Judeo vchristian Values (2)

The 8th principle in the February 14th (2023) post by Dennis Prager on the Townhall website is one we totally agree with. As he answers the question, "What Are Judeo-Christian Values?" he comments:

We must not follow our hearts. Both religious Jews and Christians are keenly aware of how morally dangerous it is to be led by our emotions. Those who reject Judeo-Christian values are far more likely to follow and promote the advice, "Follow your heart."

Prager ought to send a copy of this point to the Hallmark channels, since, "Follow your heart," is one of their most often-chanted mantras. Of course, it is a morally dangerous philosophy. Solomon said it plainly: "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool\” (Pr. 28:26). Jeremiah added: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). Why is that? The answer may be that human beings form an emotional attachment to sinful practices, and they will not easily let them go. We tend to justify all manner of wrongdoing.

One can see how well following one's heart works out in the Book of Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25). In other words, they followed their hearts instead of God's objective standards. Many are walking down this same path today. Truly, such a course of action defies Judeo-Christian values.

The Ten Commandments

Although he may mean well with precept number nine, Prager is clearly off the mark with this one. He claims that the Ten Commandments form "the core of Judeo-Christian values," which is not the case. God gave these commandments to the nation of Israel—not to all mankind. The New Testament of Jesus Christ is made with all nations.

First of all, he does not address the Sabbath day, the fourth commandment. It is not repeated as part of the New Testament. Christians have no Sabbath observance, the Sabbath being the seventh day of the week (Saturday). "But don't we have a Christian Sabbath?" someone might ask. No. We do worship on the first day of the week, but it is not called a Sabbath day, nor do any of the rules given to the Jews apply.

For one, the Israelites could do no work on the Sabbath. One man gathered sticks together, and God gave as a punishment that he should be stoned for that violation, which he was (Num. 15:32-36). All the congregation took part in the stoning, which was done outside the camp. How many today do something that would constitute work on a Sunday, let alone those whose jobs demand it?

God has not required from the first century onward a rest on either Saturday or Sunday. Second, the Ten Commandments do not contain what Jesus called the greatest commandments—loving God in every way possible, and loving one's neighbor as oneself. These were part of the Law of Moses; but they were not part of the ten (Matt. 22:37-40; Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18).

Third, the Law often dealt with the outward person, but Jesus dealt with the heart. The Law said one must not murder, but Jesus dealt with the hatred that leads to murder (Matt. 5:21-26). The Law said not to commit adultery, but Jesus prohibited lust, which leads to that sin (Matt. 5:27-28). Much of the New Testament emphasizes the development of a person's character (Col. 3:1-15; Gal. 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-7; et al.).

Fourth, since Christianity is not a theocracy, we have no command or obligation to put violators of the covenant to death. The Israelites were to punish with death more than 30 transgressions against God. Christians have no authority to put to death anyone. God authorized the state to administer justice (Rom. 13:1-5).

Fifth, the New Testament of Jesus has totally and thoroughly replaced the Law of Moses. To begin with, Paul notes that the handwriting of requirements (the Law) that was against us, is that which "has been taken out of the way," God "having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14). Some will say, "Oh, that's just the ceremonial part of the law," but Paul designates it as that which was contrary to us. Have we not heard that concept before? How about in Romans 7?

Under the Law, men had sinful passions aroused by the law (Rom. 7:5), but now we have been delivered from the Law. What caused those sinful passions? Was it the dietary laws? The instructions for burnt offerings? Keeping the Sabbath day holy? None of these warred against a person; it was the moral part of the law that caused the conflict. How do we know? Paul wrote: "For I would not have known covetousness unless the law said, "You shall not covet" (Rom. 7:7b).

He continues by saying, "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire" (7:8). Notice Colossians 2:14 again: The law was contrary to us. Whatever there was in the Law of Moses that was contrary to us, that is what was nailed to the cross. Jesus died when He was nailed to the cross. And so did the Law.

The writer of Hebrews declares: "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second" (Heb. 8:7). The first one (the Law of Moses, including all aspects of it) was nailed to the cross (put to death) to allow the second (the New Testament of Jesus) to be established.

The Covenant Foretold

Both the new covenant and the new lawgiver were prophesied in the Old Testament. Moses spoke of a prophet like him that was to come in Deuteronomy 18:15. Many prophets came after Moses, but there is only one like him. Notice Jehovah's description:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him (Deut. 18:18-19).

The people were still looking for that prophet when John the Baptizer made his appearance in the wilderness. People asked him, "Are you the Prophet?" to which he replied in the negative (John 1:21). So, they recognized that prophets from the time of Moses to the time of John were not The Prophet Who was to come. But Jesus did identify Himself as that person.

He who rejects Me and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak (John 12:48-50).

These two passages fit together well. A new lawgiver was coming. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the Bible student reads of a new covenant that is also coming. Just in case some do not make the connection, this passage is cited in Hebrews 8:8-12. It follows immediately after the verse cited earlier, which contrasted the first and second covenants. Jesus is the new Lawgiver, and the New Testament is His new covenant. Thus, the entire old covenant has been made obsolete (Heb. 8:13). Our morality today comes from the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.

Free Will

The tenth point of Prager is that human beings have free will, with which we wholeheartedly agree. However, it seems to be at odds with Calvinism, which states that we are totally depraved at birth. If we have a "sinful nature," where did we get it? Either God gave it to us, or we were born that way. Calvinism affirms this latter possibility. But if we are depraved at birth, how does free will fit in? Being totally depraved means that human beings do not have any option but to sin. We agree with Prager's position here, that man possesses free will, but we're not sure how he arrives at that conclusion, in light of his previous comments.

He points out (correctly) that free will does not exist in the secular world "because all human behavior is attributed to biology and environment." He reiterates that only "a religious worldview" can allow for the existence of free will, which is true. If we are only what our genes allow us to be, how does choice exist? If we are only the product of our environment, how do we have free will.

Back in the 1970s, your congenial editor was a member of a parent-teacher group, which was shown the educational film, "What You Are Is Where You Were When." The thesis was that we are a product of our culture and environment—that we have the values of the age we grew up in. When asked for comments, I offered a succinct one: "I discovered this evening that I was born about 1910." The brief comment was to demonstrate that we are not the product of our environment—that we can choose our values.

Debts

The Townhall article under review ends with the author suggesting that Jews and Christians have mutually benefitted each other. He believes that Christianity's basic moral principles come from Judaism and that Christianity has taken the Old Testament to places it might not otherwise have gone. This is mostly the case, so long as we remember that the two systems are not identical.

Christians do not have anything against Jews, per se. Some have been prone to call them "Christ-killers" in time past, but such prejudice overlooks the fact that we are all responsible for Jesus' death on the cross. Yes, some of the Jewish leaders clamored for His death, and the Romans did the actual crucifixion, but He died for the sins of every human being. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). But the gift of God is eternal life. "And He died for all…" (2 Cor. 5:15).

To our Jewish friends, we would like to recommend that they consider the fulfilment of their own prophecies. Jesus fulfills Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 53. He is the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:18-19, and He did bring the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34. He also is the Ruler over the kingdom foretold by Isaiah and Daniel. He ascended to the Ancient of Days and was given His kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 2:29-33). Furthermore, God gave the opportunity first to Jews to enter into the kingdom. Paul wrote:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16).

On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 Jews obeyed the gospel of Christ and were baptized (Acts 2:41). The gospel is still available for Jews to obey. Our prayer is that they all might become subjects of the new covenant and enjoy every spiritual blessing that God has made available for them in Christ's kingdom (Eph. 1:3).