2.07.2010

Training Wheels Pt III


So the Law was given to point towards righteousness, and in fact is the path of righteousness, but does not itself give us the power to be righteous nor enable us to walk the path. Rather, righteousness (or more specifically agape love) fulfills the requirements of the Law. Righteousness is the ability to walk the path.

It is with this understanding that we begin to talk about improvisation upon the Law.

The training wheels that keep a small child from falling over are taken off of the bike as soon as possible, but why not keep them on? Professional speed-cyclists can get their bikes outside of the range that would be allowed for by training wheels. On slanted tracks these cyclists can get going fast enough to get their bicycles nearly horizontal; BMX riders do tricks with their bikes that would not be possible if the training wheels were still on the bike. Even normal riders would feel hampered by training wheels if they remained on the bike.

In the same way the Law is not the same thing as love, and when operating from a place of love and righteousness we are able to move beyond Law, and at times even perform acts that might be seen as breaking that Law if seen only from the perspective of the Law itself, and not from the perspective of the righteousness to which the Law points.

This is why Jesus (operating from true righteousness) could set aside portions of the Law in certain circumstances, and even revise whole portions of it in others, while at the same time proclaiming that He was not doing away with it.

No comments: