The Law – Page 6 – God's Voice

UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAWS
Understanding the Bible is impossible without understanding the law. Here is where being like a lawyer comes into play. In the New Testament lawyers interpreted and taught others from the Old Testament law. They convened in a council of religious elders called the Sanhedrin which had responsibility for judging people on matters related to the Law of Moses. According to a Judaism website, the Sanhedrin council continued to function for more than four hundred years after the destruction of the Temple and there have been several orthodox attempts to re-establish it since that time.

It is important to note that Biblical accounts of the Sanhedrin show clearly that it was in opposition to Jesus and his disciples. The literal interpretation of these encounters with the Sanhedrin suggests that it was opposed to the man Jesus and his disciples. A spiritual interpretation tells us that it was opposed to the threat that the New Covenant posed to their Old/First Covenant religion which gave religious leaders position and income.

STUDY TIP: See Jesus and the Money-Changers in the Temple for understanding of Jesus’ contentious relationship with temple leaders.

For those who understand the difference between the Old/First Covenant and the New Covenant, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders is not a surprise. We see this conflict throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is not surprising that Judaism remains opposed to Jesus because of his criticism of the Pharisees and temple officials. Moreover, he prophesied about the downfall of the temple system which gave all religious leaders their position and income.

But understanding the Bible is not just a matter of discerning between Old/First Covenant and the New Covenant. There are actually eight different kinds of laws that we must learn to identify when reading the Bible:

TYPES OF LAWS and HOW LONG THEY LAST	DESCRIPTION OF LAWS	WHO MAKES, AND ENFORCES THE LAWS	PEOPLE TO WHOM THE LAWS APPLY
1. NATURAL LAWS ARE ETERNAL	These are sometimes call the laws of nature that include, but are not limited to the following: Mechanics Gravity Thermodynamics Electromagnetism Photonics Quantum mechanics Radiation Chemistry Geophysics Biology	God	Everyone
2. CULTURAL LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME	Mores, customs and rules of social conduct informally applied to citizens of a distinct culture. People who live in a culture voluntarily submit themselves to obey these laws by virtue of their citizenship. Morals	People	People
3.CIVIL LAWS, COMMON LAWS and CRIMINAL LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME	Laws established and enforced by legitimate bodies of government (e.g. nation, state, county, city, etc.). Laws established and enforced by legitimate royal authority (i.e. king, queen). Laws established by illegitimate authorities who take over a jurisdiction by force.	Government — under God’s direction. Kings, Queens and their appointed delegates. Elected officials. Usurpers	People who live in a government or royal domain voluntarily submit themselves to obey these laws by virtue of their citizenship. People who live in a jurisdiction that has been overcome by an anarchist organization submit to these law involuntarily.
4. INSTITUTIONAL LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME	Laws, rules of conduct and policies for members of legally established for-profit or non-profit institutions, businesses and corporations. Informally established movements, clubs and associations.	Governing boards established according to government laws in the case of legally established institutions. Ad-hoc leadership committees in the case of informal institutions.	Employees, members and customers of legally established institutions. Members or adherents of informal institutions.
5.HOUSEHOLD LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME	Laws that individuals and families create for themselves to govern how a household functions and how members of the household relate to each other. These laws may or may not have their origins in cultural, civil or religious laws. These laws may not be codified but they still have the weight and impact of written laws because they are verbally repeated and enforced often within the hearing and view of household members. In some households, these laws may have been in place for several generations.	Head or heads of households (i.e. parents, elder relatives). Anyone who ascends to the role of head of household because of the death or absence of the historical head or head of a household. Anyone who, by force of will and personality, usurps the role of head of household.	Household members whether by birth or formal or informal adoption
6. PERSONAL LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME	Laws individuals create for themselves to give direction and order to all aspects of their personal lives (e.g. health, grooming, finances, employment, recreation, relationships, etc.). See Romans 2:14-15. These laws are typically not codified (except perhaps, as New Year’s Resolutions) but they still have the weight of written laws because individuals meditate on them, refine them, and try to enforce them. These laws may be personal applications of other cultural, civil, household and religious laws.	Individuals	Individuals
7. RELIGIOUS LAWS CHANGE OVER TIME.	Laws established by formal or informal religious institutions (e.g. churches, denominations, para church ministries, cults etc.). RELIGION. Doctrines and rules of conduct developed by and enforced by informal, legally unincorporated communities of religious people. In Judaism and Christianity these laws are usually written down on paper so they can be distributed widely, and referenced by many people. In Judaism these laws include: Law of Moses Oral laws developed by generations of Pharisees and rabbis. Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Law of Moses. Traditions based on literal interpretations of the Law of Moses. Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to legally manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs. Books and other manuscripts of religious teaching included in, or abstracted from Jewish Oral law. In Christianity these laws include: Ten Commandments Ritual and ceremonial laws derived from a literal interpretation of the New Testament. Traditions based on literal interpretations of the Bible Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Bible. Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to instruct and manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs. Customs and liturgies developed by religious leaders. Doctrine and theology. Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Bible . Administrative policies and procedures designed to comply with governmental laws. Books and other manuscripts of religious teachings written by religious leaders past and present. For all other religions these laws include: Customs and liturgies developed by religious leaders. Ceremonial and moral laws. Traditions Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to legally manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs. In Biblical terms, these laws may all be cataloged as Old/First Covenant laws because they all relate to written laws that are administered by a human. The Bible assigns the following names to these laws: The Law of Sin and Death Law of Works Law of Sin Law of commandments and ordinances. Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil	Religious leaders, past and present, who make and enforce religious laws on their own authority and to whom people assign charismatic authority. Policies and procedures designed and implemented to comply with governmental laws are dictated by various government bodies.	Members and adherents of religious organizations. Membership within a religious community may be revoked for people who break these laws.
8. SPIRITUAL LAWS NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE GOD DOES NOT CHANGE	The spiritual meaning and intent of the literal, written Law of Moses. The laws upon which God’s eternal covenant are based. The laws to which God refers when he says to listen to and obey his voice and hear my words. Laws which are written on the heart according to the terms of the New Covenant. The Bible assigns the following names to these laws: Law of Christ Law of God in the inner man Perfect Law of Liberty Royal Law Perpetual Allotment Law of Righteousness Law of Faith Law of the Spirit of Life Tree of Life	God	Everyone

