The NXR Podcast - THE CONFERENCE - General Equity Theonomy - Session 7 - Dr. Joseph Boot

00:00:00.460 Well, it's great to have an opportunity to do a second session today, and it's been a

00:00:09.620 real privilege to be part of the conference and wonderful interacting with so many of

00:00:14.700 you. I always enjoy being here in the United States and feel always encouraged and built

00:00:24.800 up by the feedback we receive, so thank you very much.

00:00:28.360 if you haven't visited our table before the end of the conference do visit our table

00:00:32.760 and remember the announcement that Nathan made our Canadian director about our worldview youth

00:00:39.460 academy and our cultural leadership academy which is for 19s through any age all adults

00:00:46.380 are welcome to do our cultural leadership academy the youth academy is 14 to 18 why don't we pray

00:00:53.280 before we begin this session our lord and our god we give you thanks for

00:01:02.320 this blessed day that we have enjoyed together thank you for all we've heard already lord we

00:01:10.580 are weak but you are strong make room in our hearts and minds for more of your word for it's

00:01:17.940 a lamp to our feet and a light to our path in christ's name we pray amen

00:01:23.300 okay so in this session i'm dealing with the topic of theonomy which just means god's law

00:01:32.860 now for those of you at this conference last year i spoke on theonomy last year and

00:01:41.640 i've spoken many times on theonomy and so as i was preparing for this conference i thought lord

00:01:46.520 um how shall i tackle this this year in a way that it may be a little bit fresh i've dealt with

00:01:54.420 uh the christian philosophy of law i've come at it from a historical point of view

00:01:58.680 and so i thought that actually for this session i would talk about jesus and the law

00:02:06.080 following jesus following the master

00:02:11.120 if we ask actually at the most basic level what is christianity if we're going to be scriptural

00:02:22.060 we must answer that it actually consists in knowing and following christ jesus

00:02:30.260 if somebody asks you what is a christian somebody who knows and follows christ jesus

00:02:37.200 not simply follows certain doctrines or recites certain confessions or knows historical theology

00:02:44.220 or can engage in learned disputes on dogmatics but actually in the here and now to worship and

00:02:53.480 follow Christ the Lord he's the master and the disciple is not greater than the master

00:03:02.280 now growing up in the western tradition as we have in western civilization we're less familiar

00:03:10.640 actually with the ancient eastern style of learning by literally attaching yourself

00:03:17.020 to a teacher and learning their way of life and their thought by imitation so i don't want you

00:03:25.960 leaving the conference track sort of trying to get yourself into doug wilson's suitcase saying

00:03:30.020 I'm attaching myself to the rabbi this is the eastern style of learning we speak of tutors

00:03:37.100 and professors and mentors but that actually falls short of the Jewish tradition of following a rabbi

00:03:45.300 and committing to heart their teaching

00:03:48.680 Jesus actually called the first disciples and when he did it was not to an academy

00:03:57.240 for a lofty exchange of ideas in socratic dialogue nothing wrong with that still less was it to

00:04:04.640 actually write papers or submit essays to be marked by the lord to be reviewed by a tutor

00:04:13.560 when christ called the disciples it was to follow him to devote their lives to him

00:04:18.680 to live with and learn from him to memorize his sayings to witness his actions

00:04:26.100 to hear his prayers to question him about his parables to tread the dust that he trod

00:04:35.180 to be a disciple of christ then meant to imitate him in everything take up your cross jesus said

00:04:44.480 and follow me and so the apostle paul actually says imitate me as i also imitate christ of course

00:04:55.320 paul before being a disciple of christ was a disciple of gamaliel a famous jewish rabbi

00:05:01.800 imitation then is actually the basic meaning of christian discipleship

00:05:07.520 and that's actually easily overlooked i think when we come to consider the question of god's law and

00:05:16.140 faithful christian witness as a whole in a repaganizing culture more often than not the

00:05:23.860 question of god's law the question of theonomy is approached by christians in a very theoretical way

00:05:30.100 as though they are personally uninvolved with the question it's just a matter a matter of dogmatic

00:05:35.900 dispute not uncommonly the derisive language of its more vehement opponents reflects a posture

00:05:46.560 of treating God's revealed law lightly at best and at times with a kind of haughty disdain

00:05:55.480 but it's impossible to actually find that kind of an attitude in the master

00:06:02.080 you don't find that in the life of our rabbi the Lord Jesus some Christians actually see God's law

00:06:12.980 as some sort of a threat an aberration some say something parenthetical it's been and gone it's an

00:06:23.020 it's a sort of unchristian blemish on the pages of scripture uh and so the law is for some to all

00:06:30.540 intents and purposes ripped out it's a bit like there is it the thomas jefferson bible where he

00:06:35.360 sort of cut the bits out he didn't like you know this is this is what's happened for many believers

00:06:42.000 Instead, we think about living as we personally see fit or as we feel led,

00:06:47.780 as though law and gospel are as incompatible as oil and water.

00:06:55.660 But Jesus' relationship to the law as its author, as exegete, as master, teacher and Lord

00:07:05.760 is of tremendous significance for all true disciples.

00:07:08.720 jesus modeled taking the totality of the law seriously and what matters to jesus

00:07:16.840 should matter to us what he taught we must believe remember and teach what he did we need to emulate

00:07:27.240 and copy if we want to call ourselves christian we must be truly yoked to the one true rabbi

00:07:36.680 now that's not an easy task and it actually comes at a cost because that attachment

00:07:44.780 has to take place in a rebellious age that is looking to vanquish god trumpet nihilism

00:07:55.140 and champion a grand leveling of all things and through fear and intimidation

00:08:01.180 cow the faithful individual into a mouse's hole our time actually embraces and effectively deifies

00:08:11.800 an unofficially established order in both state and liberalizing church i talked a bit about that

00:08:19.120 in our first session whilst fear and trembling before a holy god and his righteousness is

00:08:25.380 abolished truth and justice are now thought to be the province of human beings they're going to

00:08:30.720 define it. If I can quote the Danish prophet again in this session, Kierkegaard, he prophetically

00:08:40.600 saw this, he put it this way, if you are a student, then you can be sure that the professor is the

00:08:46.940 measure and the truth. If you are a parson, then the bishop is the way and the life. If you are a 0.76

00:08:54.600 scrivener that's a clerk or a notary the judge is the standard the deification of the established

00:09:02.920 order is the secularization of everything the established order desires to be totalitarian

00:09:08.900 recognizing nothing over it but having under it every individual and judging every individual

00:09:15.140 who is integrated in it and that individual who expounds the most humble but at the same time the

00:09:22.920 most humane doctrine about what it means to be a man the established or the desires to terrify

00:09:29.440 by imputing to him the guilt of blasphemy

00:09:33.380 and such as it is that christians face today accused of blasphemy against state orthodoxy

00:09:41.720 just as jesus was accused of blasphemy by the pharisees who neither knew the scriptures he said

00:09:48.460 nor the power of god ours is a time when human beings have made themselves the gauge

00:09:57.880 the measuring reed the canon in the place of god's law word and the impact on the church

00:10:06.280 has been significant because in place of god's law new pharisees parroting the culture

00:10:13.920 elevate human preferences and customs and positivistic laws and desires and wants into

00:10:22.060 articles of faith following jesus is not seen as the measure anymore the established order of the

00:10:30.420 world infecting the institutional church like a virus takes the place of christ so holy in fact

00:10:38.960 had the Pharisees and scribes become and so holy do men always become when they deify the 0.79

00:10:45.700 established order that their divine worship is a way of making a fool of God. Under the pretense

00:10:53.480 of serving and worshipping they serve and worship their own device either in self-complacent joy

00:11:01.820 at being themselves the inventors or through fear of men and we can't be ruled by the fear of man

00:11:11.140 can we but by the word of god a servant is not greater than his master so we have to be attentive

00:11:18.880 to what our savior who shows us how to regard the law of god in a lawless world exemplified

00:11:27.060 faithfulness remember the lord jesus said you call me teacher and lord

00:11:33.600 this is well said for i am a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him

00:11:42.900 so let's think about the master's relationship to the law first jesus and creation

00:11:50.980 of first importance i think is recognizing jesus relationship to creation itself as lawgiver from

00:11:59.940 the very beginning as creator in his fleshly tabernacle which is what the apostle john calls

00:12:07.800 it he tabernacled amongst us the master spoke to the storm and he calmed the waves

00:12:14.180 he cursed the fig tree he raised the dead by the power of his word

00:12:20.680 and yet christians often begin the question of jesus relation to law by assuming a dualism

00:12:28.500 between creation or nature and revelation a separation and a division which the bible does

00:12:38.080 not accept there is an unbreakable cosmological relationship between the physical and the moral

00:12:45.660 orders of creation that's manifest in jesus life and work and teaching just as it's expressed in

00:12:53.060 the older testament let me give you an example in some cases when jesus healed physically

00:12:58.160 this is what he declared your sins are forgiven you

00:13:02.760 your sins are forgiven you the connection between moral law and created physical reality is there

00:13:12.080 seen as absolutely fundamental which is easier to say which is easier to say to the paralytic

00:13:20.620 your sins are forgiven or to say get up pick up your mat and walk but so you may know the son of

00:13:29.420 man has authority on earth to forgive sins he told the paralytic I tell you get up pick up your mat

00:13:37.980 and go home you see the moral law does not hover in some abstract realm of reason above earthly

00:13:46.880 reality it's embedded in it unlike the rationalism of men like Immanuel Kant who thought that moral

00:13:55.880 norms are in a separate world to cause and affect creation around us in scripture the word of god

00:14:03.020 speaks to every aspect of an integrated cosmos

00:14:07.180 it speaks to an integral existence when the triune god creates human beings from physical dust

00:14:17.980 there are moral obligations intrinsic to that reality and that's why the bible

00:14:24.100 in scripture disobedience to god's word had physical effects immediately in the fall of

00:14:31.020 human beings thorns and thistles pain disease and death 0.99

00:14:37.740 it's why the homosexuality and perversions of sodom and gomorrah ended with fire and brimstone 1.00

00:14:46.220 raining down from heaven it's why saint paul warns of receiving in the body the due penalty 1.00

