The Mosaic Law/Covenant was a specific Covenant given exclusively to Israel and was never binding upon mankind as a whole. This has been a source of confusion among Christians. Let's look at to whom the Mosaic Covenant was given to.
Exod 31:16-18
16 Wherefore ***the children of Israel*** shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign ***between me and the children of Israel*** for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.(KJV)
Deut 5:1-3
1 And Moses called ***all Israel, and said unto them***, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant ***with us*** in Horeb.
3 The LORD ***made not*** this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
(KJV) [Moses them recounted the 10 Commandments in the following verses].
We see clearly from these statements that the Old Covenant, and particularly the 10 Commandments, were NOT universal laws binding on all mankind since creation, but were specific to Israel, from the days of Moses onward. There is no escaping this conclusion if you one understands Grammar and Context.
So are the Ten Commandments part of the Mosaic Covenant?
Exod 34:28
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables........
***the words of the covenant,*** the ten commandments.
(KJV)
Deut 4:13
13 And he declared unto you ***his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments;*** and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
(KJV)
So we see from the above scriptures that the Ten Commandments are in fact "The Covenant" or let's say the centerpiece of the Mosaic Covenant.
Now when Jesus came He came to give us a New Covenant via His sacrifice for us. It is through His sacrifice in which we are able to be grafted into the Jewish New Covenant and inherit the blessings of entering the Kingdom of God.
Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of ***the new covenant,*** which is shed for many for the remission of sins. NKJV
Now below is the Prophesy of that NEW Covenant that God promised Israel.
Jer 31:31-32
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (KJV)
It must be emphasized that this NEW Covenant is NOT a Gentile Covenant but a Jewish Covenant given to Israel First and then we who are Gentiles can be "grafted into" this Jewish Covenant. Jesus gave the New Covenant to His Apostles who are the 12 representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in whom the Promise of this NEW Covenant was promised by God.
So now that we have a New and better Covenant, what happened to the Old one? It was completely done away with and replaced.
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ***better covenant, which was established on better promises.***
7 For if that FIRST covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Now look what Paul says next about the New and Old Covenants.
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to VANISH AWAY.
Paul said that the first Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, has been made "obsolete" and that it was ready to "vanish away". Why is that? Because The New Covenant that was promised by God has now come into being. God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He made in Jeremiah 31:31. He was going to make a New Covenant and it was NOT going to based upon the Old Mosaic Covenant. It was going to be something entirely new.
Heb 10:8-10
8 Above when he said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law";
9 Then said he, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." ****
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.***
Did you catch that? God took away the FIRST Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant so THAT He may establish the SECOND Covenant, the New Covenant that Christ brought in.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (KJV)
In verse 9 above we have clear language that demonstrates that God took away the Mosaic Covenant so that He may establish the Second Covenant.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having ***ABOLISHED*** in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Above in Ephesians 2:14 we see that Jesus Christ "abolished" the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. What are those? Those are all the Laws contained in the Mosaic Covenant. All 613 of them which includes the original Ten Commandments. Does this mean that we can now murder and commit adultery? Of course not. Jesus implemented God's "Moral Principles" in the New Covenant which is also known as "The Law of Christ". It is important to distinguish between God's "Moral Principles" and the laws themselves. In part two I will address the New Covenant, The Law of Christ. Before I do I would like for you to examine the situation that the Early Church was having regarding the Gentiles and how the leaders of the Church came to the theological conclusion that the Gentile Christians were never under "the Mosaic Law" and were never bound to any of it's requirements.
(Acts 15:23-24) �The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings,
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, �You must be circumcised and keep the law� � to whom we gave no such commandment � it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.� .
Act 21:18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;
21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.
24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."
1. Paul did not said the law being made obsolete in the terms you have meant. He just said that it is impossible to gained salvation through the law because of our sinful nature. Therefore salvation cannot be gained through observation of the law. Because under the law of God, instant death is the only punishment (Adam and the fruit: death on the day he eats). Therefore the law is obsolete in this sense. Once we receive the salvation, Holy Spirit will urge us to obey the law, why, the law is the standard of righteousness of the LORD. This is sanctification. Sanctification is a prove of salvation. The law is the only way we can know what is the standard of holiness of the LORD.
2. You keep on saying all must be fulfilled regarding Christ. What the law say about Christ? Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10:4). The end of law is to justify those who observe it but seeing none of us can due to our sinful nature, Jesus heals this disease, He therefore fulfills the law for us. Does it means we can keep on sinning? No. (Again in Romans).
3. Sin-what is it: "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4
Sin is lawlessness, not only knowing what is right or wrong but knowing the standard of holiness of God.
4. Law and Gospel is related and not mutually exclusive. Observing the law does not exclude grace. The covenant of work - righteous by observing law is only given to Adam and Eve. We are all under covenant of grace, which is inclusive of the Law. Moses is under covenant of grace.
I see you again failed to address my question to what Jesus said about fulfilling ALL the things concerning Himself in Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.
Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. NKJV
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, THAT ALL THINGS must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
THAT ALL THINGS must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
THAT ALL THINGS must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
THAT ALL THINGS must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy BUT TO FULFILL.
(THAT ALL THINGS must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.")
You keep saying that Jesus did not fulfill all things yet JESUS own words refute your position. You are just misunderstanding what Jesus said as I have pointed out time and time again and yet you continue to fight this and are unwilling to concede your obvious error. These passages are fundamental to your position and if your interpretation of them is skewed as Jesus own words says they are, then so is your whole position.
