Beyond the Pharisees
Introduction
It is easy for devout believers to be deceived into becoming reactive critics and cynics, as if the madness of our current culture had permanent significance. The recent forced acquisition of Calvary hospital in Canberra is a sign of the spread of “woke” political values and a witness of Christ’s Spirit of a call to rehabilitate the image of the Bride (Eph 5:25-27). Gripped by a sense of the total sovereignty of the humanity of Christ (Heb 1:3) making “all things beautiful in its time” (Eccl 3:11), will release faith in the truth, “for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 cf. Eph 1:11). We are lured into a politico-ethical mindsets because we do not sense the glorification of the humanity of God’s Son is taking place in them in our own lives (2 Cor 3:18; Col 1:27). In testifying, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” (Gal 6:15), Paul calls us to learn from and look beyond the most consistently godly group in the first century Israel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees. The Pharisees were famous scripture scholars (John 5:39), noteworthy for fasting and prayer (Matt 9:14; Luke 18:10) and sent missionaries across land and sea making disciples (Matt 23:15). Their zeal for God embarrasses us.
Zeal
James remarks, ““You see, brother (Paul), how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law…. I (Paul) am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God .…I (Paul) bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Acts 21:20; 22:3; Rom 10:2). In their zeal for the Lord the Pharisees were like Jesus, of whom it was prophesied, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:17; Ps 119:137). The apostle exhorts us to such sacrificial spiritual energy, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” (Rom 12:11). Zeal in commended for godly “good works” (Tit 2:14; 1 Pet 3:13). I’ve seen number plates with Rev 3:20 on them, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”, but I’ve never seen its predecessor, Rev 3:19, “be zealous and repent”. The devil uses our fear of becoming like the showy Pharisees (Matt 6:1ff) to hold back the zeal of revival. We can share the Pharisees uninhibited zeal for the things of God without becoming like them.
Good and Evil
The Pharisee is pre-eminently a “teacher of the Law” (Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34 cf. John 3:10), for his knowledge of the Law is his assurance of being able to please God. Elevating intellectual knowledge of the Bible, like many conservative Evangelicals, repeats this error, and makes many ordinary people ashamed of their lack of biblical expertise. Whilst self-conscious “sinners” commonly surrounded Jesus (Luke 5:30; 15:1) they do not throng our assemblies. It was Christ’s extraordinary all-compassionate humanity that diverted the eyes of the lost away from Law-fulfilment to gaze on his own incorruptible beauty. Jesus alone is “the good portion, which will not be taken away” (Luke 10:42). Whereas the arrogant confidence of the Pharisee was grounded in mastery of the divine commandments, Jesus is the presence of the Word of God already fulfilled in his hearing and obeying all the Father’s words John 8:28-29). “The gospel of [whose content is] Christ” (Gal 1:7) spells the death of Pharisaism, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Rom 10:4). I used to possess once a Pharisaic seriousness in my zeal for the truths of the Lord, now, by God’s mellowing grace I see Jesus as the Person who is the “righteousness of God” (1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor :21; Phil 3:9 cf. Matt 5:20) in our place. Revelations of the total victory of Christ (1 Cor 15:54ff.) have subdued my fleshly seriousness.
The End of the Law
As “the end of the law”, Christ is good and evil’s goal/purpose/telos (John 19:28) Moses’ commandments that we might “live by them” (Lev 18:5; Neh 9:29; Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12) were inspired by his Spirit in order that through our failings to keep (Gal 3:19), we might come to Jesus as their Lord. The serious certainty of the Pharisees of their personal rightness made a God-pleasing faith in Jesus as Lord (Acts 10:36; Heb 11:6) impossible. They heard the abysmal cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) only as a mark of their rightness in passing judgment against a messianic pretender. The “righteous who live by faith” (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38), hear this lament as an utterance of the one who for us became the greatest of sinners deserving the full punishment of the Law, death! By faith we know that Law-keeping has no bearing on our salvation and are free from defending the traditions of men (Mark 7:8). “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” (Pelikan).
Indifferent
Many Church practices, doctrines and morals are best viewed matters of indifference (adiaphora) being neither commanded nor forbidden in the Bible. Anything not expressly forbidden can be permitted (cf. 1 Cor 6:12; 10:23). A regulative principle of life and worship demands specific biblical guidelines. Nothing must be added to these e.g. using musical instruments in Church is wrong. The former allows vast diversity in the Church, the latter leads to restrictive Pharisaism.
Toned Down?
By replacing our false security of the knowledge of good and evil with the revelation of his constant presence with us (Matt 28:20), Jesus humanises his Bride and frustrates Satan’s strategy to present the Church as a body of professing moral experts, (cf. John 8:1-12). We are not legalistic Pharisees; we are called to shed Christ’s glorious saving light into the world (John 1:9; Matt 5:14). With kind and compassionate hearts, we can be moved with Jesus to respond to the naturally hopeless state of the lost (Eph 2:12; 1 Thess 4:13) and to “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Col 4:5-6) making “a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence/fear (phobos)” (1 Pet 3:15) Not a weak fear of the consequences of offending others, but fear of misrepresenting the Lord Christ! This is the opposite of all Pharisee-like confidence in our own knowledge of the Word of the Lord.
Conclusion
A Spirit-led reformation with new zeal is coming to sweep aside human traditions and burn for the righteousness of the sacrifice of Christ alone (sola Christus). Freed from all conscience-driven obligation to keep the Law, this will issue in “fullness of joy” (Ps 16:11; John 15:11). A joy that will sustain the Church in holy obedience to her Groom in the persecutions that are coming. “when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name.” (Acts 5:40-41). Amen, PTL.