As has been pointed in earlier messages, the covenant made through Moses is a different covenant than the covenant established by Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the law but did the earlier covenant ever stop?
Paul wrote: “And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law” (Galatians 5:3).
This seems to tell that the covenant of circumcision and law was still in the play well after the death and resurrection of Jesus. People had a possibility to choose between the old and the new covenant. It should be obvious which covenant is the better one.
I don’t think that (a choice between the two covenants) was Paul’s point.
Rather, I think he was saying that if you make the mistake of putting yourself under the law, “do it all!”
Do it all:
Keep the Sabbath
Wear the tassels
Follow the dietary laws
Camp out during the festival of booths
Marry the widow of your brother
And much more
If you decide you are under the law, you must really go all the way.
Gal 2:19 For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah. 20 I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not misapply God’s grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah died for nothing.
I am bound, united to a new master, Christ. Through union with Him I died to the Law. The Law condemned me for my sins, in union with Christ’s death I have been executed and condemned as tha Law required but then I have been raised up to life in Christ. So the Law’s requirements of my death and condemnation have been fulfilled in Christ. Since I have died to the Law in Christ but raised to life in Christ, I now belong to Christ. And I now live by the Spirit of Christ not by the Law. Righteousness could never come by the Law but what the Law could not do God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn, judge sin in the flesh. So now I am one spirit with Christ. United to the Godhead through the New Birth, governed by the Spirit not by the letter of the Law. I have entered the Sabbath rest through Christ. I have ceased my own labors and now do the works of God. This is the New Covenant, the grace of God poured out into me by the Holy Spirit.
Everything goes back to the cross of Christ, for by it I have died both to sin and the Law and have been raised to life and liberty in Christ Jesus. Jesus is my Lord. So I do not take the grace of God in vain. If I live by His Spirit, I will not follow the lusts of the flesh but will instead live my life out of the righteousness that God has recreated me in. I am a New Creation now. I have been Born Again in the righteousness of God.
I agree. Yet, Paul is not saying that the old covenant has ended, except in the sense that God gave a new and better one through Jesus. There were and are those who try to keep the whole OT law. I guess we all know what kind of task it is to fulfill the whole law, especially in the strictest sense that Jesus was teaching.
Not so. There is a distinction you are failing to make between the moral ‘laws of love’ and the rest of Mosaic Law.
Speaking of speed limits. (Ooh, @moderators, I just remembered that memes are frowned upon. Could you make an exception and smile at this one, please? It is so apropos. )
The Law was a school master to point to Christ. By the Law no one could be justified. It was a shadow of the things to come, but now that the reality has come the shadow has passed.
Gal 3:21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Gal 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
By being united to Christ, by being In Christ, I have died to the Law. I AM DEAD TO THE LAW!
So, through and in Christ I live by the Spirit and if I walk in the Spirit I will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh which I once was a slave to. So yes, if I walk in the Spirit I will fulfill the spirit of the Law, but not by works of my own but through the Spirit of God that recreated me. Does that mean I honor one day over another? No! For in Christ I have entered into the Father’s Sabbath rest, I have ceased from my own works and do the works of the Father. For the Father is at work even to this day, and what I see the Father doing I do. Is this done by the Law? No, but by the Spirit of Christ in me.
Again, I died to the Law and have literally been recreated in Christ. But now that the old has passed away and behold all things have become new, Phil 2:13 it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
The test is whether we are in Christ Jesus or not.
2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?
It all goes back to the cross and the resurrection. Through our union with Jesus in the cross we have been united to Him, we have been placed in Him. In Christ we have died to sin, the devil, the Law, the flesh and the world and have been made alive in Christ’s resurrection. It’s Christ who is our righteousness, holiness, sanctification and eternal life.
We point people to Jesus, to His cross, His resurrection. Yes we can use the Law to point out sin so that the whole world stands condemned. But this is to show them their need of being united to Christ Jesus. The Law does not bring righteousness, FAITH, TRUST IN JESUS DOES. If I walk in step with, controlled by the Spirit, I am not under the Law and the flesh has no power over me.
