13-Mar-2012, 11:19 AM
I apologize for the length of the answer, but it includes quotes as well as references. I am a person who holds to the authority of scripture, with a pre-tribulation, dispensationalist, young earth creationist viewpoint. (don't be concerned if the terms are meaningless to you. Quotes are from the NIV)
There were some 613 laws given, of which the 10 commandments are but ten. (Matthew 22:34-39) Jesus said that 2 of them summed them up; #1 of the 10 commandments; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (which is found in Leviticus 19:18). Jesus said that the entire Law, all 613 rules, are still extant in Matthew 5:17-48. It starts in verse 17 with:"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." and it ends in verse 48 with "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Now the key here is that the Law has not been abolished, and that Jesus obeyed them flawlessly. In fact, Jesus is the only one that ever has or ever will do so, that is, Jesus is the only one without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. (I Peter 2:22). Also found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 and I John 3:5. This was only possible because, being God in the flesh, he was born (of a virgin) without the effects of 'original sin'.
The purpose of the Law is central. The Law was created to show that it was not humanly possible to be "good" at all times. (Galatians 3:23-25, Romans 3:19-31) Its purpose was to make us give up trying to do it on our own, and instead to rely on what God has done for us in Jesus. The sacrificial system was created in the Old Testament to form a "temporary" way to regain a sinless standing with God until the perfect sacrifice could be made, that is the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus to pay the death penalty we incur with our sins.
Not one of the 613 laws have any hold on the Christian who has put his faith in Christ, because our "standing in God's eyes" is not found in what we do, but in whom we trust. That by no means means that we are sinless!!! It only means that we are forgiven. Colossians 2:9-23 covers it fairly well. verse 13,14; "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."
The secondary topic is what rules do we obey now, since the Law no longer condemns us. Can we commit sins? And the answer is yes. Jesus left us one command: John 13:34,35 'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Whenever we don't show the Love of God, we sin, and this can be both by what we do, and what we don't do. Remember the two greatest laws that Jesus quoted had to do with love? All the Law flows from them. We have freedom in Christ (Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."), but an obligation to act in love because we have been bought with the priceless gift of the sacrifice of Christ. (James 2:8-10 "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.)
This is rather a lengthy answer, but it is a fairly complex subject. Do not consider this a full treatise on the subject, but rather a summary.
Ian
There were some 613 laws given, of which the 10 commandments are but ten. (Matthew 22:34-39) Jesus said that 2 of them summed them up; #1 of the 10 commandments; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (which is found in Leviticus 19:18). Jesus said that the entire Law, all 613 rules, are still extant in Matthew 5:17-48. It starts in verse 17 with:"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." and it ends in verse 48 with "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Now the key here is that the Law has not been abolished, and that Jesus obeyed them flawlessly. In fact, Jesus is the only one that ever has or ever will do so, that is, Jesus is the only one without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. (I Peter 2:22). Also found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 and I John 3:5. This was only possible because, being God in the flesh, he was born (of a virgin) without the effects of 'original sin'.
The purpose of the Law is central. The Law was created to show that it was not humanly possible to be "good" at all times. (Galatians 3:23-25, Romans 3:19-31) Its purpose was to make us give up trying to do it on our own, and instead to rely on what God has done for us in Jesus. The sacrificial system was created in the Old Testament to form a "temporary" way to regain a sinless standing with God until the perfect sacrifice could be made, that is the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus to pay the death penalty we incur with our sins.
Not one of the 613 laws have any hold on the Christian who has put his faith in Christ, because our "standing in God's eyes" is not found in what we do, but in whom we trust. That by no means means that we are sinless!!! It only means that we are forgiven. Colossians 2:9-23 covers it fairly well. verse 13,14; "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."
The secondary topic is what rules do we obey now, since the Law no longer condemns us. Can we commit sins? And the answer is yes. Jesus left us one command: John 13:34,35 'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Whenever we don't show the Love of God, we sin, and this can be both by what we do, and what we don't do. Remember the two greatest laws that Jesus quoted had to do with love? All the Law flows from them. We have freedom in Christ (Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."), but an obligation to act in love because we have been bought with the priceless gift of the sacrifice of Christ. (James 2:8-10 "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.)
This is rather a lengthy answer, but it is a fairly complex subject. Do not consider this a full treatise on the subject, but rather a summary.
Ian