Legalism By Any Other Name: A Review of the Book Holy Cow

There are essentially two goals of Hope Egan’s book: The first is to prove that an Old Testament kosher diet—that is, abstaining from meats such as pork and shellfish—generally leads to better personal fitness and health. For instance, she states (p. 32) that plant-eating animals (herbivores) absorb fewer toxins or poisons than meat-eating animals (carnivores) and that people will be healthier if they eat herbivorous animals allowed under the OT food laws. Although the validity of this and other health claims in the book are difficult to evaluate because Egan does not appear to cite any original research, my concern in this review is for the second, and really the main, emphasis of the book: to build the case that Christians today can be more pleasing to God if they keep the OT dietary laws. This is not stated as such, but seems implied throughout. For instance, after noting the importance of holiness in the life of believer and quoting Leviticus 11:45 (“…you shall be holy, for I am holy”), the author concludes (p. 25) that holiness is the “only reason” mentioned as to why God gave dietary laws to the Israelites in Leviticus 11.

Let’s begin with the positive. Egan’s book does contain biblically accurate statements about the relationship between the OT Law and getting yourself right with God (p. 19): “But Scripture itself—both the New Testament and the Old—tells us that following the Torah never led to salvation. Right standing with God has always come solely through faith in God’s promises.” While Egan (and the secondary author, Thomas Lancaster) clearly understand that no one can be made acceptable to God by following the Law, they err in their understanding of several key passages that discuss the nature of the OT law and how it relates to the Christian, and fail to mention central biblical texts that plainly acknowledge that the OT is no longer binding on the believer.

Although the finer points of how the New and Old Testaments relate together can sometimes appear puzzling, it is clear that the OT law is temporary, a fact that the OT itself announces: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:31-32, ESV). Like the prophet Jeremiah, the author of Hebrews recognizes that the laws and regulations of the old covenant (“covenant” is a more modern word for “testament”) have expired, and therefore no longer have validity. After quoting the Jeremiah passage above (Hebrews 8:8-12), and discussing the superiority of the new covenant, the author of Hebrews concludes that “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (verse 13).

Theologians have often divided the Law into its moral, civil (pertaining to governmental and civil administration), and ceremonial (e.g., sacrifices, offerings, feasts) aspects. The moral law, according to this view, is retained in the new covenant, while the civil and ceremonial laws are discarded. This appears logical, since many of the moral commands of the OT are repeated in the NT, but doesn’t seem to square exactly with the statement of the author of Hebrews that the old covenant itself (not just the civil and ceremonial laws) are as a whole now obsolete.

Perhaps a better model is to conceive of the old covenant as a passport that has expired and needs to be reissued (at least in the United States, passports cannot be renewed). Like an old passport, the old covenant also has expired and God’s covenant with mankind has been “reissued” in Christ. As the old passport served its purpose for travel while it was valid, the old covenant served its purpose in God’s plan for the Israelite nation. Now that God has issued a new and better passport—one that anyone in the world can have, and without an expiration date!—the old passport is no longer needed. True, the new covenant and the old both hold a certain moral outlook in common, just like the old passport and the new passport both allow you to travel. We would expect this since the same God issued both covenants.

Space will not permit a full discussion of other relevant texts, some of which are used as proof texts in the book, but I will briefly address the authors’ core misunderstanding of Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17 that He has come not “to abolish the Law and the Prophets . . . but to fulfill them.” In the context, Jesus goes on to say that whoever breaks the “least” of the OT laws, and so teaches others, will be called “least” in the kingdom of heaven, whereas those who keep and teach them will be called great. For Egan, this means Christians are to keep the OT law dietary laws and perhaps the OT law in general (this point is not made totally clear), although she is willing to make exceptions for certain commandments, such as stoning adulterers, because this would conflict with civil laws today.

