Law: Problems with Playing Church Today

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is HEART OF THE MATTER FULL CIRCLE and I am your host, Shawn McCraney.

Welcome – let’s pray if you are so inclined to who we admit is the only true God –

YAHAVAH, God Almighty, we thank you and seek you and ask you to send your spirit to be with us all. In the Holy name of Yeshua, your only human Son from birth, Amen.

Show Information

Show 6: Law

The Problem of Playing Church

June 11th, 2024

The State of the LDS Church

Historical Context

I want to start out with a comment we all seriously need to consider.

In five and a half years, the LDS church will celebrate its 200th anniversary. Since its very inception, ‘zealous’ bible-reading folks, pastors, reverends, preachers, and the like have attacked them for doctrine and practice – and what has the church become in the face of these constant efforts?

A 700, 800, 900 BILLION dollar religious empire, that’s what.

Call for Unity

We need to do better – not to destroy people of faith but to unite with them in their faith in Christ and to bring them into the fold AS our Christian brothers and sisters.

Do I think Mormonism is right? Of course not. But to be honest, I think all of the established religions are off and I personally think Mormons are closer to the truth than Calvinists, so this is not even the point – they are making a go of it – let’s help them.

My point is while we ALL see through a glass darkly, and even in the face of a people who proclaim to belong to the only true Church on earth isn’t it time for all of us to take a breath, unite, and let each person pursue whatever faith expression they choose and let God do the judging?

I think so.

Engaging with the Youth

Debate with Students

Hey, on Sunday I met with about 30 students from all over the US and we debated for about two hours.

This was a SHOW – BABY, and we think worth a watch. It will be uploaded to thegreatnewsnetwork YOUTUBE channel this week.

Purpose and Intent

Now listen, people get REALLY upset and offended by what I do with these kids. It’s all by design and it is all aimed at teaching them how and how not to engage with others in apologetics and to get them to see how they have cut their teeth on religious tradition.

Look for the posting again, on our GREATNEWSNETWORK YOUTUBE CHANNEL and try and see my aims.

The Great News Network

Introduction

Each week we are introducing a new facet of what we have called, theGreatNewsNetwork.com and under its umbrella, we have already introduced about five of the seven specific expressions.

Tonight, we want to show you a sixth which is only a “sign the petition” website that we call, the Christian Peace Initiative.

Explanation by Delaney

Delaney, tell us all about it!

DELANEY illustrates

With that said,

If you have a ministerial outreach that accords with our general view of this sacred faith – email us, tell us who you are, and we will put you and your art, ministry, music on our Yeshuan website under the umbrella!

Special Guest Introduction

Last week we met Sarah Young from Checkmychurch.org and tonight I want to introduce you to someone near and dear to our hearts who contributed to this ministry years ago with a gift that keeps on giving –

The scripture set to music created and performed by my oldest Daughter, Mallory!

Welcome my Mal-Gal!

Mallory’s Background

• Tell the audience a little about yourself, Mal-Gal.
• Hunter college in NYC in music where she busked in subways back in the day.
• Sang back up for a few big names in the industry.
• Family
• Her music – her gift.

Mallory’s music can be found in the following places –

if you want to get the scripture into your head there is nothing like music to help that process along – and hers is really really good at doing it.

Clarifying Doctrinal Points

Correction on Trinity Comments

Our brother Danny pointed out that I made a mistake last week that needs to be cleared up.

In my comments about the Trinity, I said that it is described by Trinitarians as three persons that make up the One Being called God.

I errantly said that I agree with three co-equal, co-eternal persons like manny moe and jack in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is not the case. What I meant to say is I believe that the scripture speaks of three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but I categorically REJECT that the Spirit is a “Person” with a separate will and personality from God known as the Father and His Son, Yeshua of Nazareth.

Future Discussion

To make things interesting next week I am going to describe what I believe the scripture says about the Nature of God.

This view just might gonna rock your world but allow me the chance as I see this unheard-of definition bantered around today.

The Problem of Playing Church

Misinterpretations of Key Terms

Last week we talked about the errant interpretation and use of the word, “repent” and “repentance.”

