Day 257: The Old Law (1961-1964)

• It’s Day 257!!

• THE OLD LAW

• God has written the truth and goodness of the moral law in the human heart

• There is such a thing as conscience that we all experience

• St. Augustine says in Paragraph 1962, “God wrote on the tables of the Law what men did not read into their hearts.”

• There is the moral law written into our human hearts 

• AND YET…

• God wants to go further than that

• God wanted to make it absolutely clear what is the right way to walk 

• How does God reveal Himself?

• God starts at level one and raises up to level two

• If He started at level 7 or 10, we would not be able to keep up

• So we have the natural moral law written in the human heart

• Then God reveals the Old Law in the Old Covenant

• Ultimately, He is going to reveal the Law of the Gospel in the New Law

• God has to start somewhere

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you thanks. We give you thanks that you revealed not only your identity to us, you’ve not only revealed our identity to us, you have also revealed how it is you want us to follow after you. You have revealed how it is you want us to worship you, how it is you want us to cling to you, how it is you want us to obey you and love you. Lord God, help us to live up to the demands of your Law, the call of your Law, by the power of your grace. On our own, we can’t do this. The Old Law, in fact, reveals that on our own we can’t do this. So send us your Holy Spirit, give us the grace to follow your Law, to follow your will, and to do this every single day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• Paragraph 1962 says, “The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law.”

• God reveals Himself slowly

• Before God can reveal mercy, He must reveal justice

• If God had jumped from chaos in the world where every man is for himself and then said, “Forgive your neighbor. When someone hurts you, forgive them.”

• What would that look like?

• That would look incredibly unjust

• That would look like God is saying, “Oh, by the way, it is virtuous to allow people to abuse you.”

• That is not virtuous 

• That is not good

• That is not true

• So what does God have to do?

• Before He gets to declaring mercy and the power of forgiveness, He has to make it absolutely clear that justice is a standard

• God Himself is justice

• Justice is giving someone what they are owed

• Justice is also getting what you are owed in order to get to the place where someone can say, “I’m going to forego justice for the sake of mercy.”

• If we just jump over justice, mercy is not mercy

• Mercy is something horrible 

• God gives us the Old Law, the first stage of revealed Law

• The morality of His Old Law is summed up in the Ten Commandments

• It lays the foundations for what our call is

• If we are fashioned in the image of God, we cannot do what is contrary to the love of God

• We must do what is oriented towards the love of God and neighbor

• It protects our conscience

• Why?

• Our consciences have been dimmed by Original Sin

• Paragraph 1963 says, “According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good, yet still imperfect. Like a tutor it shows what must be done, but does not of itself give the strength, the grace of the Spirit, to fulfill it.”

• We do not dismiss the Old Law right out of hand

• Jesus did not come to give us more laws

• Jesus came to give us the power to live the Law

• Jesus said, “You have heard it said in the Old Covenant an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I say to you, forgive those who hurt you.”

• Jesus said, “Now you have heard it was said that you shall not commit adultery. But, I say to you even the one who looks lustfully at another commits adultery in their heart.”

• Jesus give the fullness of the Law

• The crazy thing is Jesus Christ did not come to give us more laws

• Jesus Christ came to give us new hearts

• He came to give us the power to live out the call He has placed upon our hearts

• He has given us the grace of the Holy Spirit to actually do what the Old Law commanded us to do and also what the fullness of the New Law commands us to do

• The limitation of the Old Covenant is that it highlighted what was good and what needed to be avoided

• BUT…

• It did not give human beings the power to actually do that

• Paragraph 1963 says, “Because of sin, which it cannot remove, it remains a law of bondage. According to St. Paul, its special function is to denounce and disclose sin, which constitutes a ‘law of concupiscence’ in the human heart.”

• We need God’s grace to avoid the evil

• We need God’s grace to choose the good

• Paragraph 1964 says, “The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel.”

• It gets us ready

• We are going to spend a bit of time with the Ten Commandments

• We are going to look at them through the lens of Jesus and grace

• We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to actually live out these commands in freedom nad in their fullness

• IN FACT…

• That is one of the promises that God has made to us

• We are going to hold on to that promise

• We are going to live out that promise as best as we can

• These laws are not meant to be a condemnation or a straitjacket

• Not because they are easy and not because they are what we are to automatically naturally want

• But because God has given us the Law and the Holy Spirit

• If you are baptized, you have the Holy Spirit 

• If you asked for the Holy Spirit, what did Jesus promise?

• “The Father will give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.”

• If you find yourself in a place where you feel weak and think you cannot live out the Law, you don’t just need more willpower

• You need the Holy Spirit so pray for that

• So that you can be able to live out God’s Commandments and live in freedom and live in joy

• That is what God wants for you

• The power to live out that call of a Christian

• To live the New Law

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• Bye!!