Soyeong said in post 14:
However, according to the instructions that God gave to His people in Deuteronomy 13, the way for them to tell that someone is a false prophet is if they lead them away from obeying what God had commanded them, even if they perform signs and wonders.
Note that Jesus never said "Let us go after other gods" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3), because he himself is God (e.g. John 1:1,14).
Soyeong said in post 14:
This would also mean that those who teach God's people against following His law are being used by God to test His people to find out whether we love Him with all your heart and with all our soul, so we should not heed their words (Deuteronomy 13:3).
Note that neither Jesus nor anyone here is saying not to follow God's law, but to follow God's New Covenant/New Testament law (e.g. Hebrews 7:12,18-19, Hebrews 10:1-23).
Soyeong said in post 14:
Jesus was sinless, which means he obeyed the law perfectly, but if he had told anyone not to obey any of God's commands, then he would have sinned according to Deuteronomy 4:2 . . .
Jesus is God, and so is Lord of the law (e.g. Luke 6:5), and so, for example, he could break it by working on the Sabbath, like God the Father does (John 5:17-18; cf. Exodus 31:15).
Soyeong said in post 14:
Part of God's character is His holiness, righteousness, and goodness, and the law is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12), which means that His law is based on His character, on who He is, so to say that God can change His law is to say that God can change His character, and do things like making it so that committing things like murder, theft, idolatry, and adultery are holy, righteous, and good.
Note that God's New Covenant law in no way changes his character. For even under the New Covenant, believers can't sin without repentance and expect to be saved in the end (Hebrews 10:26-29). But they can never keep from sinning by trying to keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, for it will only cause them to sin more (Romans 7:7-11, Romans 6:14). Instead, by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16, Romans 8:13), believers keep the New Covenant law of Jesus (Galatians 6:2, John 14:15, Hebrews 7:12, Hebrews 8:6-13, Matthew 26:28), which forbids all manner of sin to those who want to be saved in the end (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:8).
For example, the New Covenant repeats the ideas of the 1st and 2nd of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:7-10) in such verses as 1 Corinthians 8:4, Mark 12:29-30, and 1 John 5:21. The idea of the 3rd of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:11) is amplified in the New Covenant to include our actions and not just our words (Titus 1:16). That is, we can profess the name of the Lord, but we do so in vain if we do not obey him and the Father (Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9, Luke 6:46).
The idea of the 4th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:12-15) is amplified in the New Covenant to include every day of our life in Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:3,10, Luke 9:23). The idea of the 5th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:16) is repeated in the New Covenant (Ephesians 6:1-3) and amplified to include honoring every person who is older than us (1 Timothy 5:1-2). The idea of the 6th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:17) is repeated in the New Covenant (Revelation 21:8, Galatians 5:21) and amplified to include hatred by itself (1 John 3:15), or unjustified anger by itself, or name-calling by itself (Matthew 5:21-22).
The idea of the 7th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:18) is repeated in the New Covenant (Galatians 5:19-21) and amplified to include lust by itself (Matthew 5:28). The idea of the 8th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:19) is repeated in the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 6:10). The idea of the 9th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:20) is repeated in the New Covenant (Matthew 15:19, cf. Revelation 22:15c). The idea of the 10th of the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 5:21) is repeated in the New Covenant (Luke 12:15, Ephesians 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:10).
So there is no need to go back to the 10 commandments of the Old Covenant. The New Covenant has all of them covered. Indeed, (again) the New Covenant forbids all manner of sin (e.g. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21).
Soyeong said in post 14:
After her husband died, if she got married to another man, then she would still be under the same law against committing adultery.
That's right, but not in the sense of being guilty under it. For even under the New Covenant, she wouldn't be guilty, if her 1st husband died, only if he is still alive (Romans 7:3).
