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The Heart of the Law is the Heart
Christians often view biblical law negatively. It is often viewed as diametrically opposed to the freedom we have through grace. Many Christians think that the Old Testament was primarily concerned with external obedience, whereas the New Testament is concerned with matters of the heart. However, a careful examination of the tone of the Law indicates that it is not to be viewed as something incongruent with the character of the New Testament Christian. When reading the Law, one quickly sees that the Law emphasized the necessity of complete heartfelt obedience, not merely external obedience to a checklist. Consider Deuteronomy 10:12-13: Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?…
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A Brief History of Prisons and Their Failure
On a recent episode of The Briefing, Al Mohler discussed New York’s plan to spend $9 billion on building new prisons. Mohler included a brief discussion of the history of prisons which inspired me to do a little more research on the issue. Throughout most of human history, prisons were meant to be a temporary arrangement. Prisons in the ancient world were a place where a suspect was to be held while waiting for his case to be heard. For example, Leviticus 24:10-12 mentions the imprisonment of an individual until the verdict had been reached, and the judgment was then administered (cf. Num 15:32-36). Similarly, in ancient Mesopotamian practice, a suspect was often held in the temple until his trial. This pattern is continued in the New Testament era where prisoners were either held until their case was clarified (Acts 5:17-25; 16:23-24), or debtors were kept while they or their…
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God Looks at the Heart
One day at the beginning of the semester, while I was a student at the Master’s College, I was working out at the campus fitness center and I noticed a fellow student working out. He was the same height as me, but bigger than I was, weighing in about 210 LBS. He had scraggly facial hair and what appeared to be a strong work ethic. I said hello to him and found out he was on the baseball team with us and had just transferred in from a Junior College out of state. My immediate thought was this: “Let’s see here… big guy who works out a lot, transfer from a Junior College… well, he is probably unsaved or an immature Christian at the very least!” Well, I ended up being dead wrong and found out he loved the Lord more than anything, and he was a solid believer all…