Hello all! I'm curious what determines how different laws/rules from the OT and NT are determined to be followed or not. Like say no tattoo's, slavery, the cleanliness laws from the OT or the NT dietary restriction lifting. I'm not asking about the merits or problems with those laws, just how does Christian thought determine which are followed and which are not. Is there a process? Is it up to denomination?
Personally, I take my cue in this matter from the Word of God - as do most of the other Christians I know.
Hebrews 7:12-28 (NKJV)
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For
it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies:
"You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand,
there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And inasmuch as
He was not
made priest without an oath
21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
"The Lord has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek' "),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law,
appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
With the advent of Jesus Christ into the course of human history the law of the OT (and by connection the levitical priesthood), which served ultimately only to condemn those who would try to keep it, has been "annulled" and in its place a "better hope" manifested in Christ has been established.
What laws were set aside or made obsolete by Christ's work on the cross?
Hebrews 9:1 (NKJV)
1 Then indeed, even the first
covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
Those laws pertaining to the ceremonies of the tabernacle and of sacrifice were abolished by the new High Priest, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:13-15 (NKJV)
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Paul the apostle also indicates that laws designed to distinguish the Israelites from other peoples are also made obsolete. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul exhorts them to reject circumcision, which some were declaring was necessary for full salvation. Such outward signs of separation unto God are, under the New Covenant, unnecessary. Growing beards, avoiding tattoos, being circumcised - all these things are part of the Old Covenant and thus are no longer required for the Christian.
Galatians 5:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who
attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Dietary laws were also suspended.
1 Corinthians 10:23-27 (NKJV)
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's
well-being.
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake;
26 for
"the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness."
27 If any of those who do not believe invites you
to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake.
What are the "rules" for the Christian under the New Covenant?
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NKJV)
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's
well-being.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (NKJV)
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I also please all
men in all
things, not seeking my own profit, but the
profit of many, that they may be saved.
Galatians 5:13-14 (NKJV)
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not
use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word,
even in this:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Romans 8:3-4 (NKJV)
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God
did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
I hope that, while I have only just scratched the surface of this issue, what I have offered is, nonetheless, helpful.
Peace to you.
) I never could figure it out. Thanks for the verses, I think it'll help me understand Christian beliefs a little better.
