It’s one long humid Sunday, and your sitting there listing to the Pastor drone on and on about sin. But his argument seems empty, so you open up your bible out of boredom. Turning to First John chapter three verse 3 and 4 you read, “Everyone who has this hope before him purifies himself, as Messiah (Christ) is pure. To commit sin is to break God’s law: sin, in fact, is lawlessness” (The New English Bible). The question forms in your mind burring to be asked and answered. Finally you get the Pastor’s ear and ask “What does this mean, here in First John 3:3-4? What law is John Talking about”? The Pastor pulls out a pat answer, “The Law of Christ”, he explains, is what the text is referring to. His answer is just as empty as the other responses he’s given you about many other subjects. You might be asking yourself some of these very good questions yourself, but do you ever find a satisfying answer? Did you ever get a logical answer? Has it always been some sort of an explaining away of your question? I can show you how man’s traditions, have blinded us like a set of rose colored glasses do, to what the scriptures say plainly.
The majority of Christianity believes, the Bible is one book inspired by one God, who has chosen to reveal Himself to humankind. So why does Christianity reject the Law of Moses? Leaders in the church have propped up the tradition that Christ (Messiah) did away with it like some old rotten rag. They argue from Yeshua’s (Christ) own words in Mathew 5:17-18 “Do not suppose that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to complete. I tell you this: so long as heaven and earth endure, not a letter, not a stroke, will disappear from the Law until all that must happen has h...
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... believer, they thought it was the law of sin and death.
How than do we remedy these traditions, that have caused such confusion for so many generations of Yeshua’s followers? We need to ask questions, remembering to confirm what is being taught from the bema (pulpit). And if we are pursuing Messiah (Christ) to mold ourselves into his likeness. We should consider walking as he did, living out the Torah in our lives to the best of our abilities.
Works Cited
Caudia Wintoch, Hebrew Idioms in the Gospel of Matthew, written 2001, Web page, http://www.healing2thenations.net/papers/hebrewmt.htm#_ftnref17
NASB, Bibleworks, LLC Version 6.0.005y: Romans 3:28, 29-3; 7:6, 14
THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE, The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, Second Printing December 1960.
1 John 3:3-4; Matthew 5:17-19; Romans 7:22-23.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.
Holy Bible, Authorised King James Version Moorman, J.R.H. A History of the Church in England. 3rd ed. London: A&C Black, 1980.
From my reading of Galatians, I would say that we should not follow the Jewish Law. If the Jewish law were the only way a person can be saved, then there would be no need for Jesus’s death. The apostle Paul also noticed this error because he tells the readers that because of his new understanding of the Law, he has come to reject the Law (Galatians 2:19). The Law is not the “end-all-be-all”, it is simply a filler until Jesus. Before the time of Jesus, people needed a moral code to live by, but they have a new Law to follow: the teachings of Jesus Christ!
passed to them by God. The Ten Commandments were passed to the Hebrews by God,
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
21 Oct. 2013. Lecture. The. Peterson, Eugene H. The Message, Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language.
The Old Testament law is seen as irrelevant by most modern Christians today. Christians are now under the blood of Jesus Christ which is said to abrogate the Law. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ is to love God and your neighbor as yourself. This does not mean, however, that the Old Testament Law does not apply to Christians today. Author J. Daniel Hays expounds on this topic in his article, “Applying the Old Testament Law Today,” and focuses on the hermeneutical approach of Principlism. This approach allows the Old Testament Law to be viewed in light of the New Testament.
The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Scofield, C.I., ed. Scofield Reference Bible. New and Improved. New York: Oxford University Press, 1909. Print.
Much like the laws in the Old Testament, the law is God solving a problem before it occurs (Maxwell, 2010). As Reggie Joiner reminds us: “Relationship comes before rules” (Maxwell, 2010, 176). If a relationship forms, rules are easier to embrace. Rules are a tool to keep the ship and everyone on it going in the same direction. Shared systems of values strengthen partnerships minimizing the possibility of comprise. Values determine our actions. Our conscience can be a fickle thing if not tended to. A good study of 1 Timothy 1:5 will sharpen the cause for keeping the conscience in order and know that a good conscience is the product of a pure heart. Finally, we trust fully in God’s promises to comfort us, but need to share that same comfort through an empowerment to do so from God himself. Kept promises are the glue that holds all the guidelines together and shuttles them into the heart and soul of mankind by building
The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1957.
Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Ed. R. K. Harrison, Howard F. Vos, and Cyril J. Barber. Chicago: Moody, 1988. Print.
The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Unfortunately for Christians, there is actually very little law in the Bible -- either Old Testament or New -- that is original. Consider the Torah of the ancient Jews. The laws of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Hammurapi, Eshnunna, Hittites, Mishnah, and Israelites all bear a striking resemblance to each other, due to widespread copying of laws. Shared social norms produced identical laws against sorcery, kidnapping, sale of an abducted person, false witness, business dishonesty, bribing judges, property right violations, shutting off irrigation canals used by others, etc. The complete list of identical laws and customs is quite extensive. & nbsp; Nor is the New Testament's approach to the law unique.