The W

[Mr. M]

M

 

[Bible Highlighter]

After we are saved by God's grace, I believe we must obey God's laws as a part of salvation, but these laws are not the 613 laws within the Law of Moses (as a whole or package deal), but it is the commands given to us by Jesus and His followers under the New Covenant or New Testament. Yes, certain laws have been repeated from the Old to the New (like do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery, etc.) but we are to follow Jesus, and His apostles, and we do not follow Moses.

 

[Tolworth John]

I believe we must obey God's laws as a part of salvation,

No as an act of Love.
Jesus said if you Love Me, you Will Obey my Commands.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

No as an act of Love.
Jesus said if you Love Me, you Will Obey my Commands.

Agreed that love leads to obedience.
For this is what John 14:15 essentially says.
But if one does not love the Lord Jesus, they are accursed.

“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be Anathema Maranatha.”
(1 Corinthians 16:22).

Obviously an accursed (Anathema) person is not saved.
The way we love is by obeying His commands. (John 14:15)
But if one is not obeying His commands (loving),
they are not saved because the one who does not
love Jesus is accursed (1 Corinthians 16:22), and obviously
accursed people do not abide in Christ and the eternal life that
He provides as a part of His being or person.

For he that has the Son has life, and he that does not
have the Son does not have life (1 John 5:12). For we can have the assurance that we know Christ if we find that we keep His commandments (1 John 2:3).
The person who says they know the Lord and they do not keep His commandments, they are a liar, and the truth is not in them (1 John 2:4).

 

[Soyeong]

After we are saved by God's grace, I believe we must obey God's laws as a part of salvation, but these laws are not the 613 laws within the Law of Moses (as a whole or package deal), but it is the commands given to us by Jesus and His followers under the New Covenant or New Testament. Yes, certain laws have been repeated from the Old to the New (like do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery, etc.) but we are to follow Jesus, and His apostles, and we do not follow Moses.

In Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, and in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what the Torah was given to instruct how to do, so God graciously teaching us to obey the Torah is itself part of the content of his free gift of salvation, and participating in that training does nothing to earn it, but rather that is what it looks like to receive it. Our salvation is from sin and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so being trained by grace to live in obedience to the Torah through faith is what Jesus saving us from living in transgression of the Torah looks like.

Jesus set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Torah, so he would have still taught full obedience to it by example even if he had repeated nothing, and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6). Furthermore, Jesus did not hypocritically preach something other than he practiced and he did not establish the New Covenant in order to undermine anything that he spent his ministry teaching by word and by example, but rather the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Hebrews 8:10). The same Father who gave the Torah also sent Jesus, so there is no disagreement between following one or the other and no need for Jesus to have repeated anything in order for us to know that we should still obey the Father.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

In Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, and in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what the Torah was given to instruct how to do, so God graciously teaching us to obey the Torah is itself part of the content of his free gift of salvation, and participating in that training does nothing to earn it, but rather that is what it looks like to receive it. Our salvation is from sin and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so being trained by grace to live in obedience to the Torah through faith is what Jesus saving us from living in transgression of the Torah looks like.

Jesus set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Torah, so he would have still taught full obedience to it by example even if he had repeated nothing, and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6). Furthermore, Jesus did not hypocritically preach something other than he practiced and he did not establish the New Covenant in order to undermine anything that he spent his ministry teaching by word and by example, but rather the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Hebrews 8:10). The same Father who gave the Torah also sent Jesus, so there is no disagreement between following one or the other and no need for Jesus to have repeated anything in order for us to know that we should still obey the Father.

Following the Torah is just wishful thinking unless one wants to just follow the Old Covenant alone and ignore the New Covenant. It's physically impossible to obey entirely the commands of both covenants. Jesus said turn the other cheek instead of an eye for an eye. Jesus said make no oaths at all which runs contary to Torah. Jesus said nothing that one eats can defile a man, but Torah teaches that certain foods defile. Colossians 2 talks about how we are not to let anyone judge us in regards to the keeping of Sabbaths, holy days, etc.; And yet Torah teaches if you don't keep the Saturday Sabbath, you were to be stoned or killed. The woman caught in the act of adultery should have been stoned according to Torah, but Jesus did not have her stoned and He forgave her.

The Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

 

[Mr. M]

In Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, and in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what the Torah was given to instruct how to do, so God graciously teaching us to obey the Torah is itself part of the content of his free gift of salvation, and participating in that training does nothing to earn it, but rather that is what it looks like to receive it. Our salvation is from sin and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so being trained by grace to live in obedience to the Torah through faith is what Jesus saving us from living in transgression of the Torah looks like.

Jesus set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Torah, so he would have still taught full obedience to it by example even if he had repeated nothing, and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6). Furthermore, Jesus did not hypocritically preach something other than he practiced and he did not establish the New Covenant in order to undermine anything that he spent his ministry teaching by word and by example, but rather the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Hebrews 8:10). The same Father who gave the Torah also sent Jesus, so there is no disagreement between following one or the other and no need for Jesus to have repeated anything in order for us to know that we should still obey the Father.

The Judgments of Torah, like the Beatitudes, are the fruit manifesting in those who abide in His Spirit.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

The Beatitudes are a new teaching from Jesus. They are not a part of the Torah. If they are, then you need to quote the exact phrases where the Torah says the same exact words that Jesus did for the Beatitudes.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

The Torah pointed to Christ, but we are not under the Torah (the 613 commands given to Moses). We are under the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2), the Royal Law (James 2:8), or the Law of Liberty (James 2:12). Certain laws have been repeated in the New Covenant or New Testament, but we are not under the Old Law as a package deal. It's nonsense or wishful thinking to think we can obey both covenants.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Romans 6:14 says,
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Galatians 5:4 says,
“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

Romans 6:14 is saying that you are not under the Law of Moses, and Galatians 5:4 is saying that we are not justified by the Law of Moses.

To believe in Jesus is a commandment or Law (See: 1 John 3:23).
We are saved by believing in Jesus (See: John 3:16).
So naturally we are justified by the Law in 1 John 3:23. This would be New Covenant Law. But the 613 Laws given to Moses we are not justified by. These laws were given to Israel. The laws Jesus and His followers gave us are clearly different and they conflict with trying to obey the Old Law (unless one wants to do backflip twists with God's Word in order to make them fit).

 

[Mr. M]

The Beatitudes are a new teaching from Jesus. They are not a part of the Torah. If they are, then you need to quote the exact phrases where the Torah says the same exact words that Jesus did for the Beatitudes.

Apologies. I assumed "Beatitudes" referred to Matthew 5 by definition. They are not commands of Law, but the blessings upon those who abide in Him. There are OT references, such as:
Psalm 37:11. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

 

[Soyeong]

The Torah pointed to Christ, but we are not under the Torah (the 613 commands given to Moses). We are under the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2), the Royal Law (James 2:8), or the Law of Liberty (James 2:12). Certain laws have been repeated in the New Covenant or New Testament, but we are not under the Old Law as a package deal. It's nonsense or wishful thinking to think we can obey both covenants.

The same Father who gave the Torah also sent Christ, so there is no difference between following one or the other, especially because Jesus set a sinless example of how to follow the Torah. God is not in disagreement with Himself about which laws we should follow, so the Law of Christ is the same as the Law of the Spirit and the Law of the Father, which was given to Moses. In John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, if we don't love him, then we will not obey his teachings, and that his teachings were not his own, but that of the Father, so Jesus did not teach his own laws, and if we love him, then we will obey the laws that the Father has taught. In Romans 7:25-8:2, Paul equated the Torah with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, by contrasting them both with the law of sin and death. In 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul said in a parallel statement that he was not outside the Torah, but under the Law of Christ, so again he equated the two. In Psalms 19:7, the Torah is perfect, in Psalms 119:45, it is a law of liberty, and in Psalms 119:1, it blesses those who obey it, so when James 1:25, speaks about the perfect law of liberty that blesses those who obey it, he wasn't saying anything about the Torah that wasn't already said in the Psalms. Jesus said nothing about editing the law down to just what he repeated and it is not the case that he was in disagreement with the Father about every law that is not recorded that he repeated.

