Woe to the Teachers of the Law!

It’s always puzzled me why people see it as their duty to try to correct anyone else. No matter how many Scriptures they throw at me about correction and discipline, still the one that stands out the most is that ‘I am confident of this very thing: that He who began the good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ’ (Phil 1:6). *He* will perform it, not someone else.

And for the Scripture Romans 14:4 – ‘Who are you to condemn someone else’s servant?’ Sure, in a church there needs to be accountability, but this must always be balanced with a) mercy and b) remembering that to our Master we stand and fall, not to other humans.

Matthew 23:13 – “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in”

Matthew 23:23 – Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former”

And for me the clincher is Luke 11:52 – “Woe to you, experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

Woe to the experts in the Law. Those who insist on following the Law have taken away the key to knowledge. Isn’t that simply brilliant? This is the problem right here. You shut off the Kingdom of heaven from people by insisting on behaviour, on compliance, rather than grace. The Yeast of the Pharisees at work again!

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