Daily Lesson May 21, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 7 verses 18 and 19:

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

"A former commandment is set aside."

It's astonishing to see that kind of statement in the Bible -- especially for us Baptists who were so long taught that the whole Bible was infallible and all its commandments were to be believed and obeyed. But if we're reflective and honest enough we will admit that nobody is following the whole letter of the law; nor should they!

I know saying these things opens us to accusations of "picking and choosing" what to obey and what not to obey. For me it's not really about picking and choosing. It's about discerning. The law, according to the author of Hebrews, was never supposed to be taken as an ultimate end in itself. There was, as he wrote, a "better hope" to come. That hope is the Gospel, of which the law could only be a shadow.

Jesus taught that he did not come to do away with the law but to perfect it (Matthew 5:17). By saying that he implied that though the law was necessary and even good, it was not perfect. He came to show us "a better hope" -- in other words, a better way of salvation beyond the law. He showed us how to live into that better hope -- taking from the law what was good and useful, but setting aside what was no longer necessary or appropriate. He went beyond the letter of the law and surpassed it with the spirit of his life. 

When a former commandment becomes obsolete because of "weakness" or "uselessness" it is no longer a crisis of faith. This is what it means to be set free from the law; otherwise we still slaves to it. Jesus came to teach us how to live free; and so now we are free indeed. 

The Apostle Paul said that "we are not under law, but under grace." The grace given to us is the spirit -- something which a law, though perhaps necessary, can never give. Those who live in this spirit go beyond the law's requirements. They live into "a better hope". And the hope is better because the life of the spirit gets us closer to the heart of God than the law ever could.