Friday, September 01, 2006

Old or New?

Have we unwittingly fallen prey to the same deception that the Galatians fell to? Paul challenges them, asking how they, who were liberated to walk freely in Christ, could revert to obligating themselves to keep the Law. In doing so, Paul says they have fallen from grace. Their trust was in their ability to keep the Law, to do the right thing. Thus, they severed themselves from Christ, having put their trust in themselves to be obedient to an old system that Christ had made obsolete. (Paul isn't saying that they have lost their salvation, but they cannot experience the enabling power of the Spirit for living this new life in Christ while trusting in themselves to keep the Law).
If Paul would visit us today, would he rebuke us for subjecting ourselves again to a yoke of slavery under the Old Covenant system? We have reinstituted the temple system, which God had clearly done away with. God removed the professional priesthood, declaring every believer a priest, but we have reestablished it. And to support all of this, we have found it necessary to mandate the temple tax (the tithe).
How can we expect New Covenant results while choosing to abide in an Old Covenant System?

Comments:
unrelated to the topic... can you change the link to my site from "New Protest" to "newprotest"? I've got a particular feel to my site, and the capital letters with two separate words just doesn't catch the imagery I'm trying to convey...

Thanks!
 
jovial cynic,
Will do!
 
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