“Every day God forgives us much, else He would not permit us to live.”
-Solomon
This statement is extremely insightful into the nature of both humanity and law. We live in a society of law, some social, some criminal and some divine. Often there is overlap in the different kinds of law, and sometimes there is disagreement between the different types of law. The question that must be asked is; why do we have the laws in the first place.
Before jumping into a complex explanation of law and how and why we have each one, starting with the Code of Hammurabi, let’s cut right to the simple answer. We have laws because someone was doing something wrong.
Many people have an initial reaction to this that goes something like, “Huh? What are you talking about you fool? Law is so we don’t do things wrong.” Let’s start with a simple example from the Ten Commandments that is used in civil law as well. Do not commit murder. Did we need to be told that we should not do this? Really? I some how doubt that. Therefore, law is NOT primarily to tell us what we should not be doing. What it is doing is describing what we are doing wrong already and informing us of the consequences of those actions. What can be hoped for, at best, is to bring societal order to the existing chaos.
In civil society we have a system of payment and punishment for those who violate the law. Depending on the level of the violation, you may pay a fine or do community service in order to pay back society for the chaos that you created. If the violation is more serious, you may be punished for your violation, even to the point of being removed from society completely.
Civil forgiveness is easy to accomplish for minor violations and some do not even go on your record as having broken the law. For instance, a ticket for parking to far from the curb will be completely forgotten once it has been paid. Divine forgiveness is another matter all together. What is expected of us in regards to divine law? There has been so much religious law over the history of religion that it is impossible to even make a summery of it in less than 100 volumes. It is also clear that the Ten Commandments are not enough to even begin to address all the wrong doing that exists in the world, religious or civil.
The facts of the matter are simple. One fact is that, as a creation, we are supposed to function in a certain way, namely the way in which we were created to be. Another fact is that this has not been how we have functioned. The whole matter has grown so complex that it is impossible to even begin to create in society a world where everyone behaves as they were created to do. The consequences of past actions of others transcend their time to come and visit us now in the present. The attacks on the world trade center of 9/11/2001 are a perfect example of how true it is that past action visits us to the present.
What is required of a created creature is perfect adherence to how it was designed. This is the same as when we make a mechanical creation in our world of dominion. When our car no longer works as it was made to work, and can not be fixed, it is done away with. Humanity has long since departed from how it was supposed to perform as a creation. Solomon recognized this all to well as leader. He saw it daily in those who came before him for his judgment and I suspect that, like all of us, he knew his own faults very well. “Every day God forgives us much, else He would not permit us to live.” The option is simple, we must either be forgiven, or much like our malfunctioning car, we must be done away with. God forgives us much indeed.
What does this teach us? Some may take this as a lesson that we are then allowed to do whatever we please because if we are forgiven, then it doesn’t matter what we do. The truth is that we are already doing whatever we please. Permission is hardly necessary. A good lawyer may be necessary in order to make sure that we get away with doing what we please, but permission is not at all necessary. This is most certainly true when it comes to our spiritual life. There are not even any civil penalties for having general bad character.
But that would be the wrong lesson to take from forgiveness. Because, while we may be forgiven our transgressions and God will go on with or without our adherence to the law, it matters a lot to those who we effect with our violating the law. It matters to someone who cannot afford food if we are charging them more than what is a fair price. It matters when their life is destroyed by the action of some uncaring individual. It always matters to someone.
This is the flaw that is in every law, given that we live in a world where the object of law is damage control and an attempt to bring order to chaos: One day the law will come into conflict with what is right. Moral law would have us not lie, however, if someone says, “Where is Harry, I am going to kill him,” Harry would be very much better off if you would lie. One can think of thousands of scenarios where the letter of the law would stop you from upholding the sprit of what the law was supposed to protect.
Perhaps this is why God chooses forgiveness. The spirit of the law is to choose life, and when that fails, the law is a law of death just as much as those who break the law and bring death. The failure of the law is truly the failure of the people who need the law.
