Do Christians need to keep the law?
How about people of Jewish decent?
We are under grace, Christ freed us from legalism. Some people want to be under the law and pretend to be Jewish, however.
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But didnât Jesus keep the law? If he did, shouldnât we or at least those of Jewish decent?
Gentiles were considered unclean, but some followers ministered to them anyway We can, without fault, eat pork and shellfish, travel far on the Sabbath, turn on the coffee maker, and enjoy grace over the laws of Judaism. We were never under the law- and we should not put ourselves under rules made for a different religion. Jesus was a Jew- Gentile Christians are not.
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Yes, Jesus did keep the law, but remember even though it was Jesus who freed us from the law He lived during the time of the law as it were. As a Jew He had to keep the law to be a perfect sacrifice. When He died, broke the curse of the law, reconciled people to God, He ushered in the age of grace. Paul explains this in Galatians. Now we are in the age of grace.
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Matthew 5:17â20
17âDo not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets ; I have not come to abolish them but to (fulfil) them.18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17, fullfil is the Greek word pleroo, which means âto fill upâ. Not to complete, but to make complete.
The laws pertaining to the sacrificial offeringâs, of animals for sins are now no longer needed. Any laws related to the temple even to this day cannot be performed because there is no physical temple.
God is not the author of confusion, His laws and His commands, spoken by the very words of our Savior Jesus, â until heaven and earth passed away, Not a dot Will pass from the law Until All is accomplished. Last time I checked heaven and earth are still here, And we are still waiting For the return of our savior and for Godâs judgment to come upon the Earth to be accomplished.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus frequently uses the phrase âHe who has ears, let him hearâ.
I pray we have the strength through God, to put aside this type of doctrinal error, Due to a miss reading of Godâs true intentions, which have become factual truth for many, and have caused many to stray from the truth.
Let me be clear. This is not a salvation issue. Obeying Gods Laws and commands ought to be something we are drawn to do out of our love for him, if for no other reason, we just need to remember what God did on the cross for us.
No, not really. âThe Lawâ wasnât just the ten commandments. The Law, was every silly little rule they came up with and declared to be law. Just as it is today.
And no-- Jesus didnât concern himself much with the laws they threw at him. He healed and hiked and told others to ignore the laws of the Sabbath as it says in John 5. He hung out with the wrong sorts of people and was counted among the lawbreakers (that means he was one of them) which he says had to be fulfilled as it was prophesied. (Lukke 22).
Jesusâ brother James and the entire Jerusalem Christian community - i.e., those who had actually known, heard and walked with Jesus - were fanatical about keeping the law. There is extensive documentation as to how fanatical James was and how respected he continued to be even among the non-Christian Jews for this reason. This would seem to be rather a large clue as to who the historical Jesus actually was. Are we to believe that those who actually knew him and to whom he actually appeared after his Resurrection went off on some inexplicable âNah, letâs be observant Jews anywayâ tangent?
Paul, who never saw or heard Jesus, makes no reference to anything Jesus said or did, was bitterly at odds with James and the Jerusalem community, and derived his entire message from visionary experiences, had a completely different understanding. The Gospels, all written after the destruction of the Temple (when it was not a good idea to be openly Jewish at all), not surprisingly reflect a Pauline, anti-Jew, pro-Roman perspective. Nevertheless, the real Jesus occasionally makes an appearance in statements such as:
âDo not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.â
The above is pretty hard to explain away. If Jesusâ message had been simply âBelieve in me, treat your neighbors as youâd like to be treated, and enjoy complete freedom from the law,â one might have expected this to come through somewhere in the Synoptics - but it doesnât.
Oh you foolish Galation! You are preaching a different gospel. Yes, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law by dying in our place. If you wish to be judged by the law then you will be judged by all of it. When I stand before God, I want Him to see not my righteousness but Jesusâs.
When you wish to be judged on your performance, then Iâm afraid Jesus will say to you, âdepart from Me, I never knew youâ.
Christians Must keep the 10 Commandments, âwritten by the finger of Godâ on stone tablets. (see Rev 14:12).
Jewish who follow the torah must keep the Mosaic Laws âwritten by Mosesâ handâ in a book, there are 613 of them, like men must be circumcise . . . .
Note: The ten Commandments are also written in the Mosaic Laws.
If you say that he fulfilled the Torah in its entirety, can you provide a scripture indicating that he fulfilled the laws of Niddah?
Hi. Iâm a little different thanost of your audience. I was born into a three-times-a-week Christian family. I am on the road to being a Jew by Choice.
One the ways that Hashem has led me to the Truth of His Torah is through knowledge. It is of utmost importance to know WHY one believes, outside of believing blindly because that oneâs preacher teaches a given belief. That could go down a neverending rabbit hole, but Iâm not here to hijack your post.
Growing up, I was taught that no one person could keep the entire Law (there are 613 commandments and not just the ten given on Har Sinai) except for Jesus. It is true that no single person can keep the entire Torah (the part regarding nocturnal emissions can only be kept my males and the laws of menstruation can only be kept by females). Many of the Torahâs laws are situational (while in Eretz Yâsrael, regarding temple worship, specific to the Kohanim, etc.).
To answer your question, we are told that the covenant with Abraham is eternal. Thus, all of the Torah is still pertinent today. There are some that we cannot accomplish because someone decided to erect a mosque on the temple mount.
I hope that your Sunday is as blessed and meaningful to you as my Shabbat is to me.
P.S. Often, I base my answers on Hebrew, which can be very enlightening as to the âwhyâsâ
The Judiizers ie Pharisees are alive and well in the church today. The same group that came behind Paul to âcorrect â his teachings. The same people that claim we have to âearnâ our salvation after freely receiving it. They are false teachers and donât be led astray from the true gospel. âHe who the Son sets free will be free indeed.â
The Jerusalem council, which includes James, spells it out pretty clearly. No mention of keeping the law. He, the Holy Spirit, will make you more like Christ as you listen to His still small voice given to you in love. Salvation cant be bought and you canât be good enough to âearnâ it.
Jesus said âit is finishedâ. I have paid the price that was due you for your sin. Death. Itâs His righteousness that was sufficient. Yours will never be enough.