But what does it really mean for Jesus when he urges us to “keep” the commandments, and what does it mean to “fulfill” them? Reading on in Matthew 5, Jesus presents a number of vivid, clarifying examples. In verse 21, for instance, Jesus notes (“You have heard…”) that that the OT law does indeed forbid murder (Exodus 20:13), but condemning murder is not the point of the Law. Hatred is. No murder has ever take place without someone first hating someone else. Jesus penetrates to and condemns the motivation behind the action, an attitude of hatred toward others. God’s real concern is for a heart attitude of love and worship toward Him and others. “Keeping” the commandment not to “murder” as God truly intended it (“But I say to you…”, verse 22) requires a pure and righteous motivation for our actions. It requires us to love God and our neighbor, which is simpler to express than the OT law code but infinitely more difficult for fallen sinners to do without God’s grace!

In his dramatic conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus summarizes the requirements of the OT law: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12; ESV) The New Testament believer is “fulfilling” the Law—just as Jesus came to “fulfill” the Law—by loving his neighbor, because that is the true end and purpose of the Law. Jesus was announcing a new era in which the moral kernel of the Law is not only restated, but its demands are actually amplified forcefully.

So what was the primary purpose of the Law? The multiplied commandments of the OT law are necessary for God to demonstrate the utter futility of attempting to curry favor with Him on the basis of our works. The Law was the “tutor” or “guardian” that taught us about our own sinfulness and desperate need for a Savior (Galatians 3:232-26). Just like the child coming of age is no longer under a guardian, the NT believer who has received grace is no longer under the OT law.

In sum, Egan’s book tends to blur the line between law and grace, old covenant and new covenant. Its practical dietary recommendations may or may not be helpful, but its theological reasoning lays the dangerous groundwork of legalistic thinking.

The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps

Greetings to the brethren in the name of our risen Lord!  

Bart, Amy, and I returned safely yesterday to LA.  I don't think I've ever been so sad (and yet so joyful!) to leave somewhere.  Christ Evangelical Baptist Church embraced me like a family and I felt like one of theirs from the beginning.  The Lord opened our hearts to one another and knit our hearts together in love.  "We feel like we've known you for years," someone remarked to me.  "I know, I feel the same way."  It was surprising, but true.  Never in my travels have I found so humble, loving, passionate believers as I have in this working class neighborhood church in Beirut.  Their elders, and their pastor, Michel, are trustworthy men of God who love the church, who love her to the very end (John 13:1).  As I told the six newly baptized believers, the members of this church indeed are so very blessed!

Before we left, the elders and some others from the church came out to the airport around midnight to see us off.  My soul was humbled greatly and I was left without a word to say when the church provided us all with generous parting gifts.  Understand that these are all working class people who barely make ends meet in Lebanon. 

In response, I can only think of what Paul said about the churches in Macedonia (2 Cor 8:3-5), "that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. ³ For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴ imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. ⁵ And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."

Please pray for the next steps in ministry, as a mighty and effective door for ministry has opened and I seek the counsel and ministry oversight of faithful leaders and supporters in the churches here.

Your servant always,

Bent

Pastor Michel's ordination!

Hi everyone!  Bart and Amy Horton have arrived here safely and are now, according to them, 80% over their jet lag.  It's a real joy to have them here.  Their first night here, we all had the privilege of attending the ordination of pastor Michel Abbas.  The ordination has been in the works for a number of years, but kept getting postponed for various reasons.  What a blessed time for the church  to rejoice; I was encouraged by the many stories of pastor Michel's dedication and faithfulness over the years.  Praise be to the Lord!

Baptism surprise

Saturday night's baptism was a surprise for me.  Not that it was happening, but that I was the one who was doing the baptizing!  That's right, I was tremendously honored to have the chance to co-conduct the baptism with Pastor Michel Abbas.  There were actually six people who were baptized, including Rima, pictured here.  

  

Strengthening the church

In July I am teaching from the book of Acts each Thursday night, with the theme of how to become a 'world-shaking' church.  Last night our text was Acts 11:25--12:1-4.  By the grace of God, the response continues to be extremely positive and the word of God is growing and multiplying (Acts 12:24).

