Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
Dordrecht calls the New Testament “the law of Christ,” and the speaker says early Christians identified this law with the Sermon on the Mount—how does calling Jesus’ teaching “law” confront the common Protestant reflex that “law” equals legalism, and what does it suggest God expects from baptized believers?
Another way to ask: If Jesus’ teaching (like the Sermon on the Mount) is called the “law of Christ,” how does that challenge the idea that “law” always means legalism? What does it suggest God expects from baptized believers?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests calling Jesus’ teaching “law” pushes back against a Protestant reflex that treats all commandments as threats to grace. It suggests God truly expects baptized believers to “heed, follow, and practice” Christ’s words as real requirements of discipleship, not optional “recommendations.”
- Dordrecht section title: “The law of Christ, i.e., the Holy Gospel or the New Testament.”
- It says those who “heed, follow, and practice” the Gospel are declared Christ’s children, excluding “the unbelieving and disobedient.”
- A brother notes Protestants narrow “Gospel” to “Romans… faith alone,” but Dordrecht treats it as “the whole New Testament.”
- The speaker says “Mennonite Protestant is not going to like that word at all,” because “Luther made it such a bad word.”
- He summarizes Luther’s effect: “There aren’t any commandments anymore… suggestions… not a law… not going to affect our salvation.”
- He links early Christians: they spoke of “the law of Christ, the Sermon on the Mount… the new legislation given to us.”