Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
That's an excellent question, and it seems to be one of the sticking points in our discussion, doesn't it?
I've already explained it twice, in two different ways.
So let's try a different approach. How about you explain to me what you believe Jesus meant when he said "I came to fulfill the law and the prophets."
Let's resolve what it means to fulfill the law and the prophets and then we can talk about real life examples
Well, before we talk yet again about what I think it means, here is the question I put to you:Sorry if I missed the explanation. I *think* you said something along these lines, it was a bit hard to follow so correct me if I'm wrong.
Each time you explained it, you kept the law because it was the right thing to do more or less. Did I misinterpret you?
How about you explain to me what you believe Jesus meant when he said "I came to fulfill the law and the prophets."
I think I can see where you're coming from.The law and the prophets' writings all point to and have their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. After He came, there was/is no need for the OT law and the prophets' writings.
I have answered this question before. I have also answered the majority of the questions here, but maybe if you understand what these verses means, it might help put what Jesus said in context.Well, before we talk yet again about what I think it means, here is the question I put to you:
I have answered this question before. I have also answered the majority of the questions here, but maybe if you understand what these verses means, it might help put what Jesus said in context.
What do these verses mean to you...?
Mathew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
Mathew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)
Mathew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mathew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Revelations 14:12 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
If you've answered the question about what "fulfilled" means to you, then I'm sorry that I can't think of what your answer was. Please direct me to the Post where you did, if you would.I have answered this question before. I have also answered the majority of the questions here, but maybe if you understand what these verses means, it might help put what Jesus said in context.
What do these verses mean to you...?
Mathew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
Mathew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)
Mathew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mathew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Revelations 14:12 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets."Mathew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
Mathew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)
Mathew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
If you've answered the question about what "fulfilled" means to you, then I'm sorry that I can't think of what your answer was. Please direct me to the Post where you did, if you would.
But certainly, we can talk about those passages in your post.
Let's start here
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets."
This means the law is not destroyed, it is still intact.
Then it goes on to say
"I didn't come to destroy but to fulfill."
So if Jesus was successful, and I believe he was, then he accomplished the thing he came to do, which was to fulfill the law and the prophets.
"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)"
Yes, heaven and Earth are still here. But there is another condition, "until all is fulfilled (or accomplished)."
If neither one of those "until" conditions have been met, then the entire law is still intact.
But have one of those "until" conditions been met? Was Jesus successful when he said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets?
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Absolutely! And this refers to the entire law, doesn't it? The entire passage is showing that not a single part of the law passes away, until either heaven and Earth pass away or all is fulfilled.
So we have to keep the entire law. But, in 70 AD, any hope of even pretending to keep the entire law was destroyed. So, I think it's very important to see if one of those "until" conditions has already been met!
True! He was talking to Jews living under the old covenant.To whom was Jesus talking? Christians? No After He was crucified? no. So, Jesus was talking to the Jews prior to "all being accomplished".
Now that we have the Second Covenant, the First Covenant has no application to Christians. We are dead to the law but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 7:4, "So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.
If you "keep the entire law" you are denying Christ!
Thanks for the response....If you've answered the question about what "fulfilled" means to you, then I'm sorry that I can't think of what your answer was. Please direct me to the Post where you did, if you would.
But certainly, we can talk about those passages in your post.
Let's start here
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets."
This means the law is not destroyed, it is still intact.
Then it goes on to say
"I didn't come to destroy but to fulfill."
So if Jesus was successful, and I believe he was, then he accomplished the thing he came to do, which was to fulfill the law and the prophets.
"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)"
Yes, heaven and Earth are still here. But there is another condition, "until all is fulfilled (or accomplished)."
If neither one of those "until" conditions have been met, then the entire law is still intact.
But have one of those "until" conditions been met? Was Jesus successful when he said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets?
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Absolutely! And this refers to the entire law, doesn't it? The entire passage is showing that not a single part of the law passes away, until either heaven and Earth pass away or all is fulfilled.
So we have to keep the entire law. But, in 70 AD, any hope of even pretending to keep the entire law was destroyed. So, I think it's very important to see if one of those "until" conditions has already been met!
Actually, if you remove them then you cannot go against them.Removing the laws of God means establishing lawlessness.
