[The Perfect
Law, the Law of Liberty [1
Fouad N. Youssef
Necessity of the
law
Human corruptions
necessitate the law. The law is essential for any community, to maintain its
existence and development, regardless of its size. Even in very primitive
tribal communes the law is vital to protect the groups from disintegration and
frailty. Man’s error and corruption are the main source of human weakness and
the main cause for the failure of individuals and societies, which compel the
application of law to protect the community from the corruptions of the
individual, and to protect the individual from the partiality and injustice of
the community. This in return, would insure justice and unity of all the
elements of the community.
The Limitations of the Law
Despite its necessity as described above, we should recognize that the
law has its limitations. In fact, the law is incapable of finding a real
solution to human errors and corruption. The
facts of history demonstrate the inability of the law to resolve the problems
resulting from human deficiencies. Under the law all sort of crimes can be
committed, and unjustly covered and cleverly concealed behind the limitation of
the statutes. Practically, the law fails to guarantee full
justice, or to secure human rights. Neither the civil law under any political
system nor the laws compelled by any religion, including the Mosaic Law itself,
was capable of providing human security or satisfying the requirements for
justice. Accordingly, under the decree of the law, man lived in continuous
misery, and without hope, from generation to generation.
The modern world tried to find scientific solutions for the limitation
of the law through sociology and psychology, but no science can comprehend the
real problems of sin and its deep spiritual damage in the human soul. Thus,
even science proved incapable of resolving the problem of human error and
corruption.
Despite constantly being reviewed and updated, the Law is unable to keep
up with the rapidly evolving and increasingly more sophisticated methods of
criminal deception; much like a fireman who battles one fire only to discover
that two new ones have erupted. Also,
the law is not able to address more than the superficial appearance of human
behavior, which is
very deceiving. Man is very clever to deceive and cover up his deep evil
intentions. He knows how to cover his greediness, and inequities behind a mask
of good deeds and even righteousness. The law depends on clear evidences; this
very superficial view cannot give enough tools to investigate the real causes
of human corruption. The results accordingly are not competent or satisfying.
The Mosaic divine law was introduced to a group of chosen people,
supported by the supreme divine spirituality, to develop a very special cult,
who must follow the law to live a holy life. This cult was chosen under the
guardianship of the Almighty God Himself to demonstrate to the whole world the
superiority and greatness of the life of piety and holiness, through the
righteousness of the law, presuming that holiness must overcome the problems of
sin, and eliminate the corruption it produced, due to the envy of the devil.
Unfortunately the results of this great historical experience differ totally
from what was expected. St. Paul reported precisely the results of this great
experience, which showed the weakness of the law, even under the direction of
God, due to human weakness and error.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly
not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I
would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not
covet." But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all
manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once
without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the
commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me” (Ro 7:7-11).
The Law fashioned an
ethical level, and below this level I should be penalized. “Do and don’t” any
deviation from the commandments of the law put man under judgment. The pride of
the law is in its justice with no mercy. The law can’t comprehend or accept the
minimum sort of mercy, because law is just. Without mercy human existence is
impossible because I am a sinner. Not only me, but anyone who has the courage
to confront himself with truth can see his weakness in front of the law.
“If we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jon 1:8).
The final decision
of the trial against the law is:
“There is none righteous,
no, not one; … They have all turned aside; They have together become
unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." (Ro 3:10, 12).
The law opened the
doors of Hades for everyone who falls short of its ethical level to be dumped
in. Did God create man for death? Also, the cruel decree of the law, declares
the failure of God's economy in His creation of man, which contradicts the Bible,
“So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him; Then God saw everything that He
had made, and indeed it was very good.”
(Gen1:27,31).
Freedom is the unique attribute which God bestowed on
mankind, which portrays in him the image of God. At the same time, freedom gave
man the ability to err. Through freedom, corruption infected the human world,
which became the only dark stain characterized by the shame of sin and iniquity among the supreme glory of the universe. Accordingly, the
divine economy became accused of being weak and unsound. Iniquity is the
black hole in the body of humanity which condemned him to death. Through the
law, the nonexistence existed, death was substantiated and become fact, and the
corruption of sin spread violently as an uncontrollable virus which the
medication of the law helps to evolve and spread.
