Deuteronomy 11-13

Deuteronomy 13 is a difficult chapter to internalize.  Its message is a call for purity within the community of faith and the expectation of the body to hold individuals accountable to that standard of holiness.  Those people of the covenant who reject God’s Law and introduce “new laws” that do not display the holiness that God dictated (being notably different from the pagan cultures surrounding Israel) do so to their own peril.  Because they violate the commands of God, the intended response to being in covenant with the Almighty,  they forfeit the life of blessing that God has promised them.  Is this a truth that modern believers can still apply?  I believe that because of Jesus’ sinless life God moved the judgment of the community of man into the capable hands of Jesus the man.  Therefore, I believe that the church no longer has the authority to execute heretics within the church.  The replacement to this action is excommunication from the body of faith (A nearly impossible task today with the breadth of denominations and schisms in the church).  We also need to keep in mind that modern violators are not those whose message is disagreeable to us, but those who introduce a “new gospel” (Such as Paul addresses in Galatians).  I believe the goal of accountability has also shifted with the covenant of grace.  It is no longer to rid the community of the one introducing the heresy, as was stated in the Law of Moses.  Instead the Christian focus should be to eliminate the false teaching while retaining and reintegrating the individual(s) into the church.  With the tendency, at least in the church of America, to elevate individuality and personal beliefs the shift of emphasis from the foundational truths of the Gospel to personal preferences or charismatic personalities and their opinions is a constant challenge that church leaders faces.

Stuart