Now this is His
commandment: that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one
another, just as He gave us the commandment. – 1 John 3:23 (NET)
Prior to writing
this, the author of the letter (presumably the disciple named John) alerts his
readers, with the words that comprise the twenty-second verse, that the
commandments that are spoken of here in the twenty-third verse are “pleasing to
Him” (3:22b). Is there a context that will enable the reader of the
letter, then and no w, to better understand the weight of what it is that is here
being passed along for consumption and reflection by the community of
Jesus-believers? Of course there is, and it is a context that is created
by the use of the words “righteous” and “righteousness” in the lead-up to these
statements about the commandments and what is pleasing to the Creator God.
The use of
“righteous” and “righteousness” among those that are steeped or, at the least,
partially educated in the narrative of Israel by which the work of the Creator
God and the Messiah’s mission and kingdom must be understood, would naturally invoke
thoughts of covenant, covenant requirements, and covenant faithfulness in the
mind of the reader. Attending those various thoughts concerning covenant
would be a consideration of the works of the law.
“Works of the law,”
contrary to being a negative term or a set of rules or works by which one gained
righteousness or attempted to achieve heaven upon death, was simply a first
century term used to denote those things that served as responsive markers to
demonstrate inclusion in the Creator God’s covenant people (Israel). The
works of the law were circumcision, and Sabbath-keeping, along with food and
purity laws. Adherence to these works of
the law identified a person as being a covenant member in good standing. Additionally, it is worth bearing in mind
that these works were not ways to get into positive covenant status, but were
the responses to the grace of the Creator God and His offer of the opportunity
to be in good covenant standing with Him (righteousness).
Because the modern
reader is likely to be so far removed from this sensibility, having had the
false dichotomy of “works versus grace” hammered into his or her consciousness,
it is worth reiterating that adhering to these things, or the works of the law,
simply identified an individual as being in positive covenant standing. They
were not designed to earn anything, much less the favor of their God. This adherence demonstrated that one was
righteous. If one was considered to be righteous, then that person was
justified before the Creator God, experiencing that God’s covenant
faithfulness, or His righteousness.
Amongst the covenant
people, and most likely the new covenant people that were Gentiles, this was
well understood in that day. It was part
of the air that they breathed. It cannot be said enough, contra so much
of the sensibilities of modern Christianity, that the works of the law, most
assuredly, did not function or stand as attempts to earn entrance into heaven
after death by valiant efforts at keeping the law. Performing the works
of the law, again, was a covenant marker that, interestingly enough,
demonstrated a trust in the Creator God and in His power to perform according
to His promises, in a firm reliance on His covenant faithfulness. Adhering to the works of the law, and making
sure that they were performed appropriately, was an act of faith.
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