Is It Okay To Break The Law?

A further thought on the direction of yesterday’s post…  While Acts 17:6 told us that the message of the Good News “turned the world upside down,” (English Standard Version) the next verse goes on to inform us of how they did it.  The angry Jewish leaders proclaimed that they “are all breaking the laws of the Emperor, saying that there is another king whose name is Jesus.”  (Acts 17:7 Good News Bible)  It is interesting and humorous to note that the Jewish leaders were so upset that they suddenly found it opportunistic to openly support the Emperor and his laws whom they utterly despised!

Now, whose laws were the followers of Christ really breaking?  Was it the laws of the Roman Empire or those set by the ruler of this world after the fall of Adam?  We can see from the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, and from the various legal proceedings against Paul, that they were found innocent in the eyes of the Roman judicial system.  It was always the pressure from the local religious leaders that forced the issue.

The law that the Christians openly failed to follow was the law of sin and death!  They lived a different lifestyle than the majority of the people around them.  They followed the new law established by their new King Jesus, the Law of Love!  They were a happy people, who forgave their oppressors, reached out to people in need, met regularly to joyfully worship the Lord, had their needs met, walked in health and openly shared their faith.  They were filled with the Spirit and His fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control were outwardly evident in everything they did.  The Bible says that “against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 King James Version)

Talk about revolutionary!  No wonder that those who were stuck in their old ways were both upset and afraid of these people who began to call themselves “Christians!”  Like I mentioned yesterday, do your actions of love make those with whom you come in contact with positively unsettled?  Does your lifestyle make them hungry for Christ?  Think about it… Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What Revolutionary Things am I expecting today?”