What The New Testament Really Says About Enforcing Religious Laws

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I am just fed up with the false teachings of the Christian right. 
This week I am going to focus on exposing the lies of right wing Christians, starting with what the Bible says about forcing others to follow the law. 

What does it say? 
Don't do it. 
              

Galatians 2:

 11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even  Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line  with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

 There is a very large segment of our 

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population that would love to impose

strict laws on the country. They claim that

it's God's will, but in fact it is the exact

opposite of what the Bible says to do. 

First of all, this passage explains that 

Christians are not going to get to heaven by following the law. 

Anyone who is actually familiar with the teachings of the scripture should know that the law brought sin (there was no sin before the law because the law was not given) and then it brought death ("for the wage of sin is death"). The law was intended to condemn, not save. All men are equally convicted of sin under the law. (" Whoever has kept the whole law, and yet stumbled in one point is guilty of ALL" and "There is not one who is righteous, NO NOT ONE".)   

Not even the patriarch Abraham was righteous in his own accord. Righteousness had to be credited him, because righteousness isn't something any person is in possession of - and that means you, right wing Christian. (Self-righteousness, which is just false pride, isn't righteousness, by the way.)                

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I am not just saying this because I am fed up with the false teachings and the lies and the dogma that is being sold to the masses. 

I am saying this because Jesus said "Woe to you Pharisees and teachers of the law." 

"Woe to you" do you get that? 

In case you don't know what that word means, I googled it for you:

I'm saying that spiritually you are in big trouble if you think that you are going to be saved by works. I am also saying that if you are of the group that wants to enforce the law on others, you are also in really big trouble spiritually. You've missed the entire point of the New Testament. Salvation does not come from the law, it comes from Christ. If you're teaching or following the preachers of the law, then you're on the wrong path. 

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Read Galatians 3:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 

4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

There are a couple of things I hope Christians will take away from this. First, the Apostle Paul was disgusted by people who tried to force the law on others. Second, if you are trying to earn your way to heaven then you are still under the curse of the law That's a problem. Third, by teaching others that they have to follow the law, you're placing them under a curse, as well as yourself. Fourth, if you are trying to force others to follow the law because you think that's what God wants, you need to turn off the right wing propaganda and tune into your New Testament.

I just want you to stop misleading people. I also want you to stop embarrassing me by giving all Christians a bad name. I just want you to stop teaching false doctrine. I want you to stop repeating what you hear on the radio or from your corporate sponsored mega-preachers. I want you to stop claiming that we need to be a Christian nation with Christian laws, because according to the book,  if you are a Christian, the only law you are bound by is the law of LOVE and you're not doing a good job of following that law at all.

"Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."

Your job is not to make sure that everyone else on the planet is living according to the law. Your job is not to place heavy burdens on others, binding them to the law, which you yourself are unable to keep (if you claim that you are able to live according to the law of Moses, then you need more help than I can give here). Your job is to LOVE everyone. That's it. 

I know that right wing Christians try to get out of that New Testament commandment by claiming that you aren't supposed to love 'sin.' Again, you're focused on the law of Moses, so my question is are you a Christian or are you really a Jew? If you are a Jew, that's ok, so were all of the patriarchs. Still, maybe I should remind you that, according to Old Testament scripture, there are a lot of animal sacrifices you should be performing, along with burnt offerings, ritual prayers and observances etc... If you are a Christian, then you are not a servant of sin or a servant of the law, but a servant of Christ, who said:

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"

And don't even bother trying to tell me that loving someone means that you have to run around convicting them of their sins all day long. That's not love, according to the Biblical definition of love, which says that love keeps no record of wrongs (read more on that here). 

Mostly I am tired of you rewriting the Bible and reinterpreting the scripture to support you in your quest to lord yourself over others (also something Jesus told you not to do.) Have you forgotten that the Jews also wanted Jesus to take control of the government? And what did Jesus do? He went away and hid from them.

"Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."

Doesn't it seem like Jesus would have set up a Christian government while He was on earth, if a Christian government is what He wanted? Why wouldn't Jesus want to pass a bunch of religious laws and then punish people for breaking them? Um, because that had already been done remember? (*see Old Testament) Which is why Jesus had to come in the first place. Jesus did not come into the world to be a lawmaker or a law/enforcer. It's hard to imagine how someone can claim to be a Christian and still be ignorant of something that is so very basic to Christianity. He wanted nothing to do with the idea of a religious government that would go around enforcing religious laws on people. 

So stop trying to control everyone. Let go and let God. He's perfectly able. And contrary to what you think, Jesus can save whomever he wants to save, so you should start eating with sinners now, that way you'll be prepared by the time you get to heaven. It's not those who think they're righteous that God takes pity on. Remember Jesus said that with the measure you have met, so it shall it measured onto you. So if you're going to go around demanding that everyone else keep the law, why should you expect that God is going to forgive you for being a sinner?

Mathew 18:23-35

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 

31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed."

Someday I am going to count the number of times in the New Testament that Jesus asked someone "How could you not understand this?"

Stop trying to take over the government. Stop trying to force the law and your religious dogma on other people. Stop listening to false teachers who keep telling you that it's your job to judge and condemn others. PLEASE stop believing that Christians are going to take over the world, because that's not what the scripture says at all.

More on that tomorrow.