00:14:53.560 of doing that which is contrary to God's creation order it's why the land of the Canaanites spewed

00:15:00.800 them out it's why Israel is finally dispossessed and taken into exile lawlessness brings social 0.96

00:15:09.780 biological environmental and cultural ruin

00:15:15.360 to act in a manner contrary to what God has established in creation brings a curse

00:15:21.920 professor jonathan burnside he's a fellow of the ezra institute has written a brilliant book called

00:15:27.840 god justice and society oxford university press he says this biblical law operates beyond the

00:15:33.520 confines of a historical past or single culture instead it is established in the bone and flesh

00:15:41.780 of created humanity all this points to the fact that biblical law does not just mystically appear

00:15:49.620 on the scene with Moses which Jesus then comes along to set aside in favor of an elastic principle

00:15:56.460 of love rather moral laws are embedded into creation and they are republished in the written

00:16:03.240 word of God when God created all things in the beginning with the 10 utterances and when he

00:16:10.860 created israel at sinai with the 10 words law was central and it was intended as a blessing

00:16:19.800 to all the nations and to all peoples creation itself exists remember by the word who was with

00:16:28.600 god and was god and became flesh the one through whom all things were made and by whom all things

00:16:37.660 hold together so when Jesus taught about God's law for marriage he didn't say let's do a

00:16:43.920 sociological study of the Greco-Roman world and see what we should say about marriage today

00:16:48.200 he went back to creation itself to the book of Genesis

00:16:51.360 it's no surprise then to find in Genesis 6 and 7 that Noah and his family

00:16:57.440 as well as the animals with two of each kind enter the ark as married couples 0.52

00:17:04.940 no trace or sign of a trans man or a trans elephant because both the norm of sexual

00:17:13.640 distinction and marriage are basic to god's law order as is the distinction actually between the

00:17:19.760 clean and the unclean animals in genesis 7 that anticipates of course the dietary laws of leviticus

00:17:26.740 11 as god's image bearers knowledge of these creation norms is available even to those who

00:17:35.780 are without the revealed law and it forms the basis of divine judgment remember god judged

00:17:41.980 the canaanites who are without revealed law amos prophesies to the pagan nations around who without

00:17:47.000 the revealed law we can only follow the master if we recognize that his law is abiding from the

00:17:55.760 beginning of creation and recognize him as creator lawgiver and redeemer whom we obey and serve with

00:18:03.580 total fealty jesus and creation what about jesus appearance in the flesh in the incarnation jesus

00:18:13.980 versus satan let's look at that for a minute at the beginning of jesus ministry after his baptism

00:18:19.620 in the jordan he's led out by the spirit of god into the wilderness for 40 days

00:18:25.720 and the scholars have noticed that the life of jesus in many respects recapitulates to a great

00:18:34.840 extent actually the life and journey of israel remember israel is called out of captivity in

00:18:40.360 egypt just as the lord jesus is called out of egypt with his parents hosea 11 1 out of egypt

00:18:49.140 i have called my son he passes through the waters of baptism just like israel went through the

00:18:55.660 waters and he goes out into the wilderness to be tested not for 40 years but for 40 days

00:19:02.020 and then like moses later on he goes up onto the mountain not to receive the law but to teach

00:19:11.080 expound and interpret the very law that he gave to his servant moses

00:19:15.620 he begins with a series of blessings they're called beatitudes

00:19:20.640 that correspond to the curses and warnings at mount sinai in deuteronomy 28 and while in the

00:19:30.240 wilderness he is confronted by satan and he is tested how our lord responds is telling if we are

00:19:39.580 to imitate christ as disciples and we have to learn to deal with testing and temptation

00:19:44.100 as the Lord Jesus confronts it with the word of God Jesus responds to temptation

00:19:51.940 with three citations from the law of God in a context where Israel was being tested as to

00:19:59.580 whether she would obey God's commands in the first just as Israel was hungry in the wilderness

00:20:05.480 and received manna from heaven Jesus is hungry and he's tempted to speak to the stones and turn

00:20:14.700 them to bread to prove his identity and address his hunger and he responds it is written and he

00:20:24.080 cites Deuteronomy 8 3 man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth

00:20:30.220 of god well as far as the lord's concerned this law hasn't passed away into irrelevance has it

00:20:36.780 in the second instance jesus is taken to jerusalem on the pinnacle of the temple the dwelling place

00:20:42.620 of god and he's tempted to prove his identity as god's son dramatically violating god's purpose

00:20:50.780 of concealment in the form of a servant by throwing himself down only to be picked up by

00:20:57.720 angels and this time satan has gotten wise knowing christ's trust in the authority of the word he

00:21:05.540 quotes psalm 91 11 and 12 regarding angelic protection so that you won't dash your foot

00:21:12.340 against the stone just shows you that god's word can be misused satan was expert at misusing the

00:21:19.440 word of god and jesus response is again from god's law deuteronomy 6 16 it is also written

00:21:25.860 do not test the lord your god in the third instance our master is taken to a high mountain

00:21:34.320 and he's shown all the splendors of the kingdoms of the world and in exchange for idolatry

00:21:41.560 satan offers jesus all those kingdoms as a gift in luke's account satan correctly points out that

