God has one standard of spiritual truth and conduct. That is the Word of God. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, said, �It is written, �Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God�� (Luke 4:4).
The apostle Paul declared, �ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be COMPLETE� (II Tim.3:16-17).
The Word of God contains the teachings of the Law or Torah of God. In fact, the very word �Torah� in Hebrew simply means �teaching.�
Contrary to what many have been erroneously taught, in their churches, the Torah (Law) of God has not been abolished. Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, did not come to do away with the Torah or Laws of God. He Himself declared in unequivocal language, �Do NOT think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill [fill up to the brim]. 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 shall be called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven� (Mat.5:17-19).
God�s Law is ETERNAL! David wrote, �All His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness� (Psalm 111:7-8). He declared, �So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever� (Psalm 119:44). He further asserted, �And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love� (v.47).
God�s Law is eternal and binding upon all mankind. As we look around us today, we see that the physical Temple of God no longer exists. Therefore, the Levitical priesthood is temporarily suspended because there is no Temple. This means the ritual aspects of the Torah are not in force today � the sacrifices, and all that pertained to the Temple rituals (see Heb.9:10). But even if it were in existence, the apostle Paul explained, �For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin� (Heb.10:4). The physical Temple was merely a teaching device, patterned after the Temple of God in heaven (Heb.8:1-5).
So what really does matter? What are the true �salvation issues�?
What Does God Require?
When asked what one must to do inherit eternal life, Christ answered, �Keep the commandments� (Matt.19:17). He went on to list some of the commandments from the Torah, including �You shall love your neighbor as yourself� (verse 19). Paul wrote definitively that all the commandments are �summed up in this saying, namely, �You shall love your neighbor as yourself.� Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law� (Rom.13:9-10).
Micah the prophet put it this way: �He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy [lovingkindness], and to walk humbly with your God?� (Micah 6:8).
In a parable, Christ spoke about the coming judgment of His servants. He said, Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he returns and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them to sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. . . Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect� (Luke 12:35-40).
Christ then went on to say, �Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? [Who are going to be the kings and priests in God�s coming Kingdom?] Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
�But if that servant says in his heart, �My master is delaying his coming,� and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
�And that servant who knew his master�s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more� (Luke 12:42-48).
What does God require of us? Micah the prophet put it this way: �He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to DO justly, to LOVE MERCY, and to WALK HUMBLY with your God� (Micah 6:8).
Solomon summarized it by saying, �Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man�s all� (Eccl.12:13).
There is going to be an accounting � by every human being. Those who really serve God during this life, who are given the understanding of God�s Word and purpose and knowledge of salvation, will be judged at the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ!
As Peter wrote, �For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begin with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?� (I Pet.4:17-18).
But what about those who don�t understand all God�s commandments? What about those who have been deceived, misled, and don�t understand the commandments of God? How will they be judged?
Let�s understand the answer to this serious question!
A Special, Unique Calling
Many preachers claim that this is the ONLY day of salvation � that if you don�t believe and accept Christ right now, before you die, you will burn in Hell forever! But is this true? If it is, then the Devil has WON the war to capture men�s souls, because many more people are NOT Christian, than there are Christians, on this planet!
Let�s understand this!
God is not calling everyone to His Truth at this time. As Christ put it, �No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day . . . Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me� (John 6:44-45).
He repeated this truth in verse 65: �Therefore have I said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.� After this, many disciples became offended at His words, and �went back and walked with Him no more� (v.66).
It is all a matter of calling. Some are called of God now, to be His servants, and to be among the �first fruits� of God�s Kingdom. They will receive their reward when Christ comes, on the day of His return to earth (I Cor.15:50-52; I Thess.4:14-17).
For those who are called NOW, during this Age, they, in order to be saved, must repent from the heart of sin, which is transgressing God�s law, disobedience to God, accept Christ as Savior, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, and then continue faithful till the day they die (see Acts 2:38; 3:19; 4:12; 5:32; Matt.24:13; Luke 9:62).
The apostle John declared, of Christ�s second coming, �The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should REWARD YOUR SERVANTS the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great� (Rev.11:18).
Paul wrote of those who are called now, who suffer and even die for Christ, giving their lives for Him, giving up everything for Him, �Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a BETTER resurrection� (Heb.11:35).