The Lord has granted me some more unique and unexpected opportunities to witness for Christ.  In Beirut, a man invited me to spend some time with him in the city.  We visited the patriarchate, or 'headquarters' of one of the major traditional Christian sects.  This sect is very influential in Lebanon.  I met a young priest that they seem to be grooming for leadership, and he graciously admitted us to a large reception hall where the head of this sect conducts meetings the top clergy of Lebanon.  Along with some others, I was able to share the gospel of grace with him and prayed!  Surprisingly, the young man was moved and grateful.  He even sent greetings to me later and I hope to visit him again. 

I had a really encouraging conversation with Bekass (the young man with a Majority background whom I mentioned recently made a profession of faith in Christ) and Salim about the Lord.  Bekass talked about how there's nothing in this world that he desires besides Christ.  Not material wealth, not family, only Christ.  He also desires greatly to be baptized.  There's no other explanation for this sort of thing except that the Lord is sovereign!

A friend of mine who founded a pioneer missionary work in a Majority country was here with his family for a few days and we had a wonderful night to fellowship, discuss ministry plans and goals, and generally for me to be sharpened.  I praise the Lord for him and his work, which is a strong example to me of biblical missions, and was really glad we could connect here in Beirut. 

There are five believers being baptized at Christ Evangelical Baptist Church and I look forward to hearing their testimonies tomorrow night.  Many blessings to you all! 

Bent

"Come and help us"

Warm greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!  This past week, Bekass brought a friend (since this is a public site I won't mention his name with Bekass) from his country.  He too expressed faith in Christ and the church is following up with him.  

I also met with another pastor whom I will not name since he is in the heart of a Majority area.  This particular church is in a very strategic area for the gospel.  The people of the church were amazingly sacrificial--and bold--to build the church here.   This pastor had a remarkable encounter with a family in an area quite some distance from the church where there is no evangelical church at all.  Some members of the family were moved by the Spirit to call on the pastor and to hear him speak.  They appointed a day, this past weekend, and gathered the rest of their family - nearly forty people! - to have the pastor come and preach to them all the words of this life (Acts 5:20).  I'm as eager as you are to hear the results of this meeting!  

For those of you who were concerned about me, I want to say thanks.  I'm fine, the internet was down for several days here.  Like just about everything else here, you can't really rely on it so please keep that in mind if you try to contact me but I don't seem very responsive.  Blessings to all the saints and thanks for your encouragement!

Appointed to eternal life

Last night I taught again at CEBC on lessons on shepherding from the life of Moses in Deuteronomy.  By the grace of God, this message was also well received and it's exciting to see how people are responding to the exhortation of the Word.

A young man named Bakass from the Kurdish area of Turkey is working in Lebanon and was drawn by God to the fellowship last night.  "Ente MeseHieh? (Are you a Christian?)," I asked him.  "La, lakin biddi! (No, but I would like to be)" was his response.  Unfortunately, his Arabic was not much better than mine!  Elder Salim stayed after the meeting with the young man and explained the Way to him.  "I have read about Isa (Jesus)" in the book used by the Majority, Bakass said.  "His name in the Bible is Yesua," responded Salim, who explained to him more accurately the things concerning Jesus to him from the Scriptures.  "I would like to give all my heart and life to this Savior."  Salim prayed with the young man and then encouraged him to persevere in the faith.

Yesterday I also met with a pastor of large evangelical church.  He is an expositor and churchman who is likeminded in theology and ministry.  He discovered the ministry of John MacArthur by accident while he was working in the country of Bahrain.  We talked about a vision of training up Arab pastors and church planters in the Middle East.  Unfortunately, it appears churches here suffer from division and discord, often not strictly speaking on theological issues.  For the church to be most effective in winning the Majority, we must pray for true unity, based on personal humility and sound doctrine.

I was reflecting on this for a while and it occurred to me that much of Paul's ministry involved helping to resolve disputes and strengthen churches, even as he prepared for new ministries.   Please pray that the Spirit will move to heal divisions in the church!