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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman The
Law Of Moses And Christians One often misunderstood
Biblical issue is how a New Testament Christian is to relate to the Old
Testament Law of Moses. In the
1950's Evangelical church in which I was raised we seemed to struggle over
this issue. We kept the
Sabbath but on the wrong day. We
tithed our 10% not realizing there were three tithes that totalled 26.6%.
We tried to keep some laws while rejecting others, something the
Law did not permit. So, how
are Christians to relate to the Law of Moses.? We should know that the
Law of Moses was instituted for the national interest of Old Testament Israel, not for New Testament Christians. Much
of the Law was already in existence and practiced prior to Moses' day.
Many of the Law's 613 laws, or statements of wisdom for Israel's judicial system as modern scholarship views these laws, are found in
other ancient cultures as well. I now refer you to three
New Testament verses that I believe show how Christians are to relate to
the Law of Moses, the first being Romans 10:4. "Christ is the
culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes." Paul wrote that Jesus is
the culmination or the end of the Law when it comes to being recognized by
God as being righteous. This
divine recognition is not applied to us by mere mental ascent to the
gospel, but by becoming a present day active believer, as the Greek verb
translated into English as "believes" states.
The Law does not apply to Christians in all aspects of a life of
salvation.
Read Colossians 2:13 and
14 "When you were dead
in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave us all
our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which
stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the
cross." Paul wrote that God
forgave all, not some of our sins by cancelling the "charge of our
legal indebtedness." That
is to say, the Law's judgment of condemnation died on the cross along with
Jesus and has no relevance for us.
Read Hebrews 8:13 "By calling this
covenant 'new,' he [God] has made the first one obsolete;
and what is obsolete and outdated will soon
disappear." The author of Hebrews
wrote that the Old Covenant (Law of Moses) is obsolete and outdated and
will soon disappear. The
perfect tense Greek verb "has made" suggests the Law has,
without any doubt, lost its usefulness.
That being said, it still has informative, historic and prophetic
relevance for us today until the day Jesus returns to earth.
I conclude that
Christians are not obligated to obey the Law of Moses.
We are obligated to obey our Lord Jesus Christ who has replaced the
Law. Postscript
The Law of Moses taught
three tithes, one of which was to be paid every three years, and thus, the
percentage of 26.6%. For more
information on my views on this issue, you can read my books entitled
"Understanding The Old Testament As New Testament Christians,"
and "Should I Tithe?"
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