We can still worship God in spirit and in truth.RickD wrote:Sure,Kurieuo wrote:I'd fine tune that to be, they're valid... but when you enter into the new covenant as said would be of the heart in the OT, then we are simply free to just love God and each other in Christ (and these two things are the foundation of the 10 Commandments).RickD wrote:Bingo! We have a winner!!! Correctamundo!tunde1992 wrote:None of the old covenant laws are valid anymore, that's the point of a new covenant
http://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/old- ... enant.html
The law is no longer written in tablets, but in our hearts , something like that
And adhering to the Sabbath in the 10 Commandments was about respecting God as rightful Lord of creation (this link to creation is found in the 10 Commandments passage). So ought we not do that?
The sabbath command is about respecting God as THE ONE AND ONLY GOD. Israel was surrounded by polytheistic religions. And God wanted them to be separate. That's why He gave THEM the 10 commandments.
But as believers, we don't need to obey a specific sabbath law given to Israel, in order to know God is Lord. IT'S WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
"So we ought not do that?"
For a moment, I thought Gman was posting again. Because that's the same argument he used to use. He'd say, "why wouldn't you want to take a day off of work".
Like that was all the sabbath law was about.
That's what I ultimately see in Christ saying all the Law is fulfill in love God and each other.
And with the Sabbath, my previous words point out what the Sabbath was actually foundationally about
-- time out for Israel to rest and reflect / acknowledge and respect their God as rightful Lord of all creation.
Shouldn't every Christian who accepts Jesus as Lord do that really? It's just a natural part of being Christian -- I don't see how one can accept Christ and place their faith in Him if they don't accept Him as their Lord.
Re: Law, not one tittle of the Law has been removed. (Matt 5:18)
BUT, in Christ we're not bound by those very physical action-based Laws that require sacrifice when broken, sacrifice for thanksgiving, and what-not. Right? The perfect final sacrifice was in Christ who being perfect gave Himself up for all. So now we all in Christ, have one who eternally intercedes for us. (Hebrews 7:25)
Those old Laws only condemn and lead us to death from God, but in Christ they have been fulfilled and nailed to the cross. Because Christ fulfills the Law, His death ought not happened. And then Christ's being innocent, yet died a sinners death was in a sense owed. In being owed, He said: "Father forgive them." And in the resurrection we see that request honored. Some may take all that as quite profound, but it's really Christianity 101.
So in Christ, we can all be reconciled to God. So long as Christ accepts us, and does intercede on behalf of us, then we have another way of being accepted, the Way -- Christ.
There are then two choices if one wishes to pursue a lasting relationship with God.
1) One can try to keep the Law 100%, or 2) One can place their faith in Christ.
However, just because one places their faith in Christ, doesn't mean many laws shouldn't be kept. Many are plainly obviously good, some others obviously not (that is, under a system of grace and forgiveness), some cultural, some that cross cultural boundaries. God has written them into our hearts, and so now we can acknowledge and worship God freely in our spirit openly and honestly. True love can be had that is unrestrained in that we can come to God as we are and be who we are in the spirit of grace and forgiveness that exists within Christ, rather than needing to know a list of dos and don't in order to be accepted on our own accord.
Nessa is very much right to see merit to the Law in the OT. And I'm by no means Gman, or Gman-ish in saying what I have, nor is Nessa. Sometimes fuller elaboration is just needed in order to stop everyone's hair standing up on end and things degenerating into the works-based salvation issue.