God chooses life for His creation, by choosing forgiveness. It is a choice that we have to with our civil law. Perhaps sometimes, the law is wrong and we must choose life and forgiveness, because if we do not, it means the destruction of another.
Many people have an initial reaction to this that goes something like, “Huh? What are you talking about you fool? Law is so we don’t do things wrong.” Let’s start with a simple example from the Ten Commandments that is used in civil law as well. Do not commit murder. Did we need to be told that we should not do this? Really? I some how doubt that. Therefore, law is NOT primarily to tell us what we should not be doing. What it is doing is describing what we are doing wrong already and informing us of the consequences of those actions. What can be hoped for, at best, is to bring societal order to the existing chaos.
In civil society we have a system of payment and punishment for those who violate the law. Depending on the level of the violation, you may pay a fine or do community service in order to pay back society for the chaos that you created. If the violation is more serious, you may be punished for your violation, even to the point of being removed from society completely.
Civil forgiveness is easy to accomplish for minor violations and some do not even go on your record as having broken the law. For instance, a ticket for parking to far from the curb will be completely forgotten once it has been paid. Divine forgiveness is another matter all together. What is expected of us in regards to divine law? There has been so much religious law over the history of religion that it is impossible to even make a summery of it in less than 100 volumes. It is also clear that the Ten Commandments are not enough to even begin to address all the wrong doing that exists in the world, religious or civil.
The facts of the matter are simple. One fact is that, as a creation, we are supposed to function in a certain way, namely the way in which we were created to be. Another fact is that this has not been how we have functioned. The whole matter has grown so complex that it is impossible to even begin to create in society a world where everyone behaves as they were created to do. The consequences of past actions of others transcend their time to come and visit us now in the present. The attacks on the world trade center of 9/11/2001 are a perfect example of how true it is that past action visits us to the present.
What is required of a created creature is perfect adherence to how it was designed. This is the same as when we make a mechanical creation in our world of dominion. When our car no longer works as it was made to work, and can not be fixed, it is done away with. Humanity has long since departed from how it was supposed to perform as a creation. Solomon recognized this all to well as leader. He saw it daily in those who came before him for his judgment and I suspect that, like all of us, he knew his own faults very well. “Every day God forgives us much, else He would not permit us to live.” The option is simple, we must either be forgiven, or much like our malfunctioning car, we must be done away with. God forgives us much indeed.
What does this teach us? Some may take this as a lesson that we are then allowed to do whatever we please because if we are forgiven, then it doesn’t matter what we do. The truth is that we are already doing whatever we please. Permission is hardly necessary. A good lawyer may be necessary in order to make sure that we get away with doing what we please, but permission is not at all necessary. This is most certainly true when it comes to our spiritual life. There are not even any civil penalties for having general bad character.
But that would be the wrong lesson to take from forgiveness. Because, while we may be forgiven our transgressions and God will go on with or without our adherence to the law, it matters a lot to those who we effect with our violating the law. It matters to someone who cannot afford food if we are charging them more than what is a fair price. It matters when their life is destroyed by the action of some uncaring individual. It always matters to someone.
This is the flaw that is in every law, given that we live in a world where the object of law is damage control and an attempt to bring order to chaos: One day the law will come into conflict with what is right. Moral law would have us not lie, however, if someone says, “Where is Harry, I am going to kill him,” Harry would be very much better off if you would lie. One can think of thousands of scenarios where the letter of the law would stop you from upholding the sprit of what the law was supposed to protect.
Perhaps this is why God chooses forgiveness. The spirit of the law is to choose life, and when that fails, the law is a law of death just as much as those who break the law and bring death. The failure of the law is truly the failure of the people who need the law.
God chooses life for His creation, by choosing forgiveness. It is a choice that we have to with our civil law. Perhaps sometimes, the law is wrong and we must choose life and forgiveness, because if we do not, it means the destruction of another.
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