This word is used in direct response to the earlier show where we talked about the misappropriation of the word, sin.

The Misunderstanding of Law

And these things lead us to the last part in our series about the problems of playing church and tonight we are going to talk about one of the last major misinterpretations found in organized religion and playing church – and what is that?

It’s the term and contextual understanding of the word . . . “LAW.”

I mean talk about a divergence of opinion within the faith as some denominations impose numerous Laws upon their members (via demanded rules, practices, observances, and rituals) while others on the other extreme are essentially lawless, free from any and all commands from God, and simply endorse what is called, Unitarian Universalism which believes in the inherent goodness of all human beings.

Categories of Law

I’m not going to spend much time categorizing the major Christian denominations according to the Laws they impose, follow and even command, but generally speaking

• Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Anglicans, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventists, JW’s, the Church of Christ, and Orthodox Presbyterians, Southern Baptists, and most Reformed expressions are LAW, RULE, RIGHT PRAXIS, AND DOCTRINE heavy while seeker-friendly, cheap grace expressions are lighter.

So let’s just talk generally about Law as it is described and understood through scripture.

Scriptural Understanding of Law

Law is essentially a “rule of action” and in the scripture there are various applications of rules of action (depending on the subject area being described).

Interestingly, the Apostolic Record (called the New Testament in error) has over 1000 rules/commands and laws expressed – did you know that – while Judaism speaks of 613?

Narrowing it down to the personal subjective nature, the scripture speaks of something that we might describe as the Law of Nature or Conscience, which according to Romans 1 and John 1 is given to all sentient souls, leaving all people “without excuse.”

This law is subjectively understood and interpreted with God as the judge.

Different Types of Laws

Of course, in the Sinai gathering of the Nation of Israel an abundance of Laws unfolded that have been divided up in categories known as the Ceremonial Law, Civic (or Judicial) Law, and then what people call, the Moral Law.

Most believe that the Ceremonial Law was abrogated by the perfect life of Christ and put away.

And with regard to the Judicial Laws pertaining to Governance over nations, most see them as applying only to Israel in that day and age.

That said, there are several Christian expressions, practiced by zealously-driven souls who believe that the Judicial Laws of Israel should, and someday will, govern the world.

These are expressed in a few different ways including something called Dominionism, Seven Mountain Mandate, the small but vocal Westboro Baptists, and the LDS Church’s early ambitions introduced by revelation through its founder.

Bottom line – these are all expressions of hopeful Theocracies which is something I completely disagree with that has no bearing on anything – there are still people out there believing children who dishonor their parents should be stoned.

An living example of this is a Calvinist Pastor out of Arizona who publicly proclaimed that women who have abortions should be executed.

Such zeal, while I am sure is well intended as Muslims flying planes into the World Trade Center is the epitome of church playing, anachronistic, and utterly misses the victory Christ has had over sin, death, hell, Satan, and church.

The Moral Law

Contemporary Misunderstandings

Finally, we come to the big one that even the most reasonable souls wonder about today and that is called, the Moral Law.

A great majority of Christians believe that what they call the Ten Commandments are the basics of the moral Law and urge post offices and schools to post them – at least in the United States.

Like most things religious, this SOUNDS good, reasonable, and as if God would really appreciate it.

But there are several important factors usually overlooked by believers who see the Moral Law as having application today and I want to point out why in this day and age the posting of ten commandments is anachronistic, and really missed the mark.

The Role of Law and Sin

For starters, the presence of “laws” is what makes human beings guilty of “

sin” which then posits the need for people to constantly “repent” – we talked about this foolish cycle as being foundational to religion.

Again, it is the presence of Law that makes us sinful.

Put it this way – if there is a stretch of highway in the desert that has no posted speed limit anywhere – there is neither any ability to break the law and so there is no guilt or crime committed relative to speed.

No law means no breaking of the law, so therefore no guilt and therefore no punishment. But once the authorities post a speed limit, the ticketing can begin because laws can then be broken!

For this reason, Paul wrote,

“For by the Law (PRESENCE OF THE LAW) is the knowledge of sin.”