00:21:49.040 he could give their splendor and authority because it had been given over to me he says

00:21:55.360 if you then worship me all will be yours Luke 4 6 through 7 and this enticement to false worship

00:22:04.680 is an incredibly powerful temptation for the precise reason that Christ had come for all

00:22:11.260 the kingdoms of the world to take back possession as the heir of all things and to assert his

00:22:17.300 authority as the ruler of the kings of the earth but our Lord knew that this could only happen the

00:22:23.860 father's way and he again responds with the law of god not a quote from the philosophers

00:22:29.780 not a citation from cicero go away satan for it is written worship the lord your god and serve only

00:22:38.500 him now because the master wielded god's law he was the authentic israelite he was the truly

00:22:48.900 obedient son he was the greater moses the last joshua who would come into the full inheritance

00:22:58.080 promised in revelation 11 15 the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our lord and of

00:23:05.820 his messiah and he will reign forever and ever so the lord jesus obviously regarded the law of god

00:23:15.200 as the only suitable tool to defeat state satan to stay on mission and to set an example for us

00:23:23.200 to follow he recognized the power and authority of the law it is written and he overcame in terms

00:23:29.480 of it now do you think it would be strange if the very word which vanquished the devil

00:23:35.620 is now thrown aside in favor of human custom reason and imagination

00:23:40.540 since the disciples were not present to witness the temptation it's clear that these events must

00:23:46.920 have been related to them by the lord himself for their instruction and ours

00:23:51.360 and we should also remember that the temp to satan is referred to in scripture as the lawless one

00:23:59.320 to thessalonians 2 8 and sin itself is defined as lawlessness and jesus has come to destroy

00:24:10.380 the works of the devil and and restore his people to righteousness and obedience to the law

00:24:15.500 look at the logic of the apostle john it's unshakable everyone who commits sin also breaks

00:24:21.260 the law sin is the breaking of law you know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins

00:24:28.820 and there is no sin in him as such the believer does not make a lifestyle john says a practice

00:24:38.120 of sinning because to do so is to place oneself on the side of lawlessness and with the devil

00:24:44.020 the one who practices sin is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning

00:24:50.560 the son of god appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil so that's how

00:24:57.400 jesus dealt with satan in the ministry of jesus he had to deal with the interpreters of the law

00:25:05.520 jesus and the pharisees it's vitally important to notice

00:25:11.860 in relation to the law jesus owned ministry and debates with the religious authorities

00:25:20.060 he was often in dialogue and dispute with the teachers of the law who challenged him

00:25:24.860 in order to disclose that he was not a violator of god's law either in his life or teaching but

00:25:33.200 rather its fullness, its confirmation, its completion, its fulfillment. He puts it into

00:25:43.080 practice completely. He accomplishes its requirements flawlessly. So the sin of the

00:25:49.740 Pharisee was not that they longed to obey God's law out of love to God, but they were seeking a 0.71

00:25:56.040 way around God's law through their own customs, their own reasonings, their own traditions.

00:26:03.200 the the Jewish Talmud carries on the tradition of the Pharisees and has done for centuries

00:26:09.820 and it forms a very telling illustration of the kind of arguments that the master was up against

00:26:15.420 Gary North notes he says the Talmud is a giant exercise in finding ways to escape the Old

00:26:23.280 Testament texts the Pharisees were in rebellion against God's law all in the name of God's law

00:26:31.340 he goes on to cite david weiss who is a master of the talmud formerly an orthodox jew but a

00:26:41.980 professor now at a conservative jewish theological seminary devoted his academic career to a detailed

00:26:47.480 study of various versions of the talmud and he actually describes its effective use this is what

00:26:53.620 he says with one hand you acknowledge god's existence at the same time you want to have

00:26:59.600 some maneuverability studying critically is contending with god's writ acknowledging it

00:27:06.700 but using criticism to alter it man is powerless vis-a-vis god but powerful vis-a-vis his torah

00:27:16.000 there he can assert his independence by offering an interpretation different from the one god

00:27:23.020 intended and it was this approach to the law that jesus is addressing his encounters in the gospels

00:27:31.380 in essence like many modern christians they didn't believe moses and so jesus question echoes down

00:27:39.520 the centuries if you don't believe moses writings how will you believe my words

00:27:48.240 if you don't believe him how will you believe me some telling examples at the heart of the dispute

00:27:59.220 are found in john chapter 7 through 10 where during the feast of tabernacles

00:28:05.640 jesus is in an extended discussion with the pharisees over his authority and identity

00:28:11.720 john chapter john chapter 7 through 10 not only does jesus show

00:28:17.720 that he is the fulfillment of the meaning of the older covenant feasts

00:28:24.320 but he clearly points to the authority of the law itself in the course of his teaching in the

00:28:31.300 temple precinct jesus says didn't moses give you the law yet none of you keeps the law

00:28:38.840 why are you trying to kill me

00:28:42.400 this statement invokes the authority of the decalogue the

00:28:47.980 prohibition against murder why are they trying to murder jesus well he's healed

00:28:53.640 somebody on the sabbath his for this work of restoration and

00:28:58.080 wholeness the meaning of the sabbath some of the pharisees

00:29:01.980 want to kill him but they can't agree over their

00:29:05.000 interpretation of the sabbath and all the while they're seeking to murder jesus in violation of 0.97

