894. The Law Says She Should Be Stoned - So Why Wasn't She?

We're familiar with the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery who the Pharisees brought before Jesus ... who was teaching in the temple with plenty of witnesses. Of course, they could have stoned her anywhere, but they saw an opportunity to try to trap Jesus into saying something that opposed the law—which would be punishable by death. They knew He wasn't likely to pass judgement on the woman, so they thought they had Him between a rock and a hard place.

Did Jesus somehow go against the law of Moses or disregard it in some way? Some might be left with this impression, but Jesus wasn't about to go against a law that needed to remain in place until He would eventually fulfill it. We provide a perspective on how all of this went down, and why the Pharisees released their rubble and walked away—in spite of the law still being in place and what it had declared.



   
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801. The 800 Club: Looking Back - The Law-Based Words of Jesus

Celebrating our milestone of 800 programs, we’re looking back at some of the vital discussions we’ve had over the years. One of those topics is the many times that Jesus was not providing new information or directives to those who would eventually become Christian believers, but quite often His focus was to minister the Mosaic law to the Jews who were under it. This included the entire Sermon on the Mount. His purpose was not to try to get them to be better law-keepers, but to show them their inability to live by the requirement and reveal the need for a better option—a Savior who could fulfill the law, free them from it, and provide salvation for the world.

We’ve been accused of hyper grace by legalistic “ministries” who have stated we’re running from the words of Jesus. We’re actually running to the words of Jesus but prefer to consider them within the proper context of both the Old and New covenants.

Past podcast episodes that we mentioned in this episode:
•The Non-Christian Teachings of Jesus (Growing in Grace #444​)
•Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (series) (Click for Part 1, then click "Newer Post" for each subsequent episode.)
•Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (YouTube playlist)

   
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778. Grace or Works: The Apostles Vs. The James Gang

This week’s program dives into Acts chapter 15 where Peter, Paul and others met with the Jerusalem church council which included James and former Pharisees. The apostles were making the case during a heated debate that God was saving the Gentiles and receiving the Spirit freely. The council had accepted that Gentiles could be saved, but believed they needed to be “brought into the fold” by including and applying the law of Moses with the newfound life given by God’s Spirit.

The debate was about choosing whether salvation is by grace through faith alone … or whether works of the law needed to be included. In the end, James spoke on behalf of the church board with a surprising change of opinion—or judgment—by saying the Gentiles should not be troubled with keeping the Mosaic law. Although not everyone agreed, the revelation being brought forth was that Gentiles would not be brought into the old way of law, but that Jews were also freed from it. It couldn’t be a grace/law mixture for one group (Jews) and not the other (Gentiles).

   
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771. "Jesus Told Us We Should Tithe!" Fact Checked: False

Did Jesus teach us believers to tithe in the New Covenant which was established after His death? Well-intentioned religious folks who are in the nasty habit of combining the old and new covenants together will tell you He did. But when Jesus mentioned the tithe to the Pharisees, He was speaking to their hypocrisy about the law of Moses—which came to an end after the death of Jesus.

The tithe was part of that old law. The Jews were still under it when Jesus walked the earth. The purpose of Jesus coming was to free Israel from that law and to tear down that wall of law so Gentiles could also experience freedom and life. We abide in a different covenant and are not under any of the old law. And yet, church incorporated can’t resist cherry picking a few of their chosen favorites from that obsolete package. The tithe is usually one of them. Even Jesus stated the tithe was about food—not money and not all of your income.

Under the law, tithing was a requirement for the sake of the priestly Levitical tribe, as they received a tenth of the food from the other tribes of Israel. Now in Christ, we freely give as motivated by perfect love.

   
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550. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 7): Teach the Law and Do It?

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a purpose of revealing to His disciples what the law truly required in order to attain righteousness. He was ultimately teaching that it would be futile for them to maintain the standard it demanded in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Religion will try to make this out to be a new Christian teaching that Jesus was laying before His Jewish audience, but what He was actually laying down was the law. Jesus would begin to show they needed to find a different way other than through the works of that law.



   

396. Where Are Your Accusers?

We take a look at the well-known story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Why was she accused and what happened to her accusers? The devil is called the accuser of the brethren in one passage of scripture. But of the nearly 2 dozen references of accusers in the New Testament, almost all of them are religious people who were zealous for the Law. If you're looking to be accused of wrong doing, hang out with self-righteous religious people.

Yet Jesus did not accuse the accusers. Rather, He pointed out someone who did accuse them of not believing in Him. It turns out to be one of their heroes.

Where Are Your Accusers? (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
(Click to Play or Right-Click to Download.)

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This week's GIG Bite (A quick highlight from this week's program.)

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391. Jesus Taught the Law to Show How Impossible It Is

Jesus said He didn't come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. And this is exactly what He did. He taught the law. He directed the people who were under the law (the Jews) to follow the law. His law ministry was directed to people who were under the law. Why did He do this? Jesus was showing those who thought they were following the law that they really fell far short of it.

If you're going to try to justify yourself before God by attempting to follow the standards of His laws, Jesus will show you, as He did various people whom He came across, just how lofty a standard the law really is! We can then either go away sad (like the rich young ruler did) or we can come to the realization that since it's such an unattainable standard, what we really need is the gift of God's righteousness, apart from any of our own attempts at living up to God's lawful standards.

The gospel is not about us establishing righteousness through what we do. But rather it's about God establishing it for us. This is what Jesus attempted to reveal as He spoke to these people prior to the New Covenant.

Jesus Taught the Law to Show How Impossible It Is (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
(Click to Play or Right-Click to Download.)

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This week's GIG Bite (A quick highlight from this week's program.)

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209. Jesus' Harsh Words to Self-Righteous Hypocrites

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Did Jesus approach everyone in the same way? During the past few weeks we've hopefully been successful at throwing that idea into the shredder! Jesus spoke differently to different people, and didn't always approach and respond to them in the same way - and it always depended upon all kinds of varying factors. It never was black and white.

So what about Jesus' interaction with self-righteous people and hypocrites (essentially one in the same)? It seems as if these people bugged Jesus the most, and He often had more than a mouthful to say to them. This week we look at one such example of His interaction with them in Matthew 23, as He speaks openly and harshly to and about the self-righteous, hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.