There is a particular unhealthy understanding of the Law of God spreading on the wings of the current gnostic movements in Uganda, finding many fertile soils among the youth.
This ideology casts the Law of God in a bad light, as though it is indeed against people’s flourishing. The teaching borrows much from the postmodern secular-humanist view which perceives freedom as the absence of restraints and boundaries.
The postmodern philosophy is relativistic and does not desire any rules or binding moral codes to be imposed from the outside. It is antinomian and individualistic going by the motto ‘I am my own king.’ It resists structures of authority and accountability.
In the 2nd century A.D, Marcion who was a Gnostic instituted his own ‘biblical’ canon, in which he rejected the whole Old Testament. He also dismissed the three gospels retaining only Luke and the letters of Paul but removing any hint of Old Testament passages in these books too.
According to Marcion, the God who judges people for their sin as the Old Testament reveals is different from the God of Jesus Christ, the ‘God of love.’
The gnostic movements in Uganda also reject the Old Testament as beneficial for the believer. They downplay the gospels, claiming that they too belong to the Old Testament since they cover the pre-cross period. They have a narrower sense of the meaning of the word ‘Law’ than that of the biblical writers.
Biblical Usage of the Word ‘Law’ (Main source, BDAG).
The word ‘law’ primary relates to that which is conceived as standard or generally recognised rules of civilised conduct (BDAG). Thus, ‘law’ can be
a) a procedure or practice that has taken hold, a custom, rule, principle, norm which may be in accordance with the rule of an external commandment (Heb 7:16) or ‘of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ as a ‘new law’ or ‘system’ of conduct that constitutes an unwritten tradition’ (Gal 6:2).
If you notice, the use of the word ‘law’ and particularly in Gal 6:2 is binding on believers. The law of Christ is elsewhere termed as the law of faith (Rom 3:27), and the law of the Spirit of God (Rom 8:2). To live by faith is not to be lawless, but to adhere to a law that moves beyond sight.
b) a constitutional or statutory legal system, as in Rom. 7:1, Rom. 4:15, Rom 5:13. This usage of the word ‘law’ includes the ‘Law of Moses’ which was ‘received from God and is the standard according to which membership in the people of Israel is determined’ (BDAG).
It is in this second sense that the Law is not binding on a Christian. That is, it is not our adherence to the Law in this sense that justifies us or constitutes us as children of God. Only Jesus justifies, and only His Spirit sanctifies. This truth is worthy of all acceptance.
c) a collection of holy writings precious to God’s people, sacred ordinance. In a strict sense the Pentateuch (5 books of Moses) is referred to as the Law (Mat 12:5; John 8:5; 1 Cor 9:9, John 1:45). Also, the whole Old Testament is sometimes summarized as ‘the Law and the Prophets’ (Mat 5:17; Mat 7:12; Mat 11:13; Mat 22:40; Luk 16:16; Act 13:15; Act 24:14; Act 28:23; Rom 3:21).
In this last usage, both the Apostles and Christ spoke of the Law as that which is beneficial for Christians doctrine and life and thus binding. It is in this sense that Paul writes in 2 Tim 3:16-17 that
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
What We Must Remember
When Paul writes 2 Timothy 3, all that Timothy (and the Church) had was what we now call the Old Testament. Thus, you may rightly rewrite Paul’s instruction to Timothy thus:
All the Old Testament is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So, when people claim that we are not supposed to be under the law without explaining what they mean by ‘Law’, they create ambiguity that causes heresy to thrive. When people reject the Old Testament as not binding on believers, they are contradicting Jesus and all His Apostles.
Those who are justified by Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit live under the rule of the Lord and embrace a kind of life worthy of the King and in conformity to their calling. There is no kingdom without laws, and indeed the kingdom of God is not lawless. Those who are not under the Law of Christ are not under His Lordship and Kingdom and are thus not born again.
All scripture (including the Old Testament) exists for our correction and instruction. If you are not instructed by the Old Testament, neither are you guided by the New Testament. If you do not delight in Deuteronomy, then neither are you taught from Timothy or Thessalonians.
Conclusion
The cure for the postmodern relativistic propaganda crouching in our churches is opening our Bibles and believing in its binding authority in what it teaches from Genesis to Revelations. Marcion and his gnostic teachings must be expelled from the Church of God. Freedom does not consist in the absence of restraints, but in living rightly according to God’s principles.
It is in submission to the supremacy of scripture in its given context that we discover true liberty because
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Psalm 19:7-9
Feel free to leave me an email at byamukama104@gmail.com for any inquiries or message