00:29:13.600 god's law that betrays of course the very life-giving purpose of the commandments

00:29:18.020 the purpose the master had come to fulfill

00:29:20.620 when he defeats at the cross the one who was a murderer from the beginning 0.56

00:29:27.460 who does not stand in the truth of god's law but is a liar and the father of all lies john 8 44

00:29:36.900 then in john 8 13 the pharisees are challenging jesus testimony about himself they're saying it's 0.69

00:29:44.020 invalid christ turns tables and he accuses them of judging by human standards and not in accordance

00:29:54.080 with god's law and he invokes the law of god saying even in your law it is written that the

00:30:01.980 witness of two men is valid i am the one who testifies about myself and the father who sent me

00:30:11.240 testifies about me

00:30:13.780 here jesus proves that his witness is in accordance with god's law par excellence

00:30:21.240 he's not in violation he fully upholds it but the ultimate purpose of jesus is more than dealing

00:30:28.820 with jewish corsistry here that is whether one witness is enough rather it is to show

00:30:35.180 the commandment to honor father and mother is exemplified in his relationship to his father

00:30:40.840 george brooke says the reader is to perceive this is the reader of john

00:30:50.840 that the light of life available in torah is available in knowing the one who keeps the law

00:30:57.900 of exodus 20 16 and deuteronomy 5 20 in association with the father himself and this

00:31:05.200 gets expressed explicitly in John 8 49 Jesus now responds to the charge that he has a demon

00:31:11.460 aren't you amazed that that these people are not struck dead on the spot

00:31:16.280 but that's the forbearance of God isn't it he's charged with having a demon

00:31:21.560 and with remarkable reference to the fifth commandment about honoring parents this is what

00:31:26.760 Jesus says the Pharisees insult Jesus and by extension his father but our Lord declares I do

00:31:35.160 not have a demon on the contrary i honor my father and you dishonor me and this sits up the theme

00:31:45.680 of glorifying the father and the father glorifying the son later on in jesus dialogue

00:31:51.320 so ultimately by honoring christ jesus the son a person honors the father and so hallows god's name

00:31:58.420 which fulfills the law positively of prohibiting taking the lord's name in vain

00:32:05.660 in john 10 30 where jesus declares his unity with the father he says i and the father are one

00:32:13.720 the prohibition of the decalogue you shall have no other god

00:32:17.240 gods before me is evidently being stated positively so i encourage you

00:32:24.460 bathe yourself in john 7 through 10 and look at jesus interaction with regard to the law pivot

00:32:31.900 quickly now to the synoptic gospels there's several clear statements in dialogue with the

00:32:37.620 pharisees that are very instructive as we try and imitate the lord and learn and apply what rabbi 0.88

00:32:43.460 jesus has to say jesus says in matthew 23 woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites

00:32:51.300 you pay a tenth of mint dill and cumin yet you have neglected the more important matters of

00:32:57.500 the law justice mercy and faith these things should have been done without neglecting the others

00:33:04.240 blind guides you strain out a gnat yet gulp down a camel

00:33:11.120 so what is everywhere implied in john's gospel is explicit in matthew remember look at it here

00:33:18.840 jesus takes issue not with the law of god cut by the very finger of god and placed in the ark of

00:33:25.760 the covenant one copy for god one copy for the people in accordance with the cesarean treaty

00:33:34.280 format but his issue is with the pharisees hypocrisy in regard to the law the lord doesn't

00:33:42.320 even criticize being faithful in tithing but he distinguishes the weightier matters of god's law

00:33:50.720 that come first and this was the master's constant complaint against the teachers of his day they

00:33:58.060 lacked consistency they kept parts of the law that looked good on the outside when they could

00:34:02.920 be performed by people but they were not interested in the substance and the meaning of the law

00:34:08.320 they neglected its meaning and this contradiction is also what makes jesus remark so humorous

00:34:17.400 seeing a person straining a gnat out of their drink because their little flying insect has

00:34:24.160 gotten in there whilst being happy to gulp down a camel perfectly expressed the sin of the pharisees

00:34:33.220 their rejection of god's law word jesus gives a similar image in the following verses

00:34:41.140 the image of a person concerned to wash the outside of the cup and bowl to look pristine

00:34:48.360 externally whilst the inside is filthy so it was not that the law of god was loved and obeyed

00:34:58.980 from the heart by the religious teachers of the law which is what god's law requires in

00:35:03.360 deuteronomy 6 6 it was quite the opposite their outward conformity 0.60

00:35:08.520 was a pretense it was a sham it was a piece of theater

00:35:16.020 it lacked authenticity it lacked the true passion of inwardness

00:35:24.260 and so jesus is explicit on the outside you seem righteous to people but inside 0.91

00:35:32.980 you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness 0.93

00:35:37.780 inside they are full of greed 1.00

00:35:49.920 and self-indulgence

00:35:52.380 blind Pharisee first clean the inside of the cup

00:35:57.900 at the centre of the Lord's woe then 0.95

00:36:06.020 pronounced against these religious authorities is that you are clean on the outside but dead