“Has then what is good
become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was
producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment
might become exceedingly sinful” (Ro 7:13).
Christ in Confrontation with
Sin & The Law
“For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit”. (Ro 8:3, 4).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has
made me free from the law of sin and death” (Ro 8:1, 2) .
No condemnation!!! It is a decree of the one who has the authority and power
to do so. He is the Son of Man who has the authority to forgive sin, at the
same time He Himself is the Lord of the law.
“For the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath” (Mat 12:8).
Under the ethical level of the law the doors of Hades had opened to
receive everyone to be dumped in. Jesus Christ created another spiritual level
which the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. The Ten Commandments: eight of them say don’t do, while two
say do. In both cases, disobedience of the law results in a penalty, so that
death prevailed on human life. Against that, our Lord established a very
exalted new level in the beatitudes, which results in a blessing to whoever
reaches it. This new level was created for the church to exist beyond the reach
of the doors of Hades. Through the cross, Jesus descended to Hades to deliver
those who were under the condemnation of the law, and through His resurrection
from death in the flesh, He abolished death according to the prophecy of Isaiah
(Is 25:8). He was raised in Glory to find a place for the Church (His Body) at
the right hand of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is always in the bosom of His
Father, through His incarnation found for us a place among the holy Trinity, in
His body.
“that they
all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be
one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given
them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent
Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (Jon 17:21-23).
“and raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Eph 2:6).
Christ did not come to be a judge, but rather, an
advocate to defend the cause of humanity against the law, "for the Son of Man has come
to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luk 19:10).
The Mosaic law condemned
Jesus Christ to death on the cross unjustly. The Roman law, which is considered
the most just, confirmed the unjust penalty against the only righteous One.
Accordingly, the law was condemned because of its failure to accomplish justice
for the merciful holy Son of God Christ. Through
His cross, Christ condemned the law and our trespasses, to free us, sinners,
from the death of sin. He who possesses the authority and power of forgiveness treated the
human error through forgiveness and freed us from the condemnation of eternal
death dictated by the judgment of the law.
"And
you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has
made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped
out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to
us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having
disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it." (Co
2: 13-15)
Jesus did not come to replace
the mosaic legislation, which had produced death in me through
the condemnation
of my sin,
rather, He came to unite Himself with me in His flesh to reveal His
righteousness in my life, "Yet in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us" (Ro 8: 37).
Therefore,
the Gospels do not include law but love, with no condemnation but salvation and
with no penalty but grace. No part of the New Testament books has any literary
genre belong to the legislative form including the four Gospels.
The Church's Essential Need
for Law as a Community
We have a vital question; Can the church exist or survive without
law? The law is a communal necessity for
any assembly on earth. The Church is the heavenly mystical body of Christ, but
at the same time, while it is still on earth, it exists and struggles as a
communal being. The Church as a community exists in several congregations and
cultures, thus it still is in need of legislation and organization. Christ did
not impose a new law in the Gospels, but He gives the criteria and the
authority for His disciples to establish a law for the economy of the Church
during its temporary interim being on earth. These Criteria focus on the human
importance regardless of sin. Jesus Christ Himself came for the sinner, to
serve our salvation; His servants in the Church must follow His footsteps. The
Church’s law must be different, holy and very special. All of its statutes must
be derived from the perfect royal law, the law of liberty. It is not based on a
rigid infallible dogma, but it must be very flexible to fit the changeable
modes of life, and to treat all human weakness for the purpose of salvation to
accept all sinners. The law is made to
serve, not to enslave man, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28).
Christ’s Criteria
for the Church Laws
Jesus
Christ established criteria to control and organize His Church, on the basis of,
each individual in the Church is a precious chosen stone to build the New
Jerusalem, the city of God. He appointed servants to take care of each one
individually, as a prince/princess in the kingdom of the heavenly Father.