While we are under the New Covenant and not the Mosaic Covenant, we are nevertheless still under the same God with the same nature and therefore the same instructions for how to walk in the same ways and express the same character traits. For example, the way to act in accordance with God's righteousness is straightforwardly based on God's righteousness, not on any particular covenant, and God's righteousness is eternal, so any instructions that God has ever given for how to do what is righteous are eternally valid regardless of which covenant we are under, though as part of the New Covenant those who do not follow those instructions are not children of God (1 John 3:10). Likewise, sin was in the world before the law was given (Romans 5:13), so there were no actions that became righteous or sinful when the law was given, but rather the law revealed what has always been and will always be the way to do that. In Hebrews 8:10-13, the New Covenant still involves following God's law, so while the Mosaic Covenant has become obsolete, God’s eternal law did not become obsolete along with it.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Apologies. I assumed "Beatitudes" referred to Matthew 5 by definition. They are not commands of Law, but the blessings upon those who abide in Him. There are OT references, such as:
Psalm 37:11. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Yes, I am aware that there is some partial cross references for the Beatitudes, but it is not entirely drawn from the Torah.

As for Torah: I see the word “Torah” as either referring to the first five books of Moses, or to the 613 commands given to Moses. While Moses did not receive the commands until the book of Exodus, the first five books (scrolls) of Moses were given to him by God by writing under the inspiration of the Spirit. Some of the principles or truths in the Torah have been repeated in the Sermon on the Mount, but our Lord (Jesus) was primarily given us new teachings.

For the Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

The same Father who gave the Torah also sent Christ, so there is no difference between following one or the other, especially because Jesus set a sinless example of how to follow the Torah. God is not in disagreement with Himself about which laws we should follow, so the Law of Christ is the same as the Law of the Spirit and the Law of the Father, which was given to Moses. In John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, if we don't love him, then we will not obey his teachings, and that his teachings were not his own, but that of the Father, so Jesus did not teach his own laws, and if we love him, then we will obey the laws that the Father has taught. In Romans 7:25-8:2, Paul equated the Torah with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, by contrasting them both with the law of sin and death. In 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul said in a parallel statement that he was not outside the Torah, but under the Law of Christ, so again he equated the two. In Psalms 19:7, the Torah is perfect, in Psalms 119:45, it is a law of liberty, and in Psalms 119:1, it blesses those who obey it, so when James 1:25, speaks about the perfect law of liberty that blesses those who obey it, he wasn't saying anything about the Torah that wasn't already said in the Psalms. Jesus said nothing about editing the law down to just what he repeated and it is not the case that he was in disagreement with the Father about every law that is not recorded that he repeated.

While we are under the New Covenant and not the Mosaic Covenant, we are nevertheless still under the same God with the same nature and therefore the same instructions for how to walk in the same ways and express the same character traits. For example, the way to act in accordance with God's righteousness is straightforwardly based on God's righteousness, not on any particular covenant, and God's righteousness is eternal, so any instructions that God has ever given for how to do what is righteous are eternally valid regardless of which covenant we are under, though as part of the New Covenant those who do not follow those instructions are not children of God (1 John 3:10). Likewise, sin was in the world before the law was given (Romans 5:13), so there were no actions that became righteous or sinful when the law was given, but rather the law revealed what has always been and will always be the way to do that. In Hebrews 8:10-13, the New Covenant still involves following God's law, so while the Mosaic Covenant has become obsolete, God’s eternal law did not become obsolete along with it.

Hebrews 7:12 says the Law has changed.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

For example: Believers today do not have to be circumcised or offer animal sacrifices. If the instructions of the Old Law are still in effect, then we need to obey all of the Old Law, but nobody today who is a Christian is really doing that. No Christian today is obeying all of the Law of Moses. If they do, they need to stone people for breaking certain aspects of the Law, etc.; Yet, Jesus told us to pray, and to love our enemies.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Apologies. I assumed "Beatitudes" referred to Matthew 5 by definition. They are not commands of Law, but the blessings upon those who abide in Him. There are OT references, such as:
Psalm 37:11. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The Beatitudes actually ends with a New Covenant command given to us by Jesus.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. (Matthew 5:11-12).

