Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
The speaker says “the New Testament is our guide for obeying the law of Christ…transcending the law of Moses and every other law”; how would an early Christian have understood “law of Christ” in terms of obedience, community discipline, and public witness, and what modern Christian instincts does that confront (especially “me and my Bible,” private spirituality, or minimal obedience)?
Another way to ask: What would “the law of Christ” have meant to early Christians for obedience, church discipline, and how they lived in public? Which modern habits does that challenge, like “just me and my Bible,” private faith, or doing the bare minimum?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s teaching, an early Christian would have understood the “law of Christ” as the binding commands of Jesus and his apostles lived out in a Kingdom community (the Church) with visible obedience and a distinct public witness. This confronts modern instincts to reduce faith to private belief, minimal obedience, or a system that treats commands as optional.
- The speaker says, “For us, the New Testament is our guide for obeying the law of Christ…transcending the law of Moses and every other law.”
- Obedience is central: we must “obey the laws of our King” and be “conformed to the image of the Son of God.”
- The Kingdom is communal: “we…are the new Israel,” and believers are “building it with their fellow Christians, fellow workers for the Kingdom of God.”
- Public witness is distinct: the Church must “come out from among the nations” and not conform to their ideals.
- He gives concrete obedience examples: enemy-love, refusing oaths, teachings on “divorce, sexual relations.”
- He critiques formula-religion: people “make Christianity into a formula and ignore whatever Scriptures didn’t fall into that formula.”