Mosaic Law and the New Testament

[Yelimi Kughdi]

Hello everyone:

O.k. so let me preface this question a little before I ask my question. So, for a long time I have been curious about the application of Mosaic law (primarily because I never hear anyone quote any of it and I like to memorize a little bit too much sometimes.) Anyways, a random person this morning asked me the following question:

"Are Jews really considered Christians? Because they believe in GOD and they don't think Christ has come yet and Christian means Christlike or Follower of Christ I think.. and they don't think Christ has come yet soooo What do you think?"

Now the main question is not the question I had. Actually my main question came when I was looking up the first account of the use of the word "Christian" in Acts 11:26. When I was looking it up, I ran across a little blurb on Messianic Jews. Now I know that one of the differences between Messianic Jews and Christians is that they still believe that they have to follow the Torah (the first five books of the Bible.) This is my question therefore. Why don't we still follow the Mosaic Law? I understand that the Mosaic Law is broken up into several categories:

1.) The law for the priests.
2.) The Ceremonial Law (which Jesus fulfilled.)
3.) The Moral Laws.

My question is primarily directed toward the third part of the Law. Because Jesus fulfilled the second, and the first only applied to a distinct group of people (which actually is a little confusing for me still.) The verse which also throws a lot of confusion into my mind too is Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV -" Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." I understand a little about verse seventeen and that was fulfilling the ceremonial laws.

I thank everyone who helps, of course I will be doing research on this myself to understand but it is good to have outside assistance to cross-check my own work. Thank you again and God bless biggrin  

[Priestley]

First of all, I have to ask a couple of questions.

• If Leviticus details the priestly laws, where are the ceremonial and moral laws located?
  
• What disqualifies Jesus from fulfilling priestly and moral laws?

In the passage, Jesus speaks passively of himself as the embodiment of the fulfilment of the whole Law. He then denies what he had been accused of doing: destroying the Law. He follows this up by stating that there is nothing that will be missed (or not fulfilled) by his doing. He cautions by warning that one's teaching parallel to and opposite of the Law will be the measure by which a person's place in the kingdom of heaven will be given, while indicating that his fulfilment of the Law means that it is no longer the Law itself that will prevent people from entering the kingdom of heaven. He then remarks that it is only by being made more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees by what he will do that will allow you to enter the kingdom of heaven.  

[Yelimi Kughdi]

To answer the first question: look at the Ten Commandments, Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy. And the second one, from what I have found so far, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws. We no longer live under the law, but instead under grace. I don't know much else though XD  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

To quote myself from February's verse of the month and our word from the crew me:

Quote:

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

It is perfectly okay (and encouraged) to pay special attention to verses that address how Jesus has loved and continues to love us, but it is just as okay (and just as encouraged) to, every once in a while, turn our attention to what we as Christians are called to do. There are plenty of verses about love in the Bible- the Song of Solomon is all about love. We are constantly having John 3:16 crammed down our throats, and probably reminded all too often that to love God is to follow His commands. But what about our sisters and brothers in Christ? What about our "neighbor"- who, in this case, happens to be the person we not only share a street or apartment building with, but the rest of the universe as well? How do we deal with them? Thankfully, Romans tells us.

I think the word choice of this month's verse is very interesting, on two counts. The first half of the verse mentions a continuing debt to love one another. The overwhelming implication here is that we owe love to each other. We are in debt as regards love toward one another. I owe all of you love. All of you, in return, owe each other love. Not only that, but it is a continuing debt. It's not something that can easily be erased by loving a certain amount today and having your love quota fulfilled for the rest of the month. It is an ongoing debt that cannot be cleared. We will always be short on loving each other.

The second half of the verse says that by loving one another we fulfill the law. Hmm. That's interesting. Where else have we heard that phrase? Oh yes, here's where:

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. Matthew 5:17

Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law just as, by loving one another, we will fulfill the law. How very interesting that Paul reminds the Romans, and us, that we too can fulfill the law and be like Jesus by simply loving one another. But it's not as simple as being nice to your fellow human being today. Remember that part about the continuing debt? It is only through making the effort to love one another every single day that we can fulfill the law as Jesus has. Perhaps a more accurate translation of this verse could be "Every single day of your life, you owe it to your fellow human being, whoever and wherever they are, to love them fully and unconditionally as Jesus Christ did, and thereby fulfill the law as Jesus has, and be counted as righteous and perfect, just as Jesus is." It is only through mimicking Jesus that we can become like Him. It is only through paying our love debt to each other that we can even come close to paying the debt we owe to God.

It answers your question in a round about way I think, because this concept in Romans, and also what part of it stretches over into Matthew, is echoed throughout the Gospels in Jesus' repeating the two Great Commandments: to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.  

