Christ’s Leadership and Moral Behavior
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:8
It is the tendency of legalism to see the entire matter, and every independent issue, of morality wrongly. The Pharisees often interpreted the scripture too loosely, on the issue of divorce, for example, they gave too wide a room for the matter, allowing divorce for almost any reason whatsoever. But on the issue of the Sabbath they were too narrow, demanding strictness. And this was all because they had neglected (a) the spirit of the Law, (b) the nature of God’s own heart, which is mercy, and © the matter of the living authority of the living God.
To live morally under Christ’s Lordship, we should know the spirit of His legal commands, and not just the commands. For the Christian it is still important to obey the Moral Laws of God. Though the ceremonial and sacrificial laws of the Old Testament are now obsolete (Galatians 3:23–26 and Hebrews 8:13), the moral Laws of God are still in effect. Matthew Henry observed, “No law must be construed so as to contradict its own end.” For example, we are commanded to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) and God did not intend that we should use the truth to wound people. The end of the command to speak the truth is to encourage one another and to build one another up (Ephesians 4:29).
To live morally under Christ’s Lordship, we should know the nature of God’s own heart. All moral behavior originates in the nature of God. We are not merely given a set of rules to follow — things to do and not to do — but we are given a Personality to know, an example to follow, and a moral likeness to be shaped or transformed into. God’s heart is merciful and kind, and this was demonstrated in the life of Christ. He was the perfect image of the Father’s love, and modeled the Old Testament revelation, “I desire mercy , not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6).
It was the teaching of Paul in Galatians 3, that the Law was like a school teacher to instruct us on the nature of morality until the coming of Christ. But now that Christ has come we have the complete picture. We do not need to merely go to the Old Testament moral commands and read those — though they are still helpful. Rather we come to Christ and see Him, and see what He did. And furthermore, we go to the prophets and apostles, even in their imperfections, and wherever we can see obedience in their lives we are also instructed and taught on the nature of God (Romans 15:4 and Philippians 4:9). The more about God’s nature we learn from Scripture, the more able we are to understand our moral obligations in life.
Finally, to live morally under Christ’s Lordship, we should learn to follow Him day by day. As we know God through Christ, we are made aware not only of the nature of God, but of His leadership in our life. In this passage, Christ claimed authority over the Law, that He was greater than Moses, and His followers follow Him. The commands are never greater than the command Giver. Although Christ does not contradict Himself, since the moral commands come from His own nature, He also does not reveal all of our obligations through the written word alone. We know the Living Christ, and we are to follow Him.
There are moments in a Christian’s life — and these are quite normal things for those who follow Him and walk with the Spirit — where He commands us within our own hearts to do certain things. We have distinct impressions within our own souls that we should speak to a certain person, give a certain gift, write a certain letter, and follow Christ in a certain way. I was impressed as a young person that God was calling me into the ministry, and although there was no written command to all believers “Thou shalt go into the ministry,” I knew in my heart that this was a matter of personal obedience to the leadership of Christ for me. To say, “No,” would have been disobedience.
There are times in church life where the body of believers are collectively convinced that God is leading them to do something, to follow Him in a certain way, to give to a certain mission cause, to make a certain emphasis, to construct a new building, etc. And Christ by His Spirit is able to lead us to understand what His will is. Normally this is done by the wisdom, spiritual sensitivity, and leadership that arise out of the spiritual life of the leaders in the church. Which is why it is so important that the leaders of the church possess the mature character of Christ. But as it happened often in the Old Testament times, these insights into the will of God can also come from outside sources.
The important thing is that we are conscious of following Christ, and not following some human personality.
