West Point Road Church of Christ
Incorrect Application of the Law of God

  • Who is Jesus?

    The life of Jesus on the Earth is what we would call an Incarnation.
    Incarnation-
    “a person who embodies in the flesh a deity, spirit, or abstract quality.” Google.com (Definitions from Oxford Languages) (10/28/20)
    An incarnation is when God literally dwells within a human being. If we were to say that a member of the Godhead, whether it be the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, literally dwelt inside a human body, that would meet the definition of an incarnation.
    John describes Jesus as an incarnation. He first establishes that the one called the Word is God.
    John 1:1 KJV 1900
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
    Later, he establishes that the one who is the Word became flesh and lived on the Earth.
    John 1:14 KJV 1900
    And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
    As John continues, we can see that he is talking about Christ.
    John 1:15–17 KJV 1900
    John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
    In Jesus, we are dealing with someone who is both human and divine. We may not understand everything about how that is possible and we could look at it in more detail in another lesson. For now, let us understand that Jesus is not human only, not divine only, nor is He part human and part divine, but He is fully human and fully divine. Two essences are held together in what is sometimes called the “Hypostatic Union.” Therefore, when you are referencing Jesus, you are not talking about someone who is either human or God, you are talking about someone who is both human and God.

    Who Works on the Sabbath?

    Keeping the hypostatic union in mind, let us look at an example of Jesus in action.
    John 5:5–18 KJV 1900
    And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
    The Jews rejected the work of deity because it was on the Sabbath. But who was really healing on the Sabbath, Jesus as man or Jesus as God?
    Jesus as God did the healing, man was incapable of miracles without God.
    John 3:2 KJV 1900
    The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
    Jesus had power given to Him as a man by the Holy Spirit
    John 3:34 KJV 1900
    For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
    Notice the subordinate role of Jesus as man.
    John 5:19 KJV 1900
    Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
    ​
    John 5:30 KJV 1900
    I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
    Again, who was really healing on the Sabbath, Jesus the man, or Jesus as God? Was Jesus not performing the will of the Father? Would that not make it God’s work? Also, we have said that Jesus is both God and man, but it is also clear that someone who is man could not do these things Jesus did. Therefore, to whom might we accredit the power to perform these actions, if not God? It was God’s will and God’s power that made this happen.
    Jesus stated that God was working on the Sabbath.
    John 5:17 KJV 1900
    But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
    It is true that Jesus said He also worked, but let’s get to that in just a minute.
    First, let’s notice that it was God working on the Sabbath. It must have been God because man was incapable of doing these miracles alone, and Jesus said that His Father was working.
    Was God prohibited from working on the Sabbath? No. Why not? The Sabbath was made for man, not for God.
    Mark 2:27 KJV 1900
    And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
    So, God is clearly working on the Sabbath. But what about Jesus, He said He was working, too?
    John 5:17 KJV 1900
    But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
    As we saw before, God is performing these miracles because Jesus is God.
    John 1:1 KJV 1900
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
    ​
    John 1:14 KJV 1900
    And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
    The Jews were claiming that Jesus was working on the Sabbath, which they saw as a violation of the Sabbath because they saw Jesus as a man. If they would have looked at Jesus as God, especially due to the miracles He could perform, they would have had no cause to argue because God is not prohibited from working on the Sabbath. The Jews, however, rejected the deity of Jesus, and therefore thought He was not only guilty of working on the Sabbath, but also blasphemy of claiming to be deity.
    John 5:18 KJV 1900
    Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
    The Sabbath was made for man, not for God. Furthermore, Jesus, as God, was Lord of the Sabbath, and was thus allowed to work on the Sabbath.
    Matthew 12:8 KJV 1900
    For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
    God as the creator of the Sabbath had the right to be Lord over the Sabbath, not man.
    We might think of it this way, Jesus, the man, did not work on the Sabbath by healing, but Jesus as God, did. By rejecting the miracles as evidence of deity, the Jews were rejecting the deity of Jesus, and the work of God Himself, stating that it was unlawful due to the restrictions of the Sabbath. They were claiming that Jesus’s healing on the Sabbath was violating a law that applied to men. But the law did not apply to God, and since Jesus is God, it did not apply to Him.
    Jesus pointed out the Jews’ actions and their hypocrisy for then accusing Jesus of doing the same.
    Luke 13:14–17 KJV 1900
    And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
    By pointing their finger at Jesus, the Jews were hypocrites because they performed similar deeds for which they wished to condemn Jesus.
    The Jews also incorrectly applied the law of God, because they were taking a law that was made by God for men and applying it to God.