Daniel, with all due respect, I like others have come to a point where I see it is becoming fruitless to continue discussing this with you. Let me kindly suggest that you study "Hermeneutics". This is the "established method of Biblical interpretation". It will be a major benefit to you in your studies as when you have learned these disciplines then you will be able to even catch yourself when you make an error. I have personally found it to be priceless as when you discover you are wrong about something you at one time embraced as truth, you then have the opportunity to learn the truth and be more in harmony with God's word. It is a beautiful thing to embrace and be willing to be wrong about something as it give you an opportunity to correct an error.
God bless you in your search for God's Truth in all things!
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law (torah) is the truth.
John 14:6 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
THE WAY
Deut. 30:15-16 (KJV)
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; [16] In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
John 14:6 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
LIFE
Deut. 32:46-47 (KJV)
And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law (torah). [47] For it (torah) is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
John 14:6 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
THE LIGHT
Proverbs 6:23 (KJV)
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law (torah) is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
John 1:4-5 (KJV)
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Romans 10:4 (KJV)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Paul is not saying that Jesus is the termination of the law (torah). He is saying that Jesus is the goal, aim, summary. Basically, Paul is saying Jesus is sum of the torah.
Romans 10:5 continues
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law (torah), That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
So Paul has just said that Jesus is the sum of the torah and now quotes the torah to prove that �life� comes from the torah.
In Romans 10:6-8 Paul says:
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) [7] Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Now Paul is quoting torah again to make his point. Specifically, he is quoting Deut. 30:12-14. To understand the context, here is Duet. 30:9-16:
And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: [10] If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
[11] For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. [12] It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? [13] Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? [14] But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
[15] See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; [16] In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
It is the TORAH in Duet. 30:12-13 that does not need to be brought down to us. Paul uses this to establish that it is the Messiah that does not need to be brought down to us in Romans 10:4. Paul is applying his logic that Jesus is the sum of torah in Romans 10:4.
Also, Deut. 30:15-16 parallels Lev. 18:5. Paul quotes these passages together because they teach the same thing. Paul is making the point that Jesus and TORAH are both the Word of God! The torah is the substance of who the Messiah is!
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Now look what Paul says next about the New and Old Covenants.
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Paul said that the first Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, has been made "obsolete" and that it was ready to "vanish away". Why is that? Because The New Covenant that was promised by God has now come into being. God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He made in Jeremiah 31:31. He was going to make a New Covenant and it was not going to based upon the Old Mosaic Covenant. It was going to be something entirely new.
Heb 10:8-10
8 Above when he said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law";
***9 Then said he, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.****
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (KJV)
In verse 9 above we have clear language that demonstrates that God took away the Mosaic Covenant so that He may establish the Second Covenant. This was a prophesy of Jer 31:31.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having ABOLISHED in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
You are either under "The Mosaic Covenant" or you are under the New and Better Covenant of Grace, not both.
1. hermeneutics. I admit before this I did not know what is this. My principle of reading the bible revolves around God's word cannot be contradictory and everlasting. After studying hermeneutics, I am of the opinion my principle of interpretation are in accordance with hermeneutics principle after all. Let us reexamine some of the verses you quoted and interpreted according to the Grammato-historical hermeneutic principle,
a. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17
Grammar: according to you that once is fulfilled than the law is destroyed. But grammatically, there is nothing that suggest the law will pass away. It is said I come not to destroy, but to fulfill. The sentence it not give any hint of what happen after fulfilled. The initial words, think not that I am come to destroy the law, have in fact said that Jesus come not to destroy the law. If it is not destroyed, it remains. If one continue to read on Matthew 5, you will find that Jesus take all the effort to explain the law. If the law is going to pass away, why explain it?
Historically: None of the Jews which listen to the Sermon of mount is accusing that he has destroyed the law. In fact after the sermon of mount, many teachers of law keep on coming to Jesus to ask about the law. IF he did not support the Law, how come Jews come for his view on the law?
b. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:18
Grammatically: you say that till heaven and earth pass have nothing to do with passing of the law, "all be fulfilled" shall mark the passing of the law. If Jesus never want to compare the life span of the law with the life span of heaven and earth, why mentioned it at the first place? Here, Jesus was comparing the lifespan of the law with heaven and earth. It is longer than the lifespan of the heaven and earth. Passing of the heaven and earth will not make the law pass away because it is still needed for final judgment. And after the new heaven and earth, we no longer need the law and it shall pass away because, spiritual bodies cannot sin. That is when the saying "it is done" and all is fulfilled (prophecy in Daniel and Revelation)
Historically: Again, none of the Jews accuse him of breaking the law.
c.Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
Grammatically: you argue that the commandments here is not clear. It is very clear here. There are 2 type of commandments in the bible, the commandments of man and the commandments of God. Here, Jesus is referring to commandments of God, before and after. What he teaches in the sermon of mount, is the same teaching in the OT. There is no contradiction.
Historically: The Jews then understand commandments as the commandments of God. That's why Jesus is not accused of teaching a new commandments then.
d. Luke 24 "44And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
Grammar: You argue that must be fulfilled refers to the first coming. First, the OT prophecy regarding Jesus ended with the new heaven and earth. If Jesus ever want them to understand it as the first coming, why not say so? The following verses made it even clearer, "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem", which stated that repentance and remission of sins shall be preached to other nations is part of the prophecy he referred to. So this ended with the new heaven and earth.
Secondly, Jesus never mentioned, anything have pass away. That's why later, Paul and John both said that lawlessness is sin.
2. Covenant of Moses is not covenant of grace.
Covenant of Moses and new covenant are both covenant of grace. Because by work we shall died by the day we sin.
3. This bring us to a question, without law, where is the judgment. Without law, what is sin?