Two Tiers of Salvation
Those called to serve God during this Age, who understand and obey God, will receive �a BETTER resurrection�! Christ says of them, �And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him will I give POWER OVER THE NATIONS � He shall RULE them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like a potter�s vessels � as I also have received of My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches� (Rev.2:26-29).
They are the ones who will say to Christ, �You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have REDEEMED US to God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS to our God; and we shall REIGN ON THE EARTH� (Rev.5:9-10).
Those called and chosen and faithful NOW will reign over the nations, under Christ, as kings and priests in the Kingdom Of God,
Those in the first resurrection are truly blessed! John declares, �Blessed and holy is he who has part in the FIRST resurrection. Over such the second death has NO power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall REIGN with Him a thousand years� (Rev.20:6).
These are the �first-fruits� of God�s harvest!
Those who are called of God now are the FIRST-FRUITS of the Kingdom of God. Those who receive God's Spirit during this present age are the �first-fruits� of God. They are typified by the �wave sheaf offering� of the �first-fruits� of the spring harvest in ancient Israel.
God declared to ancient Israel, �When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a SHEAF OF THE FIRST-FRUITS of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf� (Lev..23:10-11).
This �sheaf� is composed of MANY grains of barley. It represents the CHURCH, which is God�s first-fruits of salvation.
As the apostle James wrote, �He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of FIRST-FRUITS of all he created� (James 1:18). Also, the apostle Paul wrote of true Christians, �but ourselves also, which have the FIRST-FRUITS of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves� (Rom.8:23).Those in God�s spiritual Church, from the apostles till now, including the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, are God�s �first-fruits.� All who have a part in the first resurrection when Christ returns, are �first-fruits.�They are compared in the Scriptures to the �wave sheaf offering� of the barley harvest in the spring. Its acceptance by God guaranteed the future acceptance of the WHOLE FUTURE HARVEST! Its acceptance is the KEY to the acceptance of the REST of the harvest!
True followers of Messiah are likened to the wave sheaf or �omer� which was offered every day at the Temple between Passover and Pentecost. Each day about 5.1 pints of barley grain was offered in the Temple, with three fourths of a pint of olive oil, and a handful of frankincense (Edersheim, The Temple:Its Ministry and Services, page 205). Our salvation paves the way for the salvation of the rest of mankind, in the future!
Those who receive God�s Spirit during this present age are the "first-fruits" of God. The rest of the salvation of all mankind depends on the firstfruits! As Paul declared, �For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches� (Rom.11:l6). This truth was foreshadowed by the wave sheaf offering of the first-fruits of barley.
The Jewish rabbis in the oral law tell us God said the reason for the sacrifice of the �omer� was �so that the grain in the fields will be blessed for you (Rosh Hashanah 16a)� (quoted in The Three Festivals: Ideas and Insights of the Sfas Emes, p.75). In other words, by lifting up the omer, the first produce of the new year, we demonstrate our belief that �all material abundance is really His gift� (p.77).
The waving of the omer teaches us that �our daily bread is a miraculous gift from God� (p.78). It reveals to us that the HARVEST itself that follows is the gift of God! But if the first-fruits are not blessed and accepted by God, then the rest of the harvest will also not be accepted or received by God. Therefore, in a sense, ALL FUTURE SALVATION IS DEPENDANT UPON THE SALVATION, FIRST OF ALL, OF THE FIRST-FRUITS!
Without the �first-fruits,� the Messiah would have no qualified �kings and priests� to help Him RULE in the Kingdom of God! The �omer� or �wave sheaf� offering is speaking of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD, down through the Ages, from Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles, and the saints of God, down to this END time generation!
You said: "Contrary to what many have been erroneously taught, in their churches, the Torah (Law) of God has not been abolished. Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, did not come to do away with the Torah or Laws of God. He Himself declared in unequivocal language, �Do NOT think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill [fill up to the brim]. 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 shall be called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven� (Mat.5:17-19)."
WALTER: I would like you to consider this passage again. I think your interpretation, which is what some would agree with you on, is actually not adhering to the grammatical Hermeneutic.
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.
First it is important to notice that Jesus did not say just "the Law". He also mentioned "the Prophets". Why do you think that is? Do you think He was talking exclusively about the Mosaic Law or was there something else intended? If Jesus was coming just to "fulfill The LAW" then no mention of the Prophets would have been necessary.