    Implications of Jesus Healing on the Sabbath

    Jesus was not a sinner.
    The Sabbath was made for man.
    Jesus, as man, was not healing on the Sabbath.
    Therefore, Jesus did not violate the Sabbath.
    The Jews were rejecting the deity of Jesus.
    The Sabbath was made for man.
    The Jews rejected the healing of Jesus on the Sabbath as doing away with the Sabbath (John 5:18).
    Therefore, the Jews rejected Jesus as God and viewed Him as a man in violation of the Sabbath.
    The Jews were rejecting the work of God.
    Man was incapable of healing. God's power did the healing.
    The Jews rejected the healing of Jesus due to it being on the Sabbath.
    Therefore, the Jews rejected the work of God due to the law of the Sabbath.
    They did not receive Jesus because they had rejected God
    John 5:37–42 KJV 1900
    And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
    ​
    ​
    They would be willing to accept another man who came in his own name.
    John 5:43 KJV 1900
    I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
    ​
    Was their focus and authority not on man?
    John 5:44–45 KJV 1900
    How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
    ​
    Matthew 15:9 KJV 1900
    But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
    The Jews incorrectly applied the laws of God.
    The Jews rejected the work of God due to the law of the Sabbath.
    The law of the Sabbath was not made for God.
    Therefore, the Jews incorrectly applied the law of the Sabbath to God.

    The Problem Today

    We still have problems with incorrectly applying the law or word of God today:
    Mechanical instruments of music in worship due to their use in the OT.
    Christians may be thought of as hypocritical for condemning something like homosexuality as sin, but not enforcing OT law.
    The promise of miracles to those in the 1st century applied to us today.
    Incorrectly acting as if anything in the Bible automatically applies to us today.
    Proper interpretation of the Bible includes looking at the historical context. Not everything written in the New Testament, for example, applies to us today, including things written to Christians in the 1st century.
    The Bible was not written to you, but it was written for you. If you take something written in the Bible and automatically apply it to you without using proper hermeneutics to interpret it, you may end up incorrectly applying the law of God to yourself or others when it was never meant to be for you.
    2 Timothy 2:15 ASV 1901
    Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
    One of the verses that is not handled correctly is in Hebrews.
    Hebrews 13:8 KJV 1900
    Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
    I have heard this verse misused multiple times to justify that the laws or the word of God in the past is justification for their being applicable to us today. For example, I heard a Mormon using this verse to justify their belief in modern-day apostles. This is incorrectly taking the law or word of God and applying it to us today when it does not apply to us today. We do not have modern-day apostles like we read about the fourteen apostles in the New Testament. This verse says that Jesus is the same and does not change, but that does not mean that He does everything the same way all the time. We can easily disprove that idea in two easy ways.
    First, if God is immutable and does not change, which he does not, then why do we see Him speaking to man in different ways.
    Hebrews 1:1–2 KJV 1900
    God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
    If changing the way you do something changes who you are, then God is no longer God.
    Second, if we apply that same principle to man we can see the ridiculous conclusion that must be drawn.
    Changing the way you do something changes who you are.
    Joe Schmoe changed the route he took to drive to work.
    Therefore, Joe Schmoe is no longer Joe Schmoe.
    When we incorrectly handle the word of God, dangerous things happen.
    2 Peter 3:16 CSB
    He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them. The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.
    A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. στρεβλόω

    to distort a statement so that a false mng. results, twist, distort

    ​

    Conclusions

    Jesus lived as both God and man.
    God was performing the miracles on the Sabbath.
    The Sabbath was made for man, not for God.
    The Jews were incorrectly taking the law made for man and applying it to Jesus, who is God.
    We may end up doing something similar if we do not handle the word of God correctly.
    Proper hermeneutics and study is critical to determine which parts of the Bible apply to me, and which do not.
    The Bible was not written to me, but it was written for me.
    If we take a part of the Bible and apply it to ourselves and/or others when it doesn’t actually apply to us, we come up with false and dangerous doctrines.

      • John 1:1KJV1900

      • John 1:14KJV1900

      • John 1:15–17KJV1900

      • John 5:5–18KJV1900

      • John 3:2KJV1900

      • John 3:34KJV1900

      • John 5:19KJV1900

      • John 5:30KJV1900

      • John 5:17KJV1900

      • Mark 2:27KJV1900

      • John 5:17KJV1900

      • John 1:1KJV1900

      • John 1:14KJV1900

      • John 5:18KJV1900

      • Matthew 12:8KJV1900

      • Luke 13:14–17KJV1900

      • John 5:18KJV1900

      • John 5:18KJV1900

      • John 5:18KJV1900

      • John 5:18KJV1900

      • John 5:37–42KJV1900

      • John 5:43KJV1900

      • John 5:44–45KJV1900

      • Matthew 15:9KJV1900

      • 2 Timothy 2:15KJV1900

      • Hebrews 13:8KJV1900

      • Hebrews 1:1–2KJV1900

      • 2 Peter 3:16KJV1900

West Point Road Church of Christ
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