Of Ephods and Ensnarements

Fellow Labourers-

Today's reading is a poignant reminder to all of us that we are still people with feet of clay. We have got to be careful not to sentimentalize the word of God. We cannot have a full understanding of the scriptures apart from the Old Testament. Have you noticed that the apostle Paul uses the phrase "According to the Scriptures" quite often? The only Scripture he could have been referring to was the Old Testament. It is therefore important that our interpretation of the New Testament does not contradict the teaching of the Old Testament.

When we read the Old Testament we will see that its teaching is expiation - the punishment of sin. D.Martyn Lloyd Jones made an interesting observation about the Old Testament. He says "If you apply the teaching of the Old Testament, you can never have a 'subjective' evangelism, by which I mean that the business of evangelism is not just to solve people's problems; psychology does that, the cults do that, many things do that. The thing that separates the gospel from every other teaching is that it is primarily a proclamation of God and our relationship to God. Not our particular problems, but the same problem that has come to all of us, that we are condemned sinners before a Holy God and a holy law. That is evangelism. It must, therefore, always put repentance first. Now the Old Testament constantly reminds us of that and you cannot get away from it."

When we try to live withot the law we can become victims "Of Ephods and Ensnarements." Grace did not void the law; rather it illuminates the law to prevent us from butting our toes in the dark. You see we cannot have justification without sanctification.

Pax Vobiscum

Robert Stewart