Under the New Covenant, a husband isn't to divorce his wife (1 Corinthians 7:11b), and a wife isn't to divorce her husband (1 Corinthians 7:10). If a wife does divorce her husband, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband (1 Corinthians 7:11). Regarding becoming reconciled, a Christian must always completely forgive everyone who has wronged him or her in any way (Mark 11:25), no matter how great the wrong and no matter how many times a wrong has been committed (Matthew 18:21-35). For if a Christian refuses to forgive anyone for anything, God will refuse to forgive that Christian for his or her own sins (Mark 11:26).
If a husband divorces a valid wife and marries another woman, he is committing adultery (Mark 10:11). And if a wife divorces a valid husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery (Mark 10:12). The exception for fornication (as distinguished from adultery) in Matthew 19:9 permits a husband to divorce a valid wife for having had pre-marital sex, and to marry another woman without his committing adultery. But this applies only to cases where a husband doesn't discover until after he is married that his newlywed wife isn't a virgin (cf. Deuteronomy 22:14, Matthew 1:19). There is no such pre-marital-sex exception granted to a wife. Also, there is no pre-marital-sex exception granted to a man who marries a divorced woman. If a man marries a woman divorced from a valid husband for any reason, he is committing adultery (Luke 16:18b).
1 Corinthians 7:15 means that a believing spouse isn't under the bondage of having to keep together a valid marriage to an unbeliever when the unbeliever is determined to get a divorce. But 1 Corinthians 7:15 doesn't mean that a believing wife, after being divorced by an unbelieving, yet valid, husband, can then marry someone else. For if a man marries a woman divorced from a valid husband, he is committing adultery (Luke 16:18b). But the scriptures don't forbid a man divorced from a valid wife to marry a 2nd, single, woman who isn't divorced from a valid husband, so long as it was his 1st wife (whether an unbeliever or believer) who divorced him. But then in God's eyes, he will be married to 2 women at the same time (so long as both remain alive), which, while no scripture requires is a sin in itself, because it is not the best situation, it disqualifies him from taking any leadership positions in the church (1 Timothy 3:2,12), based on the basic idea of 1 Timothy 3:5.
The now-abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6) permitted a divorced woman to marry someone else (Deuteronomy 24:2). But if her 2nd marriage ended, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law forbade her to remarry her 1st husband (Deuteronomy 24:4). The New Covenant rules turn this on its head. For now a woman divorced from a valid husband can't marry anyone else (Mark 10:12, Luke 16:18b), but she can remarry her valid husband (1 Corinthians 7:11). It was because the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law permitted a divorced woman to marry someone else, that Jesus, while the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law was still in effect, could acknowledge the woman of Samaria's 5 marriages (John 4:18, assuming that all 5 didn't end in the death of her husband: cf. Luke 20:29-31). The New Covenant rules forbidding a woman divorced from a valid husband to marry anyone else didn't come into legal effect until Jesus' death on the Cross brought the New Covenant into legal effect (Hebrews 9:16-17, Matthew 26:28) and abolished the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6).
God never said that marriage would be easy. And he has set such strict, New Covenant rules regarding divorce and 2nd marriages (Matthew 19:9, Mark 10:12) that the apostles said it is better not to get married at all (Matthew 19:10). Jesus answered them by saying that whoever can accept not getting married, and remaining celibate, should accept it (Matthew 19:11-12). The apostle Paul said the same thing, that unmarried celibacy is the best thing for a Christian if he or she can handle it (1 Corinthians 7:1,7-8,32-35). But if someone who hasn't been married can't contain himself or herself sexually, then he or she should get married in order to avoid fornication (1 Corinthians 7:2,9).
The strict New Covenant rules regarding divorce and 2nd marriages cut both ways, in that if believers find themselves in a miserable marriage which is an adulterous affair in God's eyes (Mark 10:11-12), then they can escape their misery and their unrepentant sin at the same time by divorcing their invalid spouse. But if they find themselves in a very pleasant marriage which is an adulterous affair in God's eyes, then they have to be willing to give it up in order to escape their unrepentant sin, and thereby avoid ultimately losing their salvation due to unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29, Galatians 5:19-21, Luke 12:45-46).