I think there's more than one way to make things appear in quotes. Here's the method I use:Thanks for the response....
I do not know how to add those quotes so I am going to highlight what you said in blue.
Well, one step at a time. Do you believe that Jesus accomplished what he said he came to do, that is "fulfill"?But certainly, we can talk about those passages in your post.
Let's start here
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets."
This means the law is not destroyed, it is still intact.
Agree
Then it goes on to say
"I didn't come to destroy but to fulfill."
So if Jesus was successful, and I believe he was, then he accomplished the thing he came to do, which was to fulfill the law and the prophets.
It appears your definition from this statement that Jesus said He came to fulfill the law, because He accomplished everything He wanted, so now the law is void though His accomplishment? Now we don't need to worry about keeping God's Ten or other laws, is this what you're saying?
It depends if we're seeing one condition or two. I like to see two, however, I can see that some Bible translations indicate then it's basically a single condition."For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (heaven and earth are still here)"
Yes, heaven and Earth are still here. But there is another condition, "until all is fulfilled (or accomplished)."
If neither one of those "until" conditions have been met, then the entire law is still intact.
So by your definition, please clarify if I am wrong since heaven and earth are still here the law is still intact since that is a condition or has that been also accomplished too?
Sorry, I don't understand your sentenceBut have one of those "until" conditions been met? Was Jesus successful when he said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets?
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Absolutely! And this refers to the entire law, doesn't it? The entire passage is showing that not a single part of the law passes away, until either heaven and Earth pass away or all is fulfilled.
I don't see where it states in this verse there is a condition to it.
So we have to keep the entire law. But, in 70 AD, any hope of even pretending to keep the entire law was destroyed.
Can you elaborate?
Before address this I would like to have a better understanding of your position.
Thanks and God bless.
I think there's more than one way to make things appear in quotes. Here's the method I use:
This thing below will make the quote start
(QUOTE)
And this thing will make it end. Notice that the only difference is the slash.
(/QUOTE)
But an important exception! In the example above I used parentheses "(" and ")". I had to do it that way because if I did it the real way, you wouldn't be able to see, because it wouldn't be displayed.
So the real way is to replace those parentheses with brackets. On a computer keyboard, they're just to the right of the letter "p". On my phone, they're on the screen that has the special characters. You'll want to use the ones that look "squared off", not the ones that are kind of "squiggly".
Give it a shot! Let me know how it works
OK, moving on...
Well, one step at a time. Do you believe that Jesus accomplished what he said he came to do, that is "fulfill"?
And if Jesus was successful, did he complete the condition "until all is fulfilled"? It's an important question, I think.
Different Bible translations render the passage differently. Some make it sound like it's parallel to heaven and earth passing away. Others make it sound like a separate condition. Which do you think?
It depends if we're seeing one condition or two. I like to see two, however, I can see that some Bible translations indicate then it's basically a single condition.
I think it's a critical issue for our discussion. If it's a single condition and the law is still intact, then I think we have two options. We can attempt to do all the physical actions required by every commandment, like putting tassels on our clothes.
Or we can say that the entire law is kept some other way.
One option which I think this passage does not allow is to say that some part of the law is still here, while another part has passed away.
Sorry, I don't understand your sentence
"I don't see where it states in this verse there is a condition to it."
I talk about "the entire law" because that's what you have if not a single jot or tittle passes away.
Is that what you're asking about?
So, elaborating...
Suppose we have to keep the entire law because Jesus says no part of it passes away until 1 or 2 conditions are met (depending on how one understands the passage).
The Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. The genealogical records were also destroyed at that time, so now it's impossible to know who is a levite or a son of Aaron.
So when Jesus walked the earth, and also when most of the New testament was being written, a person could at least make a human based attempt at keeping the law. They could give it the ol' college try
Jesus once healed a man (or was it several?) from leprosy, then he told him to go show himself to the priest. That's where the genealogy records come in. Today, you cannot follow Jesus' instructions if he heals you from leprosy. You cannot find a son of Aaron.
Removing God’s laws is removing the character of God which is essentially removing God. God’s character of truth, righteousness, love, mercy, truth, light, purity, just, perfect, eternal, Spiritual, holiness is in His law and is part of God. If your remove one, you are essentially removing the other. Only Jesus is sinless, but when we fix our eyes on Him and really surrender our will, the Holy Sprit will help us to be more like Him when we obey His laws. John 15:15-18Actually, if you remove them then you cannot go against them.