[Priestley]

Fushigi makes a good point. We fulfil the law based on the commandments that Jesus gave to us. He essentially summed up all of the law and put it into two basic commandments: love God and love your neighbour. If we do that, we fulfil the Law according to Jesus and he will not find us faulty for anything else.

Yelimi Kughdi

To answer the first question: look at the Ten Commandments, Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy.

Right, but which is which? The Ten Commandments and the following other commandments seem to me to be the moral law. Leviticus seems to me to be the priestly law. What is the ceremonial law? Have you included prophecy?

Yelimi Kughdi

And the second one, from what I have found so far, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws. We no longer live under the law, but instead under grace. I don't know much else though XD

You've pretty much answered your own question there. If we no longer live under the Law but under grace, we are under grace only, which means that all of the Law has been fulfilled in what Jesus did. He was the high priest that took himself as the sacrifice to God's altar. He was the embodiment of all moral law. He didn't only do away with ritual.  

[`apple dumpling]

The laws are contained in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and parts of Exodus.

I agree with what everyone else has said. I especially agree with Fushigi on love God and love your neighbor, because I believe God's greatest commandment and will for us is to love.

That being said, I also feel like the intention behind OT laws is more important than following them exactly. I think the spirit of the law should be upheld, even if we're not following the laws. Meaning, understand why those laws existed and applying that to today's life.

So basically, ask why. Why did God forbid the Jewish people from eating certain food? Often times for sanitary purposes, meaning God wants us to be healthy and take care of our bodies. I would apply this by taking care of my body and not abusing it. Why does the OT forbid tattoos? Because other cultures in the area used tattooing and God wanted his people to be set apart. I would apply this by living a life set apart from the practices of this world which may not be Godly.  

[Jessy_4 26 2008]

Alright, the law for the priests, I believe most of our priests do fulfill that although I'm not an expert on becoming a priest. Although most church's have pastors or ministers now, not sure what the difference is besides preaching style and title. So on this one..I'd say ask people who know more about it than me sweatdrop

Ceremonial law was fulfilled, Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and no more is required.

We DO have to follow the moral laws though. The Ten Commandments ARE moral laws.

The only laws we don't follow are the laws on sacrifices, the sabbath (originally we did, we don't follow this based on culture, not because we don't have to..because we REALLY should), and kosher foods. One of the disciples (Peter I believe..) had a dream of a blanket/cloth being laid down with all kinds of food, and God told him to eat, he refused, but God said that all he had made was perfect and pure..so we can eat what we want now. This also applied to conversing with gentiles who were called unclean, which lead to preaching to the gentiles (AKA most of us..as we aren't Jewish by nationality).  

[Priestley]

Jessy_4 26 2008

Alright, the law for the priests, I believe most of our priests do fulfill that although I'm not an expert on becoming a priest. Although most church's have pastors or ministers now, not sure what the difference is besides preaching style and title. So on this one..I'd say ask people who know more about it than me sweatdrop

As Christians, we have no need for priests to carry out priestly duties, whereas previously this would have the duty of the Jewish tribe of Levi, hence Leviticus. There is no priestly caste or tribal system in Christianity. Jesus is our priest.

Jessy_4 26 2008

We DO have to follow the moral laws though. The Ten Commandments ARE moral laws.

To the extent that they are no longer barriers to heaven but a standard by which we will be measured and given a place in heaven (Matthew 5:19).

Jessy_4 26 2008

The only laws we don't follow are ... the sabbath (originally we did, we don't follow this based on culture, not because we don't have to..because we REALLY should)

True to a degree. The sabbath is based on the creation story, in which God rested on the seventh day (Exodus 20:8-11), which is cultural (though the seven-day cycle is widespread). However, Jesus never said we should keep the sabbath at all costs. He indicated that the sabbath is a blessing for man, not a burden (Mark 2:27). In light of this, how do you read Exodus 20:10? Working on the sabbath is as (un)righteous as doing good works on the sabbath. Jesus and the disciples did things on the sabbath (e.g, Matthew 12:1-13, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-10, 13:10-17, 14:1-6).  

[Etaoin Shurdlu]

To be quite honest I do not believe that the Bible clearly differentiates between moral, priestly and ceremonial laws, and that only the priestly and ceremonial laws have been fulfilled by Jesus. Certainly Jesus never says such.

As far as I am concerned, Jesus fulfilled the whole Law, ten commandments and all. All of that is summed up in the law of agape - the law of love - which Jesus brought to us. I do not believe that we are bound to follow any part of the old Law except where it would conflict with the new law.

So, for instance, I do not think that it is wrong to have a tattoo. Or to be gay. Because these are part of the Law, and that has been nailed to the cross and replaced with a different - though a summation really - law.