Are Christians to Follow the Law of the Old Testament?
Yesterday I spoke about the New Testament, which most Christians today follow as more relevant to their faith than the Old Testament. When I was a Christian, at different denominational churches over the four or so years, I would estimate that eight out of ten of our sermons and bible studies would be taken from the New Testament. The reason for this is that the New Testament tells the story of Jesus. Jesus is the whole reason for the cult of Christianity, and without the idea of this mythological character, Christianity would not, and could not, exist.
In the New Testament, one thing Christians claim is that Jesus's death eradicated the Old Testament law. They claim that the rules such as not wearing mixed cloth and not cutting your hair are no longer applicable due to Jesus's arrival and sacrifice, which freed them from the law.
This concept comes not from the gospels, but from the writings of those that wrote the other books of the New Testament. This was mainly Paul, who wrote the vast majority of the New Testament, besides Revelations, the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), and a couple other books. In these writings by Paul, such as Romans and first and second Corinthians as example, we read that Christians are no longer bound by the law of the Old Testament.
"Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ .... We are delivered from the law, that being dead." ~ Romans 7: 4,6
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances ... nailing it to his cross." ~ Colossians 2: 14
These are just two examples of the ten or so examples from the New Testament that claim Christians are not under the law.
The important thing here, however, is that these words written by Paul and others directly contradict what Jesus said. This entire doctrine of not being held by the Old Testament law is one of convenience for Christians, as following the Old Testament laws today would land one in jail in a heartbeat. To meet this convenience, Christians ignore the words of Jesus himself, who clearly stated that Christians are to follow the law still. The law, according to the Jesus of the bible, will never pass away, and anyone that teaches people not to follow the law, will be least in Heaven. The following passages are the words of Jesus.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 5: 17-19
"It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." ~ Luke 16: 17
A tittle is a small part, or the smallest part of a written language. An example would be the dot over an "i" or the cross of a "t."
It is clear here that Jesus himself is saying...well, I won't go into it. It is so blatant and simple that I don't think it needs any explanation. He even warns the reader/listener to "Think not that I am come to destroy the law" (Matthew 5:17). I don't think he could have been more clear.
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In the New Testament, one thing Christians claim is that Jesus's death eradicated the Old Testament law. They claim that the rules such as not wearing mixed cloth and not cutting your hair are no longer applicable due to Jesus's arrival and sacrifice, which freed them from the law.
This concept comes not from the gospels, but from the writings of those that wrote the other books of the New Testament. This was mainly Paul, who wrote the vast majority of the New Testament, besides Revelations, the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), and a couple other books. In these writings by Paul, such as Romans and first and second Corinthians as example, we read that Christians are no longer bound by the law of the Old Testament.
"Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ .... We are delivered from the law, that being dead." ~ Romans 7: 4,6
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances ... nailing it to his cross." ~ Colossians 2: 14
These are just two examples of the ten or so examples from the New Testament that claim Christians are not under the law.
The important thing here, however, is that these words written by Paul and others directly contradict what Jesus said. This entire doctrine of not being held by the Old Testament law is one of convenience for Christians, as following the Old Testament laws today would land one in jail in a heartbeat. To meet this convenience, Christians ignore the words of Jesus himself, who clearly stated that Christians are to follow the law still. The law, according to the Jesus of the bible, will never pass away, and anyone that teaches people not to follow the law, will be least in Heaven. The following passages are the words of Jesus.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 5: 17-19
"It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." ~ Luke 16: 17
A tittle is a small part, or the smallest part of a written language. An example would be the dot over an "i" or the cross of a "t."
It is clear here that Jesus himself is saying...well, I won't go into it. It is so blatant and simple that I don't think it needs any explanation. He even warns the reader/listener to "Think not that I am come to destroy the law" (Matthew 5:17). I don't think he could have been more clear.
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Add this blog to your My AOL, My Yahoo, Google Homepage, or other reader!
posted by You Haven't Heard of Him at 9:39 AM
6 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
You just want to find contradiction in the Bible to make your points. If you were really interested in discovering the truth, if gaining knowledge was more important than proving your point you would do some very simple research. It's clear you don't know what Christ meant when he said "I've come to fulfill the law."
You might have typed that question into your search bar and something like this might of come up as the first hit:
"Through faith in Christ we are no longer under the condemnation of the law. The law has no claim on us, because we stand in Christ, not under the law. In Romans 6 and 7, Paul uses the analogy that we die with Christ and are raised with Christ, so that law, which had a claim on us until death, has now lost that claim because we have died. Our new life is in Christ, and is not under the law."
And that, my friend, is what Christ meant when he said I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
I find it interesting that you say I do no research. If you had spent more than two minutes on this site, you may have read my background. I do, and have done, plenty of research my friend. It is also interesting that you criticize me for not researching, and then you go and take the first hit that comes up on google. That is not research.
As for the link you found, it is nothing more than a clever round-about explanation to explain Christians out of something that the Bible stats clearly. In addition, only a Christian could be so arrogant as to claim what Christ meant when he said something. You are simply making an interpretation, and that is the entire point of this site.
"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." ~ Romans 7:4-6
It seems clear here that Paul is saying Christians are not under the law and that the law is not applicable to them any longer. Paul says it clearly. There should be no extrapolations of his meaning beyond what he says. It is clear: Christians are no longer bound by the law. This, of course, contradicts plenty of other passages in the bible, New and Old Testaments included.
I would like to add that you are so proud of your stance, and stand by it so strongly, that you could not take the two minutes it takes to register and have a name along with your post.
Again, as I said elsewhere, it's funny how the "Christians" always post anonymously.
our question, "Are Christians to Follow the Law of the Old Testament?" Yes.
1. "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other Gods before me." This is pretty obvious. If we follow this Law then there wouldn't be a lot of the fighting that is going on now. If we Love and obey our Lord troubles are gone.
2. "Don't make any graven images and bow down before them." Our God is a living God and can provide for our needs. These statues and dolls can do nothing.
3. "Do not take the name of the Lord in vain." In other words don't use the name of the Lord in useless efforts.
4. "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy." By honoring the Sabbath you are honoring and remembering the Creator.
== The first four commandments deal with honoring and remembering the true God. Throw them away and you are throwing Him away.==
5. "Honor thy father and mother." We should respect and love our parents who brought us into this world. They are our initial teachers.
6. "Thou shall not kill." Throw this one away and then we will have a lot of bloodshed.
7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." To maintain proper marriages we need to keep this one also.
8. "Thou shall not steal." Taking someone else's stuff without permission cause one heck of a lot of trouble.
9. "Thou shall not bear false witness." Lying about, or to, your neighbor also causes lots of trouble.
10. "Thou shall not covet." Having to great a desire for someone else's stuff can lead to heartache and breaking of the 7th or 8th commandment..and even number 6.
============
The Ten Commandments are good Laws, Rules and Guidelines. Without them, this world would be in utter chaos.
"The Ten Commandments are good Laws, Rules and Guidelines. Without them, this world would be in utter chaos."
Wrong. These laws are intrinsic in most people, in most societies. The Ten Commandments were not the first set of laws to present these ideas.
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