to us through the word, for our study is not study alone, but rather communion with our Lord, and we need to pray and be open unto this while we approach the Word of God.

Likewise, man forgot this aspect when they approached the law. They strove to be in compliance with the law, and forgot about the faith represented in the law. All the great men and women within the Old Testament understood this point, that the law reflected our noncompliance, and thus they were brought to faith and reliance on God and His promises, rather than just to the law itself, which again trespasses against the law, for it can idolize the law in a sinful manner.

So in Christ, we have a new revelation of faith that we can rest our reliance on. This was purposed from the beginning that the reconciliation between the law and faith, along with justification, would rest on Jesus Christ. Since man mistook the law and did not come to God in faith, He has now revealed a more present object upon which our foundations of faith are built, His Son. In addition, the law showed our great need of the deliverance that God had promised prior to Abraham, and this was purposed to draw men unto the promise by faith. Now, by the new covenant, the promise has been fulfilled and we eagerly await those promises from God that are still yet to come.

Leviticus 20:3, “On Molech’s Taste For Human Sacrifice and God’s Distaste”

“I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.” -Leviticus 20:3

Molech was a pagan semitic god who was worshipped by the detestable act of child sacrifice. The alters were in the semblance of a bull or calf, a sacrificial animal itself, with a pit before it, or in the belly of the man made edifice. Within these pits, large fires would be built and children were tossed in as an offering to the god.

In this verse, we not only see God’s disgust in the worship of other gods, but also the abhorrent nature of human sacrifice. The Book of Judges, Chapter 11, contains the infamous account of Jephthah, who after making a vow to the Lord concerning the defeat of the Ammonites sacrificed his daughter to God. Atheists and non-believers,  like to distract Christians by citing this account, but nowhere does it say that God approved of Jephthah’s sacrifice of his only offspring. In fact, God’s displeasure could implicitly be contained in the account, for the Ammonites, whom Jephthah was fighting, were devout worshippers of Molech. Thus, it represents a veiled connection between the Judges account and God’s statement against such practices in Leviticus.

"Jephthah," by John Everett Millais. oil on canvas, c. 1867

Human sacrifice wasn’t a rare practice and every continent and almost every indigenous people seems to have engaged in it at one time or another, from the civilizations of Central America, to even the Native Americans. Yet, again, verses like this one, and those like it, show that God does not desire such offerings. Why did God include it in His word then? The account was provided to show the importance of oaths to the Lord (See my note on Matthew 5:37, “On Promises and Vows”).

Abraham, in Genesis Chapter 22, was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac, which Abraham being a man of faith and obedience, was prepared to carry out. Yet, at the last minute an angel called from heaven and instructed him not to lay a hand on the boy. In verse 13 we find that a ram was caught by its horns in a thicket, provided by God, to take the place of Abraham’s son.

"The Sacrifice of Isaac," by Domenichino. oil on canvas, c. 1627-1628

The correlation between this account of Abraham and what was later to occur with Jesus Christ is apparent. As the ram was caught by its horns in a thicket, likewise Christ had a thicket of thorns placed upon His head, piercing deep into His flesh, as His eventual crucifixion approached. Though Christ was human, He was not a mere human, and He was provided by God, from the beginning, to take our place, to endure the punishment, and to pay the just wages for our sin, just as the ram had replaced Isaac. In short, we deserve to be nailed upon that cross, but Christ paid for sin in full on our account that salvation might be credited to us by faith and through grace.

May Christ be forever praised. Amen.

Romans 1:19, “On The Feigned Sciences”

“Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” -Romans 1:19

NASA picture of a neutron star taken from Hubble in 2009. Dubbed as the "Hand of God."

Although there are hidden truths to God that we must have ears to hear and eyes to see, the truth is that God never intended to keep Himself a secret from man. In reality, the very fact He created us suggests purpose and if there is purpose, then it most logically follows that God would want to share that purpose with his creation. This being the case, it would thus reject any idea of the deistic “watchmaker” theory, where God simply created the universe, wound it up like a watch and stepped away. This watchmaker analogy is famous among Deists, Atheists, as well as Christians. It was pioneered by William Paley in his Teleological Argument, or the, “Argument From Design.” Paley wrote:

William Paley

“In crossing a hearth, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone and were asked how the stone came to be there, I might possibly answer that for anything I knew to the contrary it had lain there forever; nor would it, perhaps, be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place. I should hardly think, of the answer which I had before given, that for anything I knew the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone? Why is it not as admissible in the second case as in the first?”

Science is the new god, and though I am a Christian I feel that despite my skepticism with some science, I at the same time will admit that science is an amazing thing and has culminated in wonderful discoveries which continually benefit mankind as it develops. It really amazes me that God gave us such a capacity and did not construct us as robots, programmed and brainless, but rather, in accordance with is wonderful design, we were created to have the mental means to explore Him and all the wonders of His creation.

NASA photograph of the nucleus of the "Whirlpool Galazy," or M51a.

The Lord Himself suggested the extent of mans abilities at the tower of Babel, when He said in Genesis 11:6, “Nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them.” Though somewhat situational the point is that God recognizes the extent of the capability of man’s mind, for it was He who designed us so. Yet, as with Babel, it doesn’t mean this isn’t a stumbling block to mankind. Quite the contrary.

"The Tower of Babel," by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. oil on panel, c. 1563

Science, although fantastic in some regards, has separated us from the Lord. Even Christians are led astray now in accepting a form of evolution taking place in the Genesis creation account. If you cannot trust God with the account of His creation, how do you know what you can trust in the Bible? The scriptures are God breathed and should be treated as such. It is not from science that we should juxtapose the scriptures, but rather upon the scriptures that we should juxtapose science.

Science, we are told to believe is foul proof, and there is no room for personal interpretation, but this isn’t the case at all. Even within the scientific method, there is room for error and personal presuppositions which alter the means of proof and thereby the results. For example, let us suppose you have the internal belief that the world is billions of years old. With this belief you approach all your scientific equipment and run a menagerie of tests to come to complete proof of the claim and the belief that resides in your heart. Now suppose some of these tests differ in their results, such as they frequently do with researchers both on the secular and Christian sides. Where does the truth lie? No doubt you are going to assume and put your faith, that’s right faith, in the test results of the particular test that most closely matched your own convictions. The truth is that solid irrefutable scientific results concerning such things just don’t appear. No, it is dependent on a person with his own ideas and beliefs prior to embarking on seeking “truth.”

The Scientific Method

Secondly, science and the Lord are not mutually exclusive. Let me write that again. Science and the Lord are not mutually exclusive. What I mean is this, that if something is explained by science, it does not follow that God did not have a hand in it. Indeed, if God created the natural world, what does follow, is that it would be subservient to his purpose.

We see time and time again, something in the Bible or in our lives trying to be explained scientifically, and I see some Christians stumble because of this very fact, but if something is explained in a scientific way, this only identifies the means in which God had a hand in the miraculous. Miracles are supposed to be void of any scientific explanation. I ask why? It makes perfect sense to me that God would have designed science and thereby can manipulate it to do His bidding, for He created it in the first place. I would encourage all my brothers and sisters in Christ not to be threatened by science, but remain in awe of it for it gives us a glimpse into the immense power and amazing nature of our Lord and Savior. Do not put your faith in the science of man, which is always in flux, but rather on your Lord, who is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).