This is a letter Marcus wrote a couple days ago, to someone that doesn't see any difference between the Old and New Testaments. But as you will see here, there's something far more important than understanding theology. It's obeying the Lord.
Are there many modern churches that condone first-covenant type adultery, incest, murder, stealing, coveting, and dishonoring father and mother? Yes, I believe there are some, but many more are very good and moral, yet they reject the higher standard of the new covenant. They more or less keep the LETTER of the law - "Do not commit adultery", but they do not worry so much about Jesus' words, the spirit of the law, the real intent of the law, which is to not even commit adultery by looking on a woman to lust after her.
They do not commit old-covenant style murder, the letter of the law, but they still murder by getting angry because someone tramples their "rights". Thus they reject the SPIRIT of the law, what God really wants, what He willed that the Mediator of the new covenant should tell us.
Yes, many modern churches are still basically moral, but they reject the SPIRIT of the law, which is the way of living Jesus taught us. Another way of saying this is that they by-pass the way of the cross. You see, Jesus knew that we would need to die to fulfill the spirit of the law, the new covenant. You know, friend, that a man has to die to not look on a woman to lust after her, in this our day. A man must die to not get angry when someone outright steals your favorite tool. (I live in Mexico, but understand me, stealing doesn't only happen here.) And you know a man must die to love his enemies, to love those that have done the most harm in his life. That's why Jesus said if we don't take up our cross, that thing that kills us daily, we can't even be His disciples. And that is what most good, moral churches bypass - the way of the cross. It's dying, it's losing our lives, but if we do, you know what Jesus promises.
Just tonight a good moral evangelical family had supper with us. José and Susa and their three girls. They even try to dress more modest than the normal run, although their clothes are form-fitting and they like a little jewelry. They were surprised we leave our courtyard door open all day and late into the night. They told us about some stealing that went on in their neighborhood recently. Of course we told them about our experiences getting things stolen, even when our patio door was closed, and how a dear little girl of the thieves' family innocently let the cat out of the bag about who did the stealing. That made our visitors laugh. Then I told them how we siezed the opportunity to make a cake and give it to that family, and pay them extra money for something we got from them, without mentioning the stealing. We had done this because we simply wanted to do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us, and we wanted to heap coals of fire on their heads. José and Susa just shook their heads, saying, "How hard" several times. Susa said, "But that would just make you angry..." I said, "And that's what has to die."
You see, that family has considered themselves Christian for most of their married life, but they've never been shown the cross, that instrument of death. And they pass for very good moral people.
Do you understand these things? I don't want to give the idea that I think I know it all. We are learning. But in trying to get back to simply following Jesus, these are some things we have learned.
--Marcus 3-6-08
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