Accordingly, the servants are merely just servants, with no master or lord who
may exercises personal authority or superiority over the ecclesiastic
community, or establish a personal dominion over the church. Jesus
Christ is the only head, only father, only teacher and only High Priest.
I will discuss
briefly six components of the criteria:
1- Our Lord
admonitions from the elements causing frailty and disintegration of the church:
· Who
is Greater? (Mat. 18:1-4). This question which
the disciples asked to the Lord represents the main cause for all the divisions
that occurred in the church history.
· You
cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat.
6:27 & see Heb: 13:5)
· Beware
of hypocrisy which is the leaven of the Pharisees. (Mat.16: 10-12 & Luk 12:1) .
2- The importance of
each individual and his salvation in the Ecclesiastic community
· The
Importance of the lost little ones (Mat 18:10-14) .
· The danger of the offenses and
from whom the offenses come (Mark
9:42-48 & Luke 17:1, 2).
· The
unlimited forgiveness and acceptance of the
sinners (Mat 18:21-22).
3- The law is made to
serve man not to enslave him, “And He said to them, "The Sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also
Lord of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28).
4- Jesus Christ is the only head of the Church
and all the administrators are servants.
"You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise
authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to
become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be
first among you, let him be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mat
20:25-28).
5- The authority of
the shepherds:
"Assuredly, I
say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again I say to you that if
two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done
for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together
in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (Mat 18:18-20).
We notice that:
- a- This very powerful authority is above the law and supersedes it, which gives his disciples the power and freedom to offer the best possible services to the Church, in favors of the sinners, and to serve them on case by case basis, for the salvation of the world. Each individual in the church is important and each case is a special case and it needs specific care for the optimum result. This is what is called in ecclesiology “economy oikonomia~”. Hence, Christ's intent was not for that authority to be abused, but for the accomplishment of a superior shepherding service.
- b- The purpose of the church dispensation is to offer help and mercy to every member of the congregation in accordance with their individual needs. Christ, being all-just and merciful did not lay down rigid laws to be imposed in all cases. Instead, He gave authority to those whom He chose, having special attributes suitable for shepherding His flock. Those to whom this authority was granted should make judgments and take decisions tailored to the merits of each individual case as needed, considering its uniqueness and specifics.
- c- Any decision attributed to serving the church must be taken by two or three persons gathered together in the name of Christ; Christ will be in their midst, and the Father will do whatever they ask. Accordingly, whatever they bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Actually this decision is made by Christ who is in the midst. No single person, on his own, has the right to make a decision for the Church solely. The fathers called this the body of witnesses.
- d- The intent of the authority granted to the shepherds of the church was not to enable them to exercise it from a personal viewpoint; rather, it was meant as a basis for administering and managing church affairs, ultimately for the salvation of humanity. So Christ gave these administrating shepherds authority, not for their personal sake to do whatever they wish, but to carry out a better service, by being free to discern and make decisions according to the specifics of each case, considering that God’s will is salvation.
- e- Offenses, "For offenses must come, Woe to the world because of offenses! but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mat 18:6-7).
6- The Good Shepherd and the thief, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not
enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep”
(Jon. 10:1-2).
Therefore, many Christian legislative manuscripts
appeared after Christ. They are considered part of the church’s tradition. Also
on these bases the holy ecumenical and local counsels assembled to discuss and
resolve the church problems and to establish a new rules.
It
is of the utmost importance to note that the key here is adherence to the
criteria set by Jesus Christ our Lord in organizing church laws. Once there is
deviation from these criteria, as happened numerous times, since the 5th
Century when the Church leaders started to ask who is greater, that do not help
the stability of the church, but rather, it causes more disintegration, more
divisions. The world despises the church with shaken and uncertain belief, that
not adhering the Christ spiritual measurements. Our hope is in the leadership of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter and the advocate of God's
people.
[1] This article was given as a Lecture
at the Orthodox Christian Conference, titled, “How does the Church Voice
Authority? Scripture, Law & Bishop,” at The University of Toronto, Trinity
College, on
Saturday, October 6, 2012,