If I walk in the Spirit will I commit adultery, steal, lie about my neighbor, dishonor my parents, do my own works on the Sabbath and whatever else is opposed to, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself? No! Love of God and my neighbor is the fulfillment of the Law but it is only accomplished through our union with Christ in His cross and resurrection. In Christ I have entered into the Father’s rest and have ceased from my own works.
Christ Jesus is the Way. The Way to be justified, made righteous, made holy, live free from sin and whatever else is in the very nature of the Father.
It appears to me that you are denying the words of Jesus. He is not talking about the entirety of Mosaic Law, he is talking about the laws of love… which is obvious in his remarks about adultery and murder, among others.
It appears to me that you are denying the words of Jesus. He is not talking about the entirety of Mosaic Law, he is talking about the laws of love… which is obvious in his remarks about adultery and murder, among others. [/quote]
My eyes and affections are set on Christ, not on the Law. By my faith in His work on the cross I have been Born Again and have been filled with His Spirit. I have died to sin in Him, my spirit is free from sin. So from that position of being free from sin, I daily take up the cross to put to death the deeds of the flesh. Not to be born of God, but because I am already born of God I put to death the flesh’s cravings by the power of the New Birth. As long as I do this sin has no control over me and the Law can not condemn me.
Yes, in Christ I will fulfill the two great commandments. As I said before, I won’t commit adultery, steal ect. But I look to Christ and depend on the Spirit of God in me. I do not look to the Law.
The Law is not for the righteous but for those who continue in sin.
1Ti 1:5-11The goal of this instruction is love that flows from a pure heart, from a clear conscience, and from a sincere faith. 6 Some people have left these qualities behind and have turned to fruitless discussion. 7They want to be teachers of the Law, yet they do not understand either what they are talking about or the things about which they speak so confidently. 8 Of course, we know that the Law is good if a person uses it legitimately, 9 that is, if he understands that the Law is not intended for righteous people but for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who are unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people, 10 for those involved in sexual immorality, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for false witnesses, and for whatever else goes against the healthy teaching 11 that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
If I walk in the Spirit I am not under the Law, I live by the Spirit and walk in the freedom from sin and in the liberty that the Father has birthed me into.
The two greatest commandments are a very concise summary of the laws of love (lowercase L convention) that do not encompass the entirety of OT Mosaic Law (uppercase L convention to distinguish between the two). You appear to still not understand the difference.
I understand. But still, in Christ I have died to the law or Law. I look to Christ as all must to be free from sin as Paul stated in my above posts.
Christ is my Lord, not the Law or law.
Christ is the end of the Law, law, to all who believe.
Neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything, only the New Creation counts, as Paul stated.
No true believer in Jesus is going to say since we are born of God we can disobey what God says in the 10 commandments in reference to sexual immorality, lying, dishonoring our parents ect. But it appears the stumbling stone is keeping the Sabbath holy. But this is resolved in the following statements in Hebrews.
Heb 4:3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
Heb 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath — rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
So through my faith in the cross of Christ, I have entered into the Sabbath of God. Period.
I have ceased from my own labors and rest in the righteousness that God has birthed me by. I rest in the grace, favor, and power of God and the freedom from sin that God has granted to me through my faith, trust and reliance upon the work He did in Christ in the cross.I have been crucified to the world and the world to me. No longer doing my own works but those of the Father. So I do keep the Sabbath rest.
The cross and all that it entails is my salvation, my hope, my freedom. For freedom sake Christ has set me free. His cross, death, Him becoming sin and a curse, judgement upon Him and His stripping off powers and principalities and death and rising from death and ascending to the Father’s right hand above all powers in heaven and earth and Him being Lord of all and my very life, that is what Jesus has done and become to me.
JESUS IS MY LORD!
Another failure to distinguish between moral laws of love and the whole of Mosaic Law. Jesus said you would be better off not to trash any of the former, didn’t he. (Your cheap shots don’t enhance your argument.)
(Ooh, 
)