00:36:12.160 and dirty on the inside the master makes the same point in matthew 15 18 through 20 with a direct

00:36:21.340 reference to the decalogue he says but what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and this

00:36:27.820 defiles a man from the heart come evil thoughts murders adulteries sexual immoralities thefts

00:36:37.940 false testimonies blasphemies these are the things that defile a man but eating with unwashed hands

00:36:44.320 does not defile a man because of sin salvation was never possible by obeying the law never

00:36:57.480 only Christ Jesus has ever truly obeyed it in fact giving salvation was never the law's intended

00:37:07.720 function the law the Torah the wisdom of God was given as the path of life and blessing not the

00:37:16.440 source of life and blessing only faith in the promise and blood of the covenant meant salvation

00:37:25.060 and redemption which is why the instructions for the tabernacle were given to moses by god himself

00:37:31.960 just as the tablets were given to moses obedience to god's commands was to be the expression of

00:37:40.740 gratitude for grace jesus christ was and is the full realization of both promise and atoning

00:37:51.400 sacrificed just as the true temple we're told in hebrews is in heaven where christ makes intercession

00:37:59.880 and moses gets the copy for the earth so the law inscribed in stone by the lord is now written on

00:38:07.640 the tables of the heart that's the meaning of the newer covenant that's what the new covenant is

00:38:14.240 the priestly administration and the location of the covenant law have changed

00:38:23.880 it's no longer an erotic priesthood it's a priesthood after the order of melchizedek

00:38:29.180 we are a kingdom of priests

00:38:31.080 the location of the law is no longer on tablets of stone in the ark of the covenant it's now

00:38:39.980 written on the heart but the substance is unchanged let me give you one final encounter

00:38:46.240 with the pharisees recorded in matthew 15 and mark 7 which is relevant for understanding jesus

00:38:53.500 attitude to the law the master is challenged as to why his disciples are not following the

00:39:00.840 tradition of the elders by ceremonial hand washing and jesus response again directly quotes

00:39:08.560 the Decalogue Exodus 20 12 but combines it with a case law from Exodus 21 17 that carries a

00:39:18.320 sanction he said this he answered them and why do you break God's commandment because of your

00:39:23.100 tradition for God said honor your father and your mother and the one who speaks evil of father or

00:39:28.920 mother must be put to death but you say whoever tells his father or mother whatever benefit you

00:39:34.120 might have received from me as a gift committed to the temple he does not have to honor his father 0.98

00:39:40.040 in this way you have revoked god's word because of your tradition and many other things like this

00:39:50.260 he says you do note especially that jesus does not say why do you break moses command

00:39:57.400 or moses said honor your father and mother you've revoked moses

00:40:04.520 no jesus says this is what god has said these are god's commandments they are revoking god's word

00:40:15.020 now i haven't got time to exegete the incorrigible child this is not to do with

00:40:19.340 executing disobedient children in the house this is something completely different to that i haven't

00:40:25.080 got time to discuss all the details of that but this is critically important what jesus has to

00:40:31.740 say here you revoke god's commandment by your traditions at issue is the hypocrisy of the

00:40:40.360 pharisee who has scruples about ceremonially unwashed hands but excuses a man for financially

00:40:47.940 supporting his parents in their old age if he's made a good gift to the temple

00:40:52.300 human teachings and traditions have been put in the place of god's law now isn't this the

00:41:00.040 attitude that's commonplace in the church

00:41:01.920 right across the west where we neither know god's law nor teach god's law as our lord and master

00:41:11.880 taught it but we place instead our preferences our customs our scruples our proclivities 0.67

00:41:19.380 are political ideas instead don't dance drink smoke or chew and don't go with girls that do

00:41:27.960 is not in the bible

00:41:29.500 but many speak of such things as though they are

00:41:35.300 as though that is the law word of god so at the heart of christ's rebuke

00:41:41.980 is not just an affirmation of the righteousness and authority of god's law but it's a

00:41:49.160 warning it's a warning against replacing god's law with our own ideas even if they sound rational

00:42:00.540 dare i say even if we say they're taught by nature because the problem with that

00:42:06.760 without digressing into a what do i do with my water there it is a lengthy critique

00:42:12.840 this may not be mine if it was doug's it's communion

00:42:16.360 is the which school of the natural law theorists are we talking about where is the where is the

00:42:28.980 codification of natural law that i can turn to as an authority the the the various rationalistic

00:42:39.760 philosophers who taught a pagan version of natural law couldn't agree on what the natural law is or

00:42:46.960 was it was the stoics who originated the idea now of course i understand that what the reformers

00:42:52.680 talked about as the law of nations the natural law was the law of the bible thomas aquinas himself

00:42:56.760 said god's law is necessary to correct the natural law because of sin but let's make sure we don't

00:43:04.880 use the natural law paradigm as an excuse for ignoring what jesus taught of ignoring the

00:43:11.500 explicit commands of god because oh we've got a kind of a natural law adjustment to that

00:43:16.300 i'm following the master

00:43:18.900 they worship me in vain jesus said teaching as doctrines the commands of men matthew 15 9

00:43:34.880 in all these interactions we see Jesus and his followers had neither broken nor abrogated the law 0.57

