Lead:

Are we all Generation X (Gen X) in a way? Here’s an argument for why we are when it comes to "the law."

Intro:

Time and gravity catch up with all of us. And as a Gen Xer I used to think of myself as the new rebel, determined to do things differently and make my mark on the world, but there are a couple characteristics particular to Gen X that relate to some of what we’ve been reading lately that I’ll elaborate on in today’s All Our Minds segment.

Just in case you follow along with the reading plan from The Bible Project, just a heads up that today will move a little beyond that. That plan has us reading chapters 7 and 8, but 9 isn’t very long and 8 & 9 go together. Hope that works for you, and here’s why.

Chapters 1-7 of 2 Corinthians is a whole lotta Paul defending his legitimacy as an apostle. But as you’ll hear today, he rejoices in the repentance of his wayward brothers and sisters, and then calls them to faithfulness in the family sorta way that we’ll hear today.

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Bible:

Passage: 2 Corinthians 7-9
Translation: NCV (New Century Version)
Verses: 55
Words: ~1203

All Our Minds:

Generations tend to have ways they lean, and it’s because people in certain eras are shaped by events and culture of that era. To be sure, we want to be careful with labels and stereotyping, and such generalizations have their limits. They can be useful, too. But today’s not about generations…it’s about the “Law” and more importantly, our relationship to it.

You see, I’m a Gen Xer. And a couple of the characteristics common to my generation are a high degree of independence and distrust of, if not disdain for, authority. And regardless of where you fit in terms of generations or how you think about human law and authority, that description perfectly applies to how we’re all bent away from God who — crazy idea here — is the source of law.

So can I just encourage you on a couple things?

First, it’s useful to remember that, generally speaking, in the NT “law” often refers to the first five books of the Bible — the Pentateuch. In Hebrew it’s called Torah, which means “teachings.” But it also sometimes refers to the “law of Christ.”

Second, it’s useful to remember that scholars disagree on exactly what part of the OT law applies to today’s Christian, BUT (and it’s another big but moment), it the truest sense emanates from God’s very nature and character. Personally, I think the Mosaic law was for that time and people, but some part of the OT law still makes sense because God’s eternal moral norms don’t change even if some laws were relevant instead of specific to that time and culture.(1)

Third, the purpose of the law was affirmed by Jesus himself. Willem VanGemeren was a college prof, and here how he puts it:

Christ appointed the law as “a godly and righteous rule of living,”as the appointed instrument of sanctification that instructs us in righteousness. Because God is holy, righteous, perfect, good, and gracious, his will is holy, righteous, perfect, good, and gracious. God is not pleased with any other righteousness than that which conforms to the requirements of his will. Through the law we may learn obedience, freedom, perfect righteousness, and order.(1)

Finally, I should mention briefly the idea of natural law. Theologians point out that God’s revelation is in two buckets: general revelation is what can be known about Him and His law from the cosmos, and special revelation is what we received through Jesus and the Bible. I point this out because of how I’m going to wrap this up.

The bottom line

Remember back in Romans 2 Paul wrote that everyone has the law “written on their hearts?” And in Romans 1 he said NO-one is without excuse? What’s he presuming? I’ll avoid the heavy theology lesson, but we can know there’s law, know we’ve failed that law, through general revelation or natural law alone. But natural law doesn’t tell us how to fix it. Here comes Jesus, and he’s saying the value of the law is learning obedience, freedom, perfect righteousness, and order.

And we don’t like that. We want to decide good and evil for ourselves. We like some parts of God’s order — like agreeing that we should honor our parents — but we really don’t like other parts — like praying for the leader of our country or how husbands and wives should relate to each other.

In other words, the law is awesomesauce because it’s all about who God is and what He created, but like a bunch of GenXers, we say, “No, I got this. Don’t need your authority.”

The good news, as I like to say, is that we’re not more broken than Jesus already knows we are. And He loves you anyway.

Wisdom:

Passage: Psalm 119:97-120
Translation: NCV (New Century Version)
Verses: 24
Words: ~394

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

Thank you for supporting this ministry should you choose to use the Amazon affiliate links below.

Willem A. VanGemeren, “The Non-Theonomic ReformedView,” in Five Views on Law and Gospel, ed. Stanley N. Gundry (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 54.

The new translation we’re trying this week: New Century Version

Not used today, but stuff I like:

Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993). <—this, and it’s OT companion, are great commentaries if you like something more than a study Bible and less than a set of 66 books — they add a lot of interesting details. Keener’s a killer apologist, too.

The Story of Reality, Greg Koukl — Love this book. A killer intro to the Christian worldview that is philosophically and theologically sound while being accessible to all readers.

#936: 2 Corinthians 7-9 | Are we all GenX in a way? | Psalm 119:96-120