When we deal with "Prophets" we normally are dealing with "Prophesies". What prophesies?"
Jesus was talking about coming to fulfill all the Prophesies that are contained in the Mosaic Law and the Prophets concerning His First Coming. Is there any other passage of scripture in the New Testament that could help us confirm this? Yes.
After the Resurrection Jesus met up with two Disciples on the road to Emmaus and had an interesting conversation with them. In fact Jesus taught them many things. What things?
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
Luk 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.
So we that Jesus explained to them about all the Prophesies concerning Himself from Moses onward including all the Prophets.
Now let's continue with the rest of this passage and look at other misinterpretations.
18 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.
It is very important to get the Grammar correctly here. Notice above that Jesus is NOT saying that the law will not pass away until heaven and earth passes away. He is saying that it will not pass away UNTIL ALL IS FULFILLED. Did Jesus fulfill all the Prophesies concerning His First Coming? Of course He did. Then since He fulfilled these prophesies then the Law can in fact pass away and did. That is what Jesus is talking about and if it is not then we have a huge contradiction with other NEW Testament passages that clearly shows the Mosaic Law....ALL of it, including the Ten Commandments, was completely replaced, done away with, made obsolete. Before I address the scriptures dealing with the Mosaic Law, let me finish this passage.
Now in verse 19 we have another statement that has many confused. Grammar again is so important.
19 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. NKJV
The key here is to understand what Jesus is saying when He says.... "these commandments".
There are two possibilities in the Greek grammar regarding "these commandments".
First off Jesus didn't mention any Commandments yet. We cannot make any arbitrary statement and say He was talking about Moses as He simply did not say which ones. We could include the commandments to Noah as well if we go down that path.
The word "these" is a demonstrative pronoun and can either be an "Antecedent" or "Postcedent".
Jesus is either referring to the Antecedent...previous verses of Mat 5:3 -16 or Postcedent....the following verses after His statement which would be the rest of the entire Sermon on The Mount. Considering the extensiveness of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount compared to just a few verses previously taught, it would be a more weighty conclusion that Jesus was referring to the rest of His sermon. [postcedent.]
Additionally we have a statement from Jesus at the end of this discourse that solidifies my position.
Mat 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
What sayings? All the teachings He just gave us in Matthew chapters 5,6 & 7.
Now let's deal with a particular Prophesy that Jesus fulfilled and this one is one of the most important I believe. I am going to use the Hebrews quote of Paul because he quotes Jeremiah 31:31 and applies it to US as a fulfilled prophecy given to Israel and in which we have access to it through Christ.
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.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
Heb 8:8 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�
Heb 8:9 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.
Heb 8:10 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.
Heb 8:11 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.
Heb 8:12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Heb 8:13 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 clearly said that God has made (past tense) the OLD Covenant OBSOLETE and was ready to vanish away. Paul is speaking about the Mosaic Law...ALL of it, not just part of it. That is all 613 Commandments including the original Ten. Notice that the Prophesy says clearly that the NEW Covenant was NOT going to be based upon anything of the OLD Covenant but be something entirely different. If this is not true then this is one reason why the statement of Jesus in Matthew 5 would be a direct contradiction to Hebrews 8 above as well as others.
The question we must ask is this. Are the Ten Commandments separate from the Mosaic Law or are they it's centerpiece?
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)
There is no question and it is irrefutable that the Ten Commandments are the Mosaic Covenant. Since that is clearly the fact of scriptures and the scriptures state with absolute certainty that they were replaced, done away with, made obsolete, then there is no reason for them to continue. Now don't make the mistake many on this board have made and assume that God's Moral PRINCIPLES have been done away with as Christ re-intituted God's Moral Principles in the NEW Covenant beginning at the Sermon on the Mount.
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)
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;
Jesus fulfilled the "prophesies" concerning His First Coming and was not talking about the Mosaic law in and of itself in Matt 5:17. If He was then we have a clear contradiction in scriptures listed above as they demonstrate that the Mosaic Law was indeed completely replaced or else God lied to us in Jeremiah 31:31. The only way to reconcile this is to have the proper interpretation of all these passages by maintaining the principles of Hermeneutics, which I believe I have done.