00:43:43.020 those Jews who remained unconvinced were caricatured as blind Pharisees descended from

00:43:48.440 the devil for those who desire wisdom they can now find her in the person of Christ who is both

00:43:54.080 the law-giving prophet promised by Moses and the very meaning and purpose of the law itself

00:44:00.560 as he gives eternal life to those who believe in him and keep his commandments

00:44:05.980 well let's say something about jesus and the mountains then because we can't complete the

00:44:15.120 discussion about jesus and the law without reference to the master's great sermon on the

00:44:20.520 mountain coming in from the wilderness the lord went up onto the mountain as the greater moses

00:44:29.440 to explain to teach and to confirm the law we've already seen that the law did not begin to have

00:44:37.680 relevance at sinai or with the sermon on the mount verne poythras is helpful here he says the law of

00:44:46.560 the old testament is not a mere datum or a mere code book but the personal word of the great king

00:44:53.500 of the universe and who is this king from eternity to eternity the word was with god and the word was

00:45:01.640 god the king is the trinitarian god father son and holy spirit god the son was always at work

00:45:08.480 from the beginning the law of moses is a reflection and foreshadowing of the absolute perfection

00:45:16.600 and righteousness of christ so the greater moses goes up onto the mountain

00:45:25.400 all people in all ages have been obligated to love their creator and their neighbor

00:45:34.880 from the very beginning

00:45:36.820 as the prophet says they have violated the everlasting covenant when jonah went to preach

00:45:45.400 in Nineveh what do you think he was preaching about the code book of the Ninevites of the

00:45:51.980 Assyrians some generalized conception of the laws of reason no he preached like Amos the law of God

00:46:01.580 difficult to understand Jonah isn't it he's a one of the most successful theologian evangelists

00:46:09.800 ever and yet he's pretty miserable about the fact that God spared the Ninevites

00:46:15.060 and that they repented from the king down let's not be caught in that kind of a trap that what

00:46:23.260 we enjoy is pronouncing woe and judgment but not knowing what spirit we are of when people turn to

00:46:29.700 faith in christ even the disciples had to be warned about that the sons of thunder james and

00:46:35.740 lord should we call down fire from heaven upon them jesus says you don't know what spirit you are of

00:46:43.020 well since the words of christ love god love your neighbor these were summaries

00:46:54.220 of the law that was established with creation since

00:46:59.240 the law of god had relevance and power prior to moses we should likewise expect that it would

00:47:04.600 have no less force after the passing of moses and that's exactly what we see

00:47:11.680 the kings of israel after moses were required to read the law every day and to make their own copy

00:47:22.780 of the law for themselves deuteronomy 17 18 through 20 they had to write out a copy you know how

00:47:29.460 sometimes when you're making notes you remember things better well moses in the in deuteronomy

00:47:36.180 the kings are commanded make a copy of the law for yourself remember that the law got lost ezra

00:47:44.340 helps recover it so the rebuilding can take place notably then the kings of israel are to make a

00:47:52.840 copy of the law and so we would expect that the greatest son of david the messiah king would

00:47:59.180 endorse and apply the law of god in its fullness as the author and the lord of the law and that's

00:48:07.920 what we see in the sermon on the mountain in matthew 5 through 7 that jesus presupposes

00:48:15.240 the validity of the law and its binding authority he presupposes it don't assume that i came to

00:48:23.400 destroy the law or the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill for i assure you until

00:48:30.420 heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law

00:48:37.020 until all things are accomplished therefore whoever breaks one of the least of these commands

00:48:43.740 and teaches people to do so will be called least where in the kingdom of heaven but whoever practices

00:48:52.980 and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven so notice that jesus is

00:49:00.040 referring to the totality of his law till the end of history as we know it rightly interpreted

00:49:06.820 and that to teach and practice god's commands will mean being called great not in some past

00:49:14.700 dispensation but great in the kingdom of god in the kingdom of heaven to break god's law and teach

00:49:26.140 others to do the same will mean being leased that is there will be believers who will tell people

00:49:32.880 you don't need to worry about god's law

00:49:35.240 there'll be antinomians the meaning of the word fulfill the greek word pleru which has been

00:49:44.380 much discussed by you will discover by referring to any commentary is surely settled by the context

00:49:52.300 of the abiding validity and presence of the kingdom of heaven

00:49:56.220 so at the very least the law's abiding validity is being confirmed

00:50:01.920 it cannot mean an ending or setting aside of the law if it meant that the whole sermon on

00:50:09.060 the mount is a self-contradiction on the contrary it means that the law and the prophets why the

00:50:20.340 law and the prophets well what did the prophets do what was the message of the prophets return

00:50:24.420 to God return to his law return to his word come back to the word come back to the law return to

00:50:28.860 god the law and the prophets which are not yet filled out jesus is going to make full

00:50:39.260 rabbi jesus was not setting aside god's law it's he says so himself nor adding something

00:50:46.340 quantitatively to the law as a supplement but he's giving the rightful measure

00:50:53.120 god had always intended here's what herman ritterboss

00:50:57.040 says fulfillment means the effectual assertion of the demands of the law