This also caused Paul to say to the believers at Galatia,

Galatians 3:11 . . . no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

and also

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Of course, many people believe that Paul was only speaking of the ceremonial laws abrogated or fulfilled by Christ, but context proves Paul also meant the Moral Law – why?

Because following what people call the Moral Law (summarized by what people call, the Ten Commandments) would or could not ever justify a person to enter God’s presence – so we know that choosing to obey the Moral Law is not enough!

The Fulfillment of the Law

Why is that? Because nobody has ever kept the Moral Law – ever. Except His Son! That is why we look to His Son in faith and walk by this and nothing more.

For those Jews in Yeshua’s day who believed (or seem to believe) that they had kept the Moral Law perfectly (and there were some who appeared to believe that they had) Yeshua elaborated on the Moral Laws full meaning and said to them,

Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Five verses later He reiterates this point, saying,

Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

So why the Moral Law?? The 613 commandments or even just the ten?

What we call the Ten Commandments are better known by the Jews as the Ten Words.

The Ten Words

Huh?

I am going to make this super simple, but the first ten words of what YAHAVAH gave to Moses at Sinai were truly the essence of God’s desires for them as He was offering her (the Nation) a marriage contract.

What are the Ten Words of that ten-word ketubah? They were given when God told Moses,

“I am YAHAVAH your ELOHIM – have no other God’s before me.”

In Hebrew, these are literally ten words. They were what God desired from the Nation.

As for the rest of the moral rules for conduct that He gave after these ten words (numbers 2-10 or 3-10 – however you choose to count them) they should be seen as extensions of the first ten words!

In other words, the rest of the commandments given were there to show them when they were wandering afoul of the first ten words.

So, if they broke the Sabbath Day command, number 4 for most, it would indicate that they were not putting YAHAVAH their God first and they would see their disobedience as an indicator of wandering.

And under the Law, they were commanded to take an animal and offer it up in the tabernacle which would serve to bring them back into the first ten-word command that they were given.

The Example of King David

We see proof of the importance of the Ten Word commands and the Primacy of them relative to the other commands in the life of King David who broke almost all of the “other” nine commands of the ten but never broke the ten-word contract and this caused God to refer to him as “a man after His own heart.”

Yes, God loves righteousness. Yes, He wants His human creations made in His image to submit to Him via His Spirit, even to embrace His will deotologically, but the Laws were never in place for people to perfectly follow for the simple reason they couldn’t – and God knew this!

So God used the Moral Law to indicate to the individual and the Nation that when it was broken, they were to take a prized or costly animal at the tabernacle and offer its life up in their place, proving that they were “prone to wander from the God they loved,” but willing to recognize this weakness and turn over and over and over again back to Him.

That was the purpose of the so-called Moral Laws in both the ten commands and all the hundreds that followed in thereafter because they were so willing to practice Idolatry.

It was like God gave them the ten words, then added nine more commands, then added 613 more (if He was the one to do it) all as a means to reveal their wandering hearts.

But don’t forget that the preeminent moral law was and always will be,

I am YAHAVAH thy Elohiym, have no other God before Him.”

In other words, the ultimate command of most importance to God is against idolatry of any kind. All the rest served to show the people that they were headed away from Him.

Conclusion

The Consequences of Imposed Laws

The fact of the matter is for humans to try and live by the other laws imposed on them by religion will only result in some really unfortunate outcomes with none of them good.

Let’s suppose you have a gathering of people – in a church, let’s say – and there are absolutely no posted rules or laws said or given except one.

Outside the church and on the interior walls there are several signs that read,

“While you are in this church you must, no matter what, wear socks.”

Tacitly this infers that the people can commit adultery, get high, live with each other like beasts, dress/eat/do whatever they want.

But the pastor claims that God has told Him to impose just one law – which is what we call the Sock Law.

What will automatically happen – automatically – in a group of different aged, gendered and cultured people, is that some or all will

-obey and wear socks initially and/or and some will not – at least at some point in time and in some circumstances.