Lawlessness is having the law but going against it.
Lawlessness, at its heart, is saying ‘I know what the law requires but I am going to do what I want, by changing it to fit how I see the law’.
Lawlessness is seeing the speed limit sign, breaking it, and justifying it for some reason. Most people use the justification of ‘I was just keeping up with traffic’.
Removing God’s laws is removing the character of God which is essentially removing God. God’s character of truth, righteousness, love, mercy, truth, light, purity, just, perfect, eternal, Spiritual, holiness is in His law and is part of God. If your remove one, you are essentially removing the other. Only Jesus is sinless, but when we fix our eyes on Him and really surrender our will, the Holy Sprit will help us to be more like Him when we obey His laws. John 15:15-18
Hi imge,Hi there,
Thanks for the info on the quotes, I will check it out soon.
I’m not following your last part, because we have the Word of God and Jesus as our example on how to keep God’s laws. Jesus often quoted from the OT which has clear guidelines. Exodus 20. Jesus made the statement He kept the commandments of God and asked us to as well. John 15:10 so Jesus I don’t think would ask us to do something that would be just a “college try”.
Leprosy in the Bible means sin. So yes, there is clear instruction on how not to sin which is keeping God’s laws because breaking them is sin. 1 John 3:4, Romans 7:7
Why don’t we try to simplify things so I understand your position and than I will answer your question on what I think Jesus meant when He said fulfilled in Mathew 5:17-20
Since you think Jesus accomplished what He came to do and therefore the law is “fulfilled” do you think it’s still a sin to lie, cheat, steal, vain God’s name, not keep His Sabbath holy etc. or are those things allowed now that Jesus accomplished (fulfilled) the law according to your previous posts.
Thanks and Happy Sabbath
Jesus told the man who was cured from the skin condition of leprosy to go and show himself to the priestHi there,
Thanks for the info on the quotes, I will check it out soon.
I’m not following your last part, because we have the Word of God and Jesus as our example on how to keep God’s laws.
I'm referring to the idea that Paul talks about when he says that there is none good.Jesus often quoted from the OT which has clear guidelines. Exodus 20. Jesus made the statement He kept the commandments of God and asked us to as well. John 15:10 so Jesus I don’t think would ask us to do something that would be just a “college try”.
Do you mean that the commandment to show yourself to the priest when your leprosy goes away has been changed to keep God's commandments? Has the part about showing yourself to the son of Aaron been changed to show yourself to the son of David? These are honest questions.Leprosy in the Bible means sin. So yes, there is clear instruction on how not to sin which is keeping God’s laws because breaking them is sin. 1 John 3:4, Romans 7:7
Assuming that not showing yourself to the son of Aaron is not a sin, neither are those things that you listed.Why don’t we try to simplify things so I understand your position and than I will answer your question on what I think Jesus meant when He said fulfilled in Mathew 5:17-20
Since you think Jesus accomplished what He came to do and therefore the law is “fulfilled” do you think it’s still a sin to lie, cheat, steal, vain God’s name, not keep His Sabbath holy etc. or are those things allowed now that Jesus accomplished (fulfilled) the law according to your previous posts.
Peace be with you.Thanks and Happy Sabbath
As I said above, we do seem to be in kind of a loop. But I will attempt to go through this post as well.
Jesus told the man who was cured from the skin condition of leprosy to go and show himself to the priest
If you believe the entire law still must be complied with, how do you go about complying with this commandment? How do you teach others to comply with it?
I don't think it can be done.
I'm referring to the idea that Paul talks about when he says that there is none good.
Do you mean that the commandment to show yourself to the priest when your leprosy goes away has been changed to keep God's commandments? Has the part about showing yourself to the son of Aaron been changed to show yourself to the son of David? These are honest questions.
Assuming that not showing yourself to the son of Aaron is not a sin, neither are those things that you listed.
Now, those things that you listed, I cannot see how they would be in keeping with loving your neighbor.
So in practice a Christian ought not to do them.
Peace be with you.
Leviticus 13 and 14.Do you think you could quote scripture? It would make it a lot easier to follow your posts and try to put things in context.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?