The only unforgivable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-29), such as ascribing a work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (Mark 3:22-30). Any other sin can be forgiven if it is repented from and confessed to God (1 John 1:9). Just as if believers find themselves living in the sin of an adulterous affair, they can't continue on in that sin, so if they find themselves living in the sin of 2nd-marriage adultery (Mark 10:12, Matthew 19:9), they can't continue on in that sin (or any other sin) and expect God's grace to forgive them (Hebrews 10:26-29, Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Instead, they must break off with the 2nd, invalid spouse, even if they have had children with the 2nd spouse, just as married people must break off an adulterous affair even if they have had children as a result of that affair.
After breaking off an adulterous 2nd marriage, a wife must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her 1st, valid husband (1 Corinthians 7:11), if she has one. She can't marry someone else, even if, for example, that would help her and her children to escape poverty. For just as escaping poverty wouldn't justify the wife continuing in the sin of an adulterous affair with a man who financially supports her and her children (or wouldn't justify the sin of her becoming and remaining a well-paid prostitute), so escaping poverty wouldn't justify the sin of her entering into another case of 2nd-marriage adultery (Mark 10:12) with a man who financially supports her and her children.
Romans 3:31 means that Christians establish the Old Covenant Mosaic law not in its letter, but in its spirit (Romans 7:6), by loving others (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14, Matthew 7:12). Part of loving others is warning them if they are living in sin (Revelation 3:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:15, Hebrews 3:13, James 5:19-20). The worst thing a Christian can do is to coddle people who are living in sin, instead of sharing with them the hard (yet saving) truths of God's Word (2 Timothy 4:2-4, cf. Jeremiah 23:14,22,29). Telling the truth to people can sometimes hurt them, but that is better than deceiving them with something which makes them feel good (Proverbs 27:6, Proverbs 28:23). The reason that 2nd-marriage adultery (or any other sin) is so common in the church today is because so much of the church has stopped teaching and believing the hard truths of God's Word (2 Timothy 4:2-4, cf. Jeremiah 23:14,22,29).
Soyeong said in post 14:
God did not do away with the letter of the law . . .
Actually, he did (Romans 7:6).
Soyeong said in post 14:
In regard to Colossians 2, what was nailed to crosses was the reason why the person was being crucified, or in other words, the crimes or violations of the law that they had committed, not the laws themselves.
Actually, Colossians 2:14-17, like Ephesians 2:15-16, refers to the abolishing of the letter of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law itself (Romans 7:6, Hebrews 7:18-19), including the letter of the 10 commandments, which were, like the rest of the law, written and engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Deuteronomy 4:13, Deuteronomy 27:8).
The "ordinances" or "statutes" (Hebrew: choq, H2706) of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Malachi 3:7, cf. Colossians 2:14) refer to its "commandments" (Amos 2:4, cf. Ephesians 2:15).
Soyeong said in post 14:
In Hebrews 7:18-19, the context is contrasting the rule that required the priesthood to be passed on from generation to generation with Messiah's eternal priesthood.
Hebrews 7:18-19 means that all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, should stop trying to keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For it has been "disannulled". (It hasn't been "refreshed", as is sometimes claimed.)
Hebrews 7:18-19 means that the letter of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law was disannulled, just as other New Testament passages mean that it was abolished (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18), rendered obsolete (Hebrews 8:13, Galatians 3:2-25, Galatians 4:21 to 5:8), taken away and replaced (Hebrews 10:9) by the better hope (Hebrews 7:19), the better covenant (Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6-12), the 2nd covenant (Hebrews 8:7, Hebrews 10:9), of Jesus' New Covenant law (Galatians 6:2, John 1:17, Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 9:15), so that the law was changed (Hebrews 7:12).
