A New Law
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
A New Law
by Michael E. Brooks
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah -- not
according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my
covenant which they broke, though I was a husband
to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the Lord: I will put my law in
their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people"
(Jeremiah 31:31-33).
New laws and systems of law occur regularly,
maybe almost daily worldwide. How often do those
new laws really change the conditions in which
people live and their behavior? Though change
does occur sometimes, it is by no means
guaranteed by a change of constitution or statute.
Bangladesh, for example, went from being a part
of India, to being a part of Pakistan, to being
an independent nation, in less than twenty-five
years. In its thirty-plus years of independence
it has had several changes of government, from
those elected by democratic process, to military
dictatorships, and back. In all those changes
neither the conditions of the majority's lives,
nor their behavior, have shown much real
difference. Similar examples could be noted on
virtually all continents and eras of world history.
Yet, sometimes new laws and governments make
real changes in circumstance and behavior. Most
historians would note the Constitution of the
United States as such a difference-making
document and would credit much of the prosperity
and happiness of the American people to it. Other
countries and populations may also be able to
make similar claims for their laws.
Why do these systems work when others do not?
Why do some people react positively to democracy,
for instance, whereas it fails miserably in other
places? Is it a matter of the wisdom and skill of
those who wrote the laws? Is it that some
constitutions are written more perfectly than
others, or that only certain ones have sufficient
safeguards built in? Sometimes we seem to think
that it is all dependent upon the system. If we
get the law just perfect, then it will have to
work.
In the ancient state of Judah, the prophet
Jeremiah admits the failure of a system of law,
even though that law was of divine origin. How
can one question the wisdom or skill of the
writer of the Law of Moses? How can one doubt the
adequacy of its provisions? God himself authored
them. His omniscience devised all the statutes.
Yet he sees need of a change. He promises a new
covenant, "not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers." This, according to
Hebrews 8:7-13, is the covenant given and
administered through Jesus, called elsewhere "the
perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25).
Jeremiah gives us reasons why the new covenant
would succeed where the old one failed. Those
reasons are not completely concerned with the
nature of the law. Rather they address the
relationship of the governed to the law. "I will
put my law in their minds, and write it on their
hearts." The old law was written upon stone
tablets and read to the people. The new law would
be instilled within them. This implies both
agreement with the law and commitment to it on
the part of those governed by it. It is not only
"Gods law" -- it is "our law," one to which we
are devoted.
Someone has said that democracy can succeed only
so long as the people act responsibly.
Christianity is not a democracy, yet God devised
its laws with the same principle in mind. Those
who trust in Christ commit to following his laws.
They willingly submit, making them part of their
very nature. When this happens an amazing thing
follows. Obedience is simplified -- one does what
one really wants to do, which is to please
Christ. This means that his law frees us from
"outside" constraints. It is written on our minds
and in our hearts. It is much more akin to self-
discipline than to coercion or governance from an
outside source. That is why it may be termed a
"law of liberty."
Any Christianity which does not produce changes
in behavior is suspect. We are called out of the
world to be separate (2 Corinthians 6:17). We are
charged to be transformed (Romans 12:1). The new
covenant in Christ Jesus contains the power to
accomplish those changes. Our task is to trust
Christ and to submit to his covenant.
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