Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Written Law Kills...

"The written law kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6, NIRV)

Many years ago, my sister was part of a women's Bible study composed of both long-time and new believers. One day one of the new believers, a fairly young woman, I think, shared with the group that she was in a very (physically) abusive marriage and asked for the counsel of the group about what God had to say about her situation. From what I recall of the story, at least some in the group told her that she needed to "submit" to her husband and trust God to give her grace, etc. My heart breaks even 30+ years later as I finish this story: the young woman went home so depressed that she took her own life. "The written law kills..." I have yet to hear another story that better illustrates how true Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 3:6 are!

I still cannot think of this story without grief and anger. No wonder the Apostle Paul was so vehement in his attack on legalism and so vigorous in his defense of the Gospel of grace! And we all know that this story, although extreme, represents all of the kinds of death that living by the law always brings, even when advocated by sincere people. "The written law kills..."

So how can we avoid falling into the trap of legalistic thinking? And how can we avoid falling off the other side into "cheap grace"? Goodness, those questions are way too big to be answered in one little blog entry! Indeed, much of my early writing in this blog (about intimacy and living loved) is part of the longer answer to this question. So today I simply want to throw out a few simple thoughts about how to approach scripture and not end up in death-dealing legalism.

In a nutshell, any interpretation of scripture that violates the character of God as revealed in other places should be suspect. Biblical passages are always understood in context, and the largest context of all is the nature and character of God as revealed throughout the entire Bible and especially in Jesus. (Remember, the Bible is not a rule book or book of principles but a revelation of God's character as seen most often in the stories of His interaction with people).

As a specific example of how this approach works, let's go back to my sister's tragic story. First Corinthians 13:4-7 reveals God’s character (God is love), and one of the phrases there says “Love (God) is kind.” Is it kind to tell an abused woman, “Submit to the abuse, live in this relationship, or if you sever it, you can never marry again!”? Good grief! Does this sound kind to you? Yes, there is suffering in this life, but nowhere in Scripture are we told to deliberately expose ourselves to pain that we can avoid. When it is unavoidable we can be assured of His grace to endure (I think of Paul's and Peter’s words to slaves, etc.), but if there is a way to escape, it’s healthy and “biblical” to escape it. Remember, God’s preferred method of changing us is kindness, not pain. When pain is unavoidable because we live in a fallen world, God will give grace and even use that pain, but we should never think that He needs pain to mature us nor that we need to help Him out by seeking out pain! Any good parent understands this! Discipline is the necessary but less preferred approach to maturing our children. And we are imperfect parents at best, yet we know this.

How this principle of interpretation plays out in my life is not subjective, however. People can go down strange paths when they use their "feelings" about what God is like to interpret Scripture! So how this works in my life is that when I run across something that seems at odds with the larger context of God's nature, I stop and ask Him, "What am I missing here?" Often His response is to tell me to check my assumptions and also check out the other contexts of the passage, especially the original context in which the passage was given. Interestingly enough, when we do this regarding an abusive marriage, a very strong case can be made for divorce as a discipline for an unrepentant abuser. This to me sounds much more like the heart of a gracious Father. (Before you get all nervous or upset about this statement, check out the compelling research of Dr. David Instone-Brewer, Divorce and Remarriage in the Church. The author explores the texts usually used to condemn women to staying in abusive situations in light of the cultural and theological context of the original hearers of the New Testament. His discoveries and conclusions may surprise you.) Please note that I am not devaluing marriage or suggesting that we don't attempt reconciliation. I am talking about situations where repentance is not forthcoming (defining repentance here as something lived out and not just talked about) and where the abuse is continuing.

"The written law kills, but the Spirit gives life." Freedom from the Law is scary, isn't it? In some ways, it's far easier to live only by principles rather than under the gentle but compelling leadership of Holy Spirit. But life is not found in laws or principles, life is found in living loved and surrendered to, and saturated with, God's Spirit. And when we live in that manner, grace is not scary nor is it cheap. Rather we see life springing up where death once reigned. I choose life!

Treasuring His word (with humility, I trust),

Tom, one of Abba's little boys

2 comments:

Jayme Woolam said...

So true. I love how you say that the Bible isn't a book of rules but a revelation of Gods character. Thanks, Tom!

Jim Greer said...

Nice Post Professor!