All believers, both Jews and Gentles, of all times, are delivered from the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, and shouldn't keep it (Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Galatians 2:11-21), or have any desire to keep it (Galatians 4:21 to 5:8, Galatians 3:2-25).
Soyeong said in post 14:
In regard to John 5:17-18, the Sabbath was never intended to prohibit doing God's work, but rather it is time set from doing our work for the purpose of having time to do God's work.
Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, don't have to keep the sabbath of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For even the letter of the 10 commandments written and engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:7, Deuteronomy 4:13) was part of the abolished Old Covenant Mosaic law's ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3:6-7, Exodus 31:15b), which has been replaced by the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) ministration of the spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6-18), in which believers are delivered from the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, and keep the spirit (Romans 7:6) of all the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments by loving others (Romans 13:8-10).
Saying that believers have to keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law sabbath is just as wrong as saying that believers have to keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law circumcision (Acts 15:1-11). If believers keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law sabbath thinking they have to because it is part of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, then they are as fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4) as believers who keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law circumcision thinking they have to because it is part of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Galatians 5:2). They have become debtors to perform the letter of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law (Galatians 5:3). They have placed themselves under its curse (Galatians 3:10).
So no believer should ever desire to go back into bondage under the letter of any part of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Galatians 4:21 to 5:8). Believers need to keep the sabbath only in spirit, not in the letter (Romans 7:6). Believers must never judge other believers for not keeping the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law sabbath (Colossians 2:16), which letter was abolished on the New Covenant Cross of Jesus along with all the rest of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Colossians 2:14-17, Ephesians 2:15-16, Romans 7:6, Hebrews 7:18-19, Hebrews 10:9b, Hebrews 10:1-23, Matthew 26:28).
For its letter was merely a shadow; now it all comes down to Jesus himself (Colossians 2:17). Jesus' New Covenant sabbath rest (Matthew 11:28-30), which all believers enter by faith (Hebrews 4:3-4), exceeds in righteousness (cf. Matthew 5:20) the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic-law sabbath. For under the New Covenant sabbath, Christians must cease from their own works every day of the week (Hebrews 4:3,10, Luke 9:23). And they can esteem every day of the week (Romans 14:5).
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Also, Christians should be worshipping God every day of the week (Hebrews 13:15, cf. Psalms 145:2). And they should be meeting together every day of the week (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25), at least in some fashion (Matthew 18:20), such as on this forum. The early church started assembling together on the Lord's day (commonly called Sunday) instead of on the sabbath (commonly called Saturday) because the Lord's day, the 1st day of the week, was the day on which Jesus physically resurrected (Mark 16:9) from the dead: "no longer observing the sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him" (Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, chapter 9. Ignatius was a contemporary of John the apostle. Compare John's reference to "the Lord's day" in Revelation 1:10).
But it is not a requirement for Christians to assemble together only on the Lord's day, or to esteem the Lord's day above every other day of the week. It is also okay for Christians to choose to assemble together on the sabbath, because they esteem the sabbath above every other day of the week. It is also okay for Christians to esteem every day of the week. Christians are never to judge each other over this matter, but are simply to do what they believe that Jesus wants them as individuals to do (Romans 14:4-13). So the point isn't for Christians to esteem days, but to focus on the person of Jesus himself (Colossians 2:16-17).
Soyeong said in post 14:
While God's law certainly says to love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), it does not say to hate your enemy - that is what the teachers of the law had wrongly been teaching.
Under the Old Covenant Mosaic law, the Israelites were in effect commanded to hate their enemies (Matthew 5:43b). For Deuteronomy 23:6 is the opposite of love, which seeks the peace and prosperity of those toward whom it is directed.
Soyeong said in post 14:
Furthermore, if the reformation has already happened and things that deal with food and drink and washings having been done away with, then Communion and Baptism have been done away with.
No, for Communion and Baptism are New Covenant. Only the Old Covenant has been done away with (Hebrews 7:18-19).