The presence of the Law will cause those who obey that Law to “feel good, holy, worthy” (perhaps even more pleasing to God) and this holiness will really grow in their minds in the presence of those who go sockless.

Those who do wear socks at some point might feel rebellious or even sinful and/or might also proudly stand on their dependent act of rebellion to the point of even mocking the sock-wearers.

From there, the sock wearers – if following in after what humans typically do – might begin to break up into groups, similar to the Pharisees, Essenes and Sadducees in Yeshuas day and they will take the one Law and begin to apply various interpretations of it.

Some might enhance, broaden or try and provide interpretations for this single Law in the face of various hypothetical circumstances, like

• What if someone’s foot catches on fire during service?
• Or what if they are missing a foot?
• Or what if they are getting baptized and afterward are drying off?

And their findings and decisions will lead to more distinctions, and therefore more judgment, division, and even, excommunication.

Then there will be those who, wanting to show how humble they are will wear only old socks with holes (called holy socks.)

Others will show their devotion by decorating their socks – especially on holy days – with gemstones, or maybe diamonds. And others will show their respect for God for wearing only designer socks – “the BEST you can buy for Him! Out of respect,” they might say.

As a means to govern the masses, a manual called the Book of sock-laws will be created.

And this example is based on just ONE simple stupid law.

The Burden of Religious Laws

Now allow yourself to consider the multitude of Laws given to govern all sorts of things in God’s name that are written in scripture.

There are over 1000 commands in the Apostolic Record just to start.

Then there are

• Modesty laws.
• Dietary laws.
• Tithes (as a minimum) laws.
• No drugs or alcohol laws.
• No unclean meats laws.
• R-rated movie laws (and even movie laws)
• Music laws
• The laws surrounding almost every belief possible relative to water baptism, blessings, healing laws.

Then there are unspoken subtextual laws like how to talk the talk, what words and vocabulary are proper, what political parties are acceptable, and every sort of other law imaginable – all apparently justified by scripture – all missing the mark.

Laws, like manufactured love, sin, and repentance are all part of

Church-playing.

People say that they are necessary to keeping a flock in-tact. This might be true if you are cultivating a selective group who act and speak and believe exactly alike.

But Laws make all people – young and old – lawyers, not lovers. They make some proud, others guilty. They cause rebellion and they cause unity through pride, judgment, and feigned love.

The True Law of God

In the end, all Laws make all men sinful.

We maintain two positions relative to religious laws of every kind as supported by the Bible–

• If they can be posted materially, they will always create what God never intended in the lives of His children. And second,
• His New Testament perfectly tells all people where He would ultimately write His Laws and what those Laws look like – listen again as He, not me, said:

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The Fulfillment of All Laws

Here’s the deal, folks. Everything has been accomplished by Yeshua – including Him fulfilling all of the Law – the Ceremonial, the Civic, and the Moral – in and through doing what we could not do.

All sin, Satan, hell, and death have been overcome and the only LAWS that remain are

• Faith and love, and they are
• Written on the hearts and minds of individuals who are left with the personal choice on how to interpret them and assign them to their lives.

All human beings are now governed by these laws again subjectively. All. And all are responsible for the personal choices they make in the face of them.

No man says, “Know the Lord for – all now know Him.”

And God, having been reconciled to the world forevermore, calls all to hear, to see, to choose light, life, and love over death, darkness, and self.

The scripture is clear in this principle:

For the law was given through Moses – but grace and truth came through Yeshua the Christ, our Lord.

Final Words

In closing, consider these words of Paul in

Romans 3:21-28. But now [i.e., since the cross] the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Let me get radical on you here before we go to the phones.

When Yeshua, who scripture plainly says was, “God with us,” DIED – when God with us DIED – He, representing what was known of God in the Old Testament and His perfect Law – DIED too.

This validates Nietzsche’s misunderstood statement, “God is dead.”

But when He then rose to new life, His law of faith and love eradicated all earlier expressions and the world returned to the Garden of Eden spiritually and forevermore, choosing individually how they will live – by Him or by their own will.

Let’s open up the phone lines 222-220-HOTM