With respect to all laws other than spiritual laws, we are acculturated from an early age to understand them and conduct our lives in ways that do not violate those laws. Failure to do this results in trouble, pain, and possible death in the case of natural laws. We may not suffer death when we break these laws, but authorities responsible for making and enforcing these laws will usually make sure that we experience trouble and pain of one kind or another when we violate them.

When we break our own personal laws, there are no external authorities to discipline us, but we will probably experience some sort of inner conflict until we bring our behaviors and thoughts into alignment with the laws we establish for ourselves.

We might be able to avoid discipline for breaking religious laws, but religious people, both those who have formal authority and those who do not have formal authority, can be depended on to use whatever influence they have to enforce the laws of their particular religion. Jesus is an example of someone who suffered at the hands of religious authorities who went to great extremes to keep their religion pure and safe from outside influences. New Covenant disciples who dare to speak the truth about religion can expect to receive the same kind of treatment from religious people with whom they once shared religious beliefs.

Spiritual laws are the only laws that are totally under God’s control. He makes them and enforces them without any help from religious people. These are the laws to which he is referring whenever the Bible mentions obedience to his laws, commandments, ordinances and so on.

As the creator and enforcer of spiritual laws, God does not use his authority in the same way that humans do. He is not slow to discipline as people count slowness, but he is patient and compassionate as he gives people time to repent before he punishes the guilty by sending them into exile from him (i.e. spiritual death).

New Covenant disciples are the only people who understand spiritual laws because they listen to and obey his spoken voice. Understanding that religion is sin, they have repented of practicing religion and listening to false prophets and have instead chosen to listen to God’s voice. From then on, God’s laws written on their hearts control, more or less, their thinking and behaviors. They have been set free from slavery to religion.

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