The gospel of Luke records Jesus as telling us to also leap for joy, and to take notice that our reward is great in heaven as a part of this command, as well.

“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” (Luke 6:23).

 

[Mr. M]

The Beatitudes actually ends with a New Covenant command given to us by Jesus.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. (Matthew 5:11-12).

Luke says that we are to also leap for joy, and to take notice that our reward is great in heaven as a part of this command, as well.

“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” (Luke 6:23).

As we sing an old hymn:
Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice!
Philippians 4:4.

 

[Soyeong]

Romans 6:14 says,
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Galatians 5:4 says,
“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

Romans 6:14 is saying that you are not under the Law of Moses, and Galatians 5:4 is saying that we are not justified by the Law of Moses.

I agree that we are not under the law, however, Paul spoke about multiple different categories of law, such as God's law, the law of sin, and works of the law, so it is important to correctly identify which law he was saying that we aren't under. For example, in Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law that is of works with a law that is of faith, and in Romans 7:25, he contrasted God's law with the law of sin. The Torah is not sinful, but rather it is a law where holiness, righteousness, and goodness have dominion over us (Romans 7:12) and In Romans 6:14, Paul specified that the law that we are not under is a law where sin had dominion over us, therefore it is not referring to the Torah, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace doesn't mean that we are permitted to sin, and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so we are still under the Torah. Furthermore, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to God and against sin and in Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, so when we are under grace we are under the Torah and not under the law of sin.

All throughout the Bible, God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Torah, and even Christ began his ministry with that message, so it would be absurd to interpret Galatians 5:4 as Paul warning us against doing that and saying that we will be cut off from Christ if we follow Christ. Furthermore, it wouldn't make sense to think that we fall from grace by obeying the Torah when God was gracious to David by teaching him how to obey it. Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to obey the Torah as if obedience to God were somehow a negative thing, but rather his problem was with those who were wanting to require Gentiles to obey their works of the law in order to become justified. So neither Romans 6:14 nor Galatians 5:4 are referring to the Torah.

To believe in Jesus is a commandment or Law (See: 1 John 3:23).
We are saved by believing in Jesus (See: John 3:16).
So naturally we are justified by the Law in 1 John 3:23. This would be New Covenant Law. But the 613 Laws given to Moses we are not justified by. These laws were given to Israel. The laws Jesus and His followers gave us are clearly different and they conflict with trying to obey the Old Law (unless one wants to do backflip twists with God's Word in order to make them fit).

To believe in Jesus is to believe in who he is, what he accomplished, and in what that means for how we should therefore live our lives. Jesus is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3) and what that looked like was a life lived in sinless obedience to the Torah, so he is the personification of the Torah. He began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17-23) and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is, so repenting from our disobedience to it is an integral part of the Gospel message, which he prophesied would be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:12-14).

In Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what God's law was given to instruct us how to do. Furthermore, verse 14 says that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so if we believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and understand what it means for how we should live our lives, then we will become zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah (Acts 21:20) and will not return to the lawlessness that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from. So obedience to the Torah is what it looks looks like to believe in Jesus, what he accomplished through his ministry and through the cross, and to understand what that means for how we should live our lives. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Torah as being about how to love God and our neighbor, so obedience to the Torah is also what it looks like to love one another as he commanded us and to love as he loved us.

We do not earn our justification by obeying the Torah because it wasn't given for that purpose, yet it is also true that only the doers of the Torah will be justified (Romans 2:13) because only the doers of the Torah have faith in God to guide us in how to rightly live and are justified by that faith. In Deuteronomy 4:2, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Torah, and Jesus was sinless, so he did not do that, but rather he taught obedience to the Torah both by word and by example.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I agree that we are not under the law, however, Paul spoke about multiple different categories of law, such as God's law, the law of sin, and works of the law, so it is important to correctly identify which law he was saying that we aren't under. For example, in Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law that is of works with a law that is of faith, and in Romans 7:25, he contrasted God's law with the law of sin. The Torah is not sinful, but rather it is a law where holiness, righteousness, and goodness have dominion over us (Romans 7:12) and In Romans 6:14, Paul specified that the law that we are not under is a law where sin had dominion over us, therefore it is not referring to the Torah, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace doesn't mean that we are permitted to sin, and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so we are still under the Torah. Furthermore, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to God and against sin and in Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, so when we are under grace we are under the Torah and not under the law of sin.

