What would Jesus say?

by Maurice Pujol
Published June 1, 2006

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

There’s an argument floating around the Christian community that since Jesus ushered in the Age of Grace – the period of God’s mercy, understanding and forgiveness – that things forbidden in the Old Testament are no longer sins in God’s eyes.

Those who promote this easy pop theology say things like, “If Jesus didn’t condemn it, then it’s not wrong. It’s when Paul and other legalistic church fathers came along that we started seeing all this condemnation.” Of course, proponents of this view deny the authority of the New Testament, except for the four gospels, some accepting only the “red letter” passages (direct quotes from Jesus). A few even throw out some of these passages by claiming they were added to the text at a later date and do not represent the sayings of Jesus.

The Bible for these folks would be a very slim volume indeed – no Old Testament and most of the New Testament discarded. They would make the Scripture a few pages of quotable quotes and guidelines for happy living.

Just so no one would get a mistaken impression, however, Jesus made an important point during His famous Sermon on the Mount. Just because God forgives doesn’t mean sin is no longer sin in His eyes. Jesus underscored the fact that “rights and wrongs” defined in the Old Testament are still “rights and wrongs” – the Law still stands.

The big difference for those of us living under the New Covenant is that we have a way out of our sins. We can be forgiven of them if only we decide to turn away from them (repent) and accept Jesus as Lord -- the begotten Son of God who shed His sinless blood as payment for our offenses. Jesus also promised us power through the Holy Spirit to overcome our old sin habits and to live in victory after our salvation.

Just because we live as beneficiaries of God’s amazing grace doesn’t make everything we do just fine in God’s eyes. This is clearly absurd, but a lot of people who want to be Christians, even church leaders, don’t seem to get it.

Just a few weeks ago, I personally encountered an instance of this type of “reasoning” during an open church discussion after a viewing of The Da Vinci Delusion, a film produced by Coral Ridge Ministries that pointed out all the flaws and fallacies in The Da Vinci Code, the bestselling book now released as a blockbuster movie.

Even though homosexuality was not mentioned in the film or brought up in the discussion, one of the attendees injected it. “There are different viewpoints on all these topics,” he said. “For example, Jesus never condemned homosexuality, so people shouldn’t condemn homosexuals and use Jesus’ name to do it.”

Of course, everyone involved in the discussion displayed some puzzled expressions, since it had nothing to do with the film, the claims of the book or the facts of church history. Moderators of the discussion politely nodded their heads and returned to the topics at hand.

This got me to thinking, though. If our basis for current morality would be to allow anything that Jesus didn’t specifically condemn, then just about anything would be okay in God’s eyes. For example, in Old Testament passages condemning homosexual behavior, people are also told to refrain from bestiality.

This means, according to the liberal argument, that it’s all right for people to have sex with animals, since Jesus didn’t specifically condemn such behavior. When people use absurd reasoning as justification for a moral position, the best way to point out the absurdity is to carry their argument to all of its logical conclusions, not just the one they are promoting.

As a matter of fact, I can’t find a passage where Jesus said it’s wrong to murder someone or steal their goods. I do recall Jesus saying it’s a sin to deprive your elderly parents or to commit adultery in your heart. He also condemned religious hypocrites who don’t live out the faith they profess. And he drove all those dishonest moneychangers away from the Temple.

Now, Jesus did mention a place of eternal torment for those whom God rejects. In fact, He spoke of hell more than He spoke of heaven. Could this be a clue to the fact that sin is still sin, as it always has been, and that unrepentant sinners would face eternal punishment?

Yes, Jesus made this clear in the Sermon on the Mount. Not one item in the Law handed down from God to His people in the beginning would be abolished. Rather it would be fulfilled in the lives of New Covenant people, who would be given the power to live out its precepts.

Jesus did not specify every detail of right and wrong behavior, because the first century Jews He taught had clear traditions about such matters. He didn’t have to condemn homosexuality or bestiality because everyone He taught already knew these were forbidden behaviors. Jesus did point out the flaws in the way religious practices had watered down God’s Law, from easy divorce to dishonest priests. This was a way of affirming truth once again, not abolishing or redefining it.

Those who cannot accept the teachings of Paul as inspired and authoritative are also missing the boat. Paul was a special apostle, appointed by God to outline the details of the New Covenant, a way of living Jesus had introduced to a lost and hopeless human race.

In his letters to early believers, Paul created a picture of what it means to follow Jesus, what behavior Jesus expects and what behavior He condemns. Anyone who rejects Paul is ultimately rejecting Jesus, in favor of a “Jesus” of his or her own design.

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