I read a short article that made some good points in regards to the three fold nature of the Law. I am hoping this book does so, as well. If it does not, I will let you know. I am not one to believe just anything if there is no biblical support for it. As for people believing wrong things about Jesus: Well, I believe people are motivated by their own sins or personal life to think wrong things about Him.
I think your issue here is that if the Bible does not specifically talk about such a thing, then it cannot be true. Well, something is true regardless if the Bible talks about a particular thing or not. Grass is green regardless if the Bible talks about it or not. The point I am getting at is that I can identify certain truths within God's Word whether the Bible labels them in such a way is not all that important. Truth is still truth.
The Bible does not talk about cars, but we know cars exist.
Nowhere does the Bible say it is wrong to study the different aspects of truth within God's Laws.
You may not realize this or not, but I believe all of God's laws are moral laws at their core. Any Law of God is something that guides us into God's will and good ways. But to ignore that certain laws express an additional truth is to simply ignore truth for no good reason. I know Sabbath keeping and baptism are primarily ceremonial laws. Yes, at the heart they are moral laws because they are commands that come from God. They are things that God wants us to do. But to ignore that they are ceremonial when in fact they are ceremonial is to put on horse blinders for no good reason. I can recognize a truth and it is not wrong to do that.
Actually, the whole of the commands in Old Covenant does not apply to you. For even the moral laws (like do not commit adultery, etc.) were attached with death penalties if you disobeyed them. This is not the case under the New Testament or the New Covenant.
Again, while all laws or commands from God are moral at their core, the primary action of the command determines what kind of Law or Command it is. So any laws or commands that specifically involve you in partaking of some kind of ceremony or ritual is a ceremonial law.
No. Tithing is simply about giving. Giving so as to help others is a love issue or a moral issue. Tithing (Which is an OT command that is no longer valid anymore) would fall under the moral laws section. For it would fall under loving the brethren because tithing went to Levites back in the Old Testament. Tithes went to Levities so they can dedicate their lives completely to God in helping others to make sacrifices for God and to help others worship God. You are helping the worship of God and His people by tithing if you were an OT saint back in the day. But after Christ's death, there is no more tithing laws anymore because there is no more Levitical priesthood. Jesus is our heavenly high priest now.
The New Testament Law on giving is the following command.
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Well, I care what people believe because proper belief and or faith determines a person's good standing with God or not. It begins with a broken heart and a proper understanding of God's Word (Which leads to proper and righteous action).
Not at all. I believe the Law has changed (Hebrews 7:12). I believe believers primarily look to the commands in New Covenant to obey God and they do not look to the Old Covenant to obey Him. For the Old Covenant commands are obsolete (as a whole). They are no more. We are under a New Covenant with New Commands.
Oh, and yes; I believe not keeping certain laws under the New Covenant is a salvation issue. For example: Jesus says if you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:15). John says if anyone hates their brother they are like a murderer and no eternal life abides within a murderer (1 John 3:15).
I roll my eyes whenever somebody says that all we need to do is obey the 10 Commandments. For one, there are 613 commands in the Old Testament. Two, the Old Covenant as a whole or package is no longer binding to believers. Yes, many of the moral laws have appeared to have been carried on over into the New Covenant. I believe Paul speaks of this when He says that we fulfill the righteous aspect or part of the Old Law by loving others and by walking after the Spirit. This would be the moral laws from the Old Covenant. Moral laws are any laws that a person would instinctively know to do that is good and right without a specific command telling them to do that. It's love, my friend; And it doesn't get any better than that.
I believe only 9 out of the 10 Commandments apply to believers today; And even then, these moral laws are not attached with capital punishment if you were to disobey them. Believers today are not set out to hand out death sentences to other believers if they disobey certain laws of God anymore. The Law has changed (Hebrews 7:12).
It is super obvious that God's laws have changed. Believers do not sacrifice animals in a temple anymore. Such laws are no longer valid because Jesus is our Heavenly High Priest and Passover Lamb. Peter was told to eat unclean animals (Which is a violation of OT Law). Paul says if any man seek to be circumcised, Christ shall profit them nothing. So yeah. Going back to the Old Law is not good. We are New Covenant believers and not Old Covenant believers. This does not mean we ignore the Old Testament. The OT helps to point us to Christ and there are many truths within the OT that lines up with the NT.
I agree that if we truly love God, we will keep His commandments. But this would be the commandments in the New Testament and not the Old Testament now.
I see works as evidence or proof that God or Christ lives within a person. I see God or Christ as the source of a person's salvation. If they are not abiding in God or Christ, they have no salvation or life. A believer surrenders to God and the good works of the Lord flows through them. If a believer does evil and says they know God, they are a liar and the truth (Christ) is not in them (1 John 2:4).
James says faith without works is a dead kind of faith (James 2:17).
A dead faith cannot access the free gift of God's saving grace.
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