Why don't christians believe in the laws of the OT?

[Kurieuo]

So again, is the 4th commandment also not still in effect? If not then WHY? I know I have been given responses before, but I still don't understand.

Jenwat.

Have you read these passages before?

• Jeremiah 31:31-34 (from the OT itself)
  31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
  32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD .
  33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
  34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

• Hebrews 8:6-13
  6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
  9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
  10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
  11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
  12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
  13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Under Christ we are no longer under the Law of the Old Covenant (mentioned in Genesis 17:9-11; Exodus 34:27-28), which included the ten commandments.

Kurieuo

[jenna]

Ok, this does raise some questions. I'll have to look into this a little more. Thanks for this.

[Kurieuo]

Here are a list of other passages I previously gathered which tell a story and I am sure you will also find helpful:

Exodus 34:27-28
27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-the Ten Commandments.

Genesis 17:9-11
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.

Romans 2:25
Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.

Romans 3:10
"There is no one righteous, not even one;

Romans 3:19-20
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Luke 16:17
It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

Matthew 5:17
17 "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.

Romans 3:21-24
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Romans 3:31
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Hebrews 7:18
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'"
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Colossians 2:13-17
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

[jenna]

Ok, now my brain is ready to implode. Thanks for all these. I'll definitely study up on them.

[johnt]

I posted this a little while ago but it does also belong here. A lady named Rosa is the person who has put this together and I thank her for it.


When Jesus came he fulfilled the Old Covenant...that is what the Messiah was to do.

MATTHEW 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

A covenant is kind of like a contract. When someone fulfills their end of the contract, a person is no longer required to pay them the wages which were part of the contract. Therefore, when Jesus said he was to fulfill the old covenant, it meant the people were no longer bound by the hundreds of rules and regulations from the old covenant.

Here is where we see Jesus explaining that the food we consume is not what makes us defiled. It is not what goes into the mouth that can defile a person, but rather what comes out of his mouth can defile him.

Mark 7:14-23 And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him." And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

Jesus not only fulfilled the Old Covenant, but He began a New Covenant.

Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

This New Covenant did not include the hundreds of laws from the Old Covenant. Those who followed Jesus and heard His voice understood what this meant, but occasionally, God had to spell it out to them.

Acts 11:4-9 But Peter began and explained to them in order: "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending, like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down to me. Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But I said, 'No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But the voice answered a second time from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.'

Up until that point, Peter had still been keeping the Old Law, but God told him that was no longer necessary.

When Mohammed came along, he wrote up new laws, but where did he say, as Jesus did, that he was fulfilling the new covenant and beginning yet another new covenant? Otherwise, why would people be bound by something that is not in the covenant/contract? Anyone can write laws and bind people to uphold them...most leaders do.

Rosa