OLD VERSUS NEW
TESTAMENT SPIRITUALITY
(Matthew 5:17-37)
Christ said that He came not to abolish
the law but to fulfill it. He came to perfect the Old Testament. The
Old Testament can be compared to a coloring book; it contains the
black outline of figures but have no colors. We have to fill in the
colors. Christ sort of filled up the empty colors of the Old
Testament, thus making it complete and beautiful.
Since the pharisees and the scribes
were well observant of the Old Testament, Christ, in announcing the
beginning of the New Testament, clearly stated that to go to heaven
one must surpass the righteousness of the pharisees and the scribes.
Otherwise, He says, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, in the gospel, Christ began to
enumerate what was considered Old Testament requirements and then
showed how we can surpass these with the New Testament
requirements.
He began to state that, in the Old
Testament, to commit murder, you have to kill someone. In the New
Testament, he who gets angry without good cause is already guilty of
murder. Of course, we can get angry with a good cause, i.e., to do
good. But getting angry because of differences of opinion or because
of money is getting angry without a good reason and, therefore, is
murder.
Before, if you have done wrong to
others, you must make peace with them before offering your
sacrifice. Now, if they have done you wrong, you must make peace
with them before offering your sacrifice. If they refuse your peace,
you no longer are at fault.
Bringing one another to court was
acceptable before. Now, lawsuits are considered as coming from the
devil because they distract one who is seriously seeking God's
kingdom. The devil and his cohorts use lawsuits to distract souls
from seeking God. If this happens, Christ tells us to return to the
adversary, the devil, everything that belongs to him...which is sin.
Be sure you do not find yourself before the judgment seat of God,
possessing something that belongs to the devil, i.e., sin.
In the Old Testament, to commit
adultery, a man must go with a married person. In the New Testament,
a mere look at a woman with the desire to commit adultery is already
adultery.
In the Old Testament, divorce was
allowed to some extent because of the hardness of heart of the Jews,
so that an angry husband may divorce his wife. This was allowed to
protect the wife from being killed. But in the New Testament,
divorce or separation is absolutely not allowed except in the case
of fornication or adultery. Meaning to say, if the husband commits
fornication or adultery, the wife may leave him or send him away.
But neither can remarry. Psychological incompatibility,
irreconcilable differences, and all the other man-made bases for
annulment are not acceptable to God and cannot be used as bases for
separation, more so for annulment. Christ said so...regardless of
what human and fallible priests say.
If the eye or the arm causes you to
sin, pluck it out. The eye and the arm are representations of those
close to you, your husband, wife, friend, etc...have nothing to do
with them. Though you must be careful in defining "causes you
to sin." Because, ordinarily, no one can force you to sin. But
parents can cause their children to sin by not teaching their
children or preventing them from learning the truth on the way to
salvation.
(updated
03-16-02) |