Theological term
Casuistry
3 sermons · All terms
Laws Concerning Marriage and Capital Offences
Exodus 22:16–20 presents two distinct legal categories: the seduction of an unbetrothed virgin and three capital offenses — sorcery, bestiality, and idolatry. The sermon works through each law in its ancient Israelite context, drawing on Deuteronomy 18, 22, 27, and 13 to amplify and clarify the Exodus text, and defends the coherence of the bride-price legislation against the charge that it sanctions rape. All three capital offenses are shown to be covenant-destroying acts that strike at both the religious and civil foundations of Israel's polity, carrying the theological weight of treason against the Lord of the Covenant. The general equity of these laws presses the church today toward a high view of marriage, a total rejection of the occult, and recognition that first-table faithfulness to God is the indispensable ground of second-table obligations to one's neighbor.
The Fourth Commandment, Part 3
Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 2 are frequently cited as evidence that no special day of worship remains for the people of God, but a careful exegesis of each passage shows they address Jewish ceremonial observances and food laws — not the moral, Decalogical Sabbath. The argument of Romans 14 concerns Christian liberty in matters of diet and ethnic calendar practices, not the abrogation of the Lord's Day; Galatians 4 condemns the Judaizing of salvation by attaching religious merit to ceremonial observances; and Colossians 2:16-17 targets the 'sabbaths' that functioned as shadows alongside new moons and festivals — a grouping the Old Testament itself consistently distinguishes from the weekly Sabbath. The Christian Sabbath, grounded in creation, codified at Sinai, prophesied for the new covenant era, and transposed by Christ's resurrection to the first day of the week, remains binding on the people of God — kept not as a means of justification but as a fruit of it.
Free Grace Baptist Church - May 29, 2016 AM
Matthew 23:14–22 presents Jesus pronouncing three woes upon the scribes and Pharisees — condemning their exploitation of widows under a pretense of piety, their missionary zeal that produces converts destined for hell, and their casuistic perversion of the oath. Far from being an anomaly in Christ's ministry, these denunciations stand in the prophetic tradition of Isaiah and serve as a direct warning to the contemporary church: religious appearance, evangelistic fervor, and clever theological reasoning are no evidence of saving grace when divorced from a true and plain understanding of God's word and genuine inner righteousness.