Now you are just being argumentative.
Sorry you see it that way, but I consider the many purpose for which the Law was or was not given to be an important point. For example, when I say that we should obey the Law people very often quote verses where Paul was speaking against obeying the Law in order to become justified in spite of the fact that I never said we should obey the Law in order to become justified, and the fact that the Law was never given for that purpose. There are many other purposes for which the Law was given, some of which I list in post #33, so I do not see any ground to insist that the Law only had the purpose to reveal sin.
Yes and I wrote that those laws pertained to Israel. I am not sinning because I do not follow ritual laws given only to Israel. Why is that so hard for you to understand?
Many of the reasons I listed for why the Law was given to not pertain only to Israel, but to the God that we serve. God's character is eternal and unchanging, so the way to act according to God's character is likewise eternal and unchanging, and the way to do so has existed from the beginning independently of any covenant, though it was later instructed through His covenants. If a particular action was not in accordance with God's righteousness before the Law was given, but after it was given, it became in accordance with God's righteousness, then God's righteousness changed, but God's righteousness doesn't change. There is evidence throughout Genesis of God's Laws being in place long before they were given as Sinai, so the Law given at Sinai did not introduce new actions that were righteous so much as it reveal what actions have always been and will always be righteous. This means that anyone regardless of what covenant, in any, they are under can find out which actions will always be righteous by looking them up on the Mosaic Law.
According to Romans 9:6-8, Israel is made up of those who have faith in the promise and according to Ephesians 2:19, Gentiles have become fellow citizens of Israel along with the saints through faith in Messiah, so as part of God's people, Israel, we should live according to the instructions that God has given to His people, Israel. According to 1 Peter 2:9-10, Gentiles are now included among God's chosen people, Israel, and are now included with them as being a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a treasure of God's own possession, so we now get the joy and the divine privilege of acting according to those roles by faith. We join a holy nation by faith and by the same faith we are to follow God's instructions for how a holy nation should conduct itself. In 1 Peter 1:13-16, we are told to have a holy conduct for God is holy, which is telling us that we get the privilege of living according to the ritual laws that you deprive yourself of.
Jesus was born under the laws given to Israel. Did Jesus ever chastise gentiles for not observing Jewish law? If He came to teach mankind to keep the ritual holy days given only to Israel then He did a very poor job of doing so.
Jesus set an example of living in obedience to God's holy days and as his followers we are told to follow his example. We are not told that following his example is only for the Jews. It is not that Jesus was a bad teacher, but that we have been extremely poor followers, so much so that some even teach that we are under a curse for seeking to follow his example by faith.
I am sorry you missed out when Jesus passed out the Holy Spirit as a free gift to all mankind who will accept Him as their personal Savior. Besides that my Bible is full of admonition as how to lead a Christian life. Galatians 5 is a good place to start. Matt 5 is a masterpiece. The book of John is my love story and 1jn3 is my favorite.
The Law was given by God, the Spirit is God, and the Spirit has the role of guiding us in obedience to the Law (Ezekiel 36:26-27), so indeed, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but my point was that if we wanted to look up what the Spirit will to guide us to do, then we can read the Mosaic Law. The Spirit will not lead us to disobey what He has commanded. Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent from our sins for the Kingdom of God is at hand, and the Law is how they knew what sins they should be repenting of and how we can look up what sins we should be repenting of, so repentance from our disobedience to the Mosaic Law is a central part of the Gospel message.
Galatians 5 is indeed a good start, but what else do you think that Paul read to find out what the fruits of the Spirit are and what the acts of the flesh that are against the Spirit are? The fruits of the Spirit are all lifted from what the Law teaches us about how to act in accordance with God's character, while the works of works of the flesh are lifted from what the Law teaches us about how to avoid acting against God's character. The Spirit who has to role of leading us in obedience to the Law leads us to display the fruits of the Spirit by leading us in obedience to the Law by faith. Matthew 5 is also a good place to start, but again everything it teaches has its foundation in the Mosaic Law. In 1 John 3, it defines sin as Lawlessness, so when the Law says to keep the Sabbath, then it is acting Lawlessly to reject God's precious gift to us. It tells us that the children of God practice righteousness and God's Law is His instructions for how to practice righteousness.
Boy that sounds kosher and I acknowledge there is a mountain of information in the OT as how to live a fruitful life according to God's will. However, the ritual laws given to Israel were made especially for them. Gentiles were not led, by God, out of Egypt. Why should they ever have to observe Passover and the Sabbath? Each of those laws dealt with with only Israel. I have not studied much on the other ritual laws and how they pertained, but I take the Apostle Paul at his word that the law ended with Jesus, Gal 3:19. Actually, His word on the law are the clinchers and all other arguments you bring to the table are a waste of time. I will quote Paul's first words from Galatians 3
There was a mixed multitude that went up out of Egypt with Israel, so God did lead Gentiles out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38). They by faith get the delight and privilege of observing Passover and the Sabbath straightforwardly because those things were instructed by God for our own good and are rich with teachings about God's plan of redemption, of the Messiah, and are rehearsals of what we will be doing during his reign. The Laws were given to Israel, but again, they weren't meant only for Israel because they were meant to be a light to the nations to teach them how to delight in serving God (Isaiah 2:2-3). So if God says to keep the Sabbath and you think Paul says that you shouldn't the Sabbath, then when it comes down to it, are you a follower of God or of Paul? However, Paul said no such thing. God's righteousness is eternal (Psalms 119:142), so his righteous laws for how to act according to his righteousness are also eternal (Psalms 119:160), which means that God's eternal Law can't come to an end unless his eternal righteousness first comes to an end.
Having no more need for a tutor is not at all the same as having no more need to live according to what the tutor taught us. A a student moves on to 2nd grade, their new teacher doesn't tell them to disregard everything they were taught in 1st grade, but rather they build upon what they were taught previously. We can't move on to algebra by forgetting everything that we learned about addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and if we did forget, then we might have to hire a tutor for review. With the coming of Christ, we now have a superior teacher for how to correctly obey God's Law, we have a superior example to follow for how to obey it, and we have the Spirit to guide us in obedience to it.
Galatians 3New International Version (NIV)
Faith or Works of the Law
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
I would admonish you to really study Gal 3.
You would be correct to quote this verse at me if I had suggest that we need to obey the Law in order to become justified, but I have never done so. God's Law was never required for that purpose, so it is that much more true for man-made works of law. However, it doesn't follow that because we shouldn't follow the Law for a purpose for which it was never given that therefore we shouldn't follow it for the many purposes for which it was given.
I have no doubt that Messianic believers are fine upstanding people, so with many other groups that have special agendas. I learned after being SDA for many years that I cannot follow the teachings of agroup, I have to keep my eyes focused on the Holy writ. I follow the written word not some flowery words that do not paint the whole picture of the Plan of Salvation.
If this were true, then you would not reject 80% of God's revealed plan of redemption.