00:51:03.360 the word suggests a vessel that is being filled the vessel of the law is given its rightful measure

00:51:12.240 for this purpose jesus has come when the master in his sermon uses the expression

00:51:20.500 you have heard that it was said but i tell you he's not refuting the law he's not correcting

00:51:29.040 god's own word but he's filling out its meaning by addressing the misunderstandings and abuses

00:51:38.380 that have arisen and he does so with authority and also i should add originality as the author

00:51:44.860 of the law. In fact, the grammar of the phrase allows the meaning, in agreement with this, I say

00:51:53.480 to you. In agreement with this, I say to you. So the meaning of murder, adultery, divorce, oath-taking,

00:52:01.820 just retribution, generosity, love of neighbor, they're all taken up and they're filled out

00:52:07.600 in the greater Moses sermon on the mountain. The practices of then true worship, facing worldly

00:52:14.480 cares distinguishing between good and evil following jesus accepting his authority they're

00:52:19.680 all dealt with in the sermon in reference to god's wisdom getting to the root of things our heart

00:52:26.440 motives the inside not just the outside the inside our lord's climactic statement be perfect

00:52:37.180 therefore as your heavenly father is perfect isn't that reminiscent of what was said to abraham

00:52:46.480 walk before me abraham and be thou perfect

00:52:55.160 leviticus 19 2 be holy because i the lord your god am holy

00:53:04.660 the way in which each aspect of the law is confirmed and filled out through jesus life

00:53:11.820 and his redemptive work and teaching involves the task of rightly dividing the word of truth

00:53:16.720 that's where the hard work is done and it's all under the yoke of christ the master but there

00:53:23.680 can be no question of abolishing or setting aside god's law i think the comments of richard barcelos

00:53:29.780 in his critique of new covenant theology is instructive he says this the law christ expounded

00:53:36.840 in the sermon on the mount and revealed in the epistles through his apostles includes portions

00:53:42.460 of the very things moses wrote and sometimes without qualification paul quotes the decalogue

00:53:50.040 in romans 13 9 without any new covenant contrastive qualifications in matthew 5 jesus is indeed

00:53:57.800 introducing a contrast but not between the law of moses and the law of christ rather the contrast

00:54:04.320 is between a true understanding of the law of moses and the false understanding evidenced in

00:54:10.220 the hypocrisy of the scribes and pharisees well let me end with this those of you who have beards

00:54:19.900 will appreciate that picture it's just from a jesus move me it's not idolatry

00:54:26.040 a disciple a disciple is nothing without a master to follow and obey

00:54:38.340 and in what we call the great commission

00:54:43.000 the master clearly taught that the commandments have an ongoing role in evangelism in disciple

00:54:53.260 making and the advance of god's kingdom shattering all the restrictions of national israel

00:55:02.640 which we see in matthew 21 43 the international people of god jew and gentile now disciple all

00:55:11.740 nations which includes teaching the full content of god's law

00:55:17.060 everything i have commanded you says poythras naturally includes the sermon on the mount

00:55:25.680 and within the sermon it includes jesus statement about the continuing force of the law

00:55:30.500 this is why when people say you know jesus said nothing about homosexuality or bestiality

00:55:37.920 really he said a great deal about it because he upheld the totality of his law

00:55:42.480 in addition we are given the personal assurance of our divine rabbi that his everlasting presence

00:55:55.600 will empower and accompany us on our mission and so we are therefore to imitate christ by

00:56:03.880 teaching the law and understanding it through his life and work as the late Greg Barnson explains

00:56:13.700 he says the Christian being condemned by the law saved by Christ's obedience to the law

00:56:20.800 and sanctified by the spirit in accordance with the law is to propagate the Christian gospel in

00:56:27.680 conjunction with pressing home the demands of god's holy law teaching the nations to observe

00:56:34.640 the commandments of god is a definite obligation laid upon christians by christ the christian life

00:56:41.420 and god's kingdom are theonomic through and through as evidenced by both the lord's prayer

00:56:45.980 thy kingdom come thy will be done and the great commission to walk with the master

00:56:53.680 to be his disciple we have to tread the same sod by honoring the same father

00:57:05.000 loving the same law teaching the same commandments and imitating his life of faithful obedience

00:57:15.920 rid of boss exhorts us the theonomy i've loved this statement the theonomy of the gospel is

00:57:25.220 subjection to the law and any attempt to eliminate the category of law from the gospel

00:57:30.720 is frustrated by the continuous and undeniable maintenance of the law by and in the gospel

00:57:39.960 this is confirmed by the words of the master from his heavenly throne

00:57:47.320 the same lord who engraved his law into the stone tablets at sinai and expounded the law

00:57:57.780 upon the mountain here's what he says from his heavenly throne and with this i close 1.00

00:58:03.120 but the cowards unbelievers vile murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all liars 1.00

00:58:14.760 their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death 1.00

00:58:20.900 outside are the dogs the sorcerers the sexually immoral the murderers the idolaters and everyone 0.89

00:58:31.180 who loves and practices lying this is the word of the lord thanks be to god 0.99

The NXR Podcast - May 07, 2024

THE CONFERENCE - General Equity Theonomy - Session 7 - Dr. Joseph Boot

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