All throughout the Bible, God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Torah, and even Christ began his ministry with that message, so it would be absurd to interpret Galatians 5:4 as Paul warning us against doing that and saying that we will be cut off from Christ if we follow Christ. Furthermore, it wouldn't make sense to think that we fall from grace by obeying the Torah when God was gracious to David by teaching him how to obey it. Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to obey the Torah as if obedience to God were somehow a negative thing, but rather his problem was with those who were wanting to require Gentiles to obey their works of the law in order to become justified. So neither Romans 6:14 nor Galatians 5:4 are referring to the Torah.



To believe in Jesus is to believe in who he is, what he accomplished, and in what that means for how we should therefore live our lives. Jesus is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3) and what that looked like was a life lived in sinless obedience to the Torah, so he is the personification of the Torah. He began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17-23) and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is, so repenting from our disobedience to it is an integral part of the Gospel message, which he prophesied would be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:12-14).

In Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what God's law was given to instruct us how to do. Furthermore, verse 14 says that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so if we believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and understand what it means for how we should live our lives, then we will become zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah (Acts 21:20) and will not return to the lawlessness that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from. So obedience to the Torah is what it looks looks like to believe in Jesus, what he accomplished through his ministry and through the cross, and to understand what that means for how we should live our lives. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Torah as being about how to love God and our neighbor, so obedience to the Torah is also what it looks like to love one another as he commanded us and to love as he loved us.

We do not earn our justification by obeying the Torah because it wasn't given for that purpose, yet it is also true that only the doers of the Torah will be justified (Romans 2:13) because only the doers of the Torah have faith in God to guide us in how to rightly live and are justified by that faith. In Deuteronomy 4:2, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Torah, and Jesus was sinless, so he did not do that, but rather he taught obedience to the Torah both by word and by example.

When looking at the Old Law one can categorize the Old Testament Mosaic Law (the 613 Laws of Moses) into a threefold division:

1. Moral Laws (Any Law pertaining to doing good as a part of nature).
2. Ceremonial Laws (Laws pertaining to ceremonies or rituals).
3. Civil Laws (Laws dealing with civil matters; Which includes Laws on carrying out justice).

Even before the written Law of Moses: We can see that there were Moral Laws (like: “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” Do not covet,” “Do not commit adultery,” etc.), and Ceremonial Laws (like: animal sacrifices).

God's moral laws came into existence for man and would forever exist for him after the Fall of Adam and Eve (after they received the knowledge of good and evil). A Moral Law is any law telling you to do good without a specific law telling you that such a thing is so (See Romans 2:14). These moral laws existed before the Law of Moses.

In the New Covenant (or New Testament) these Moral Laws (like: “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” Do not covet,” “Do not commit adultery,” etc.) are repeated from the 613 laws within the Law of Moses and they still are in effect (i.e. They have been carried over into the New Testament). However, the Old Testament Law of Moses as a whole or package deal is no more (contractually speaking). Ceremonial Laws or commands: Things like the commands on circumcision, animal sacrifices, the Saturday Sabbath, dietary etc. are no longer binding under the New Covenant. This is because the written Law given to Israel is no longer in effect (as a whole). How so?

Here are a list of verses showing us the Old Law is no more:

"When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear." (Hebrews 8:13) (NLT).

”Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Romans 7:4).

"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:6).

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;" (Colossians 2:14).

20 "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using; ) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh."
(Colossians 2:20-23).

“By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.” (Ephesians 2:15) (AMPC).

"The old [former] rule [commandment; regulation] is now set aside [nullified; abolished], because it was weak and useless [ineffective]." (Hebrews 7:18) (EXB).

9 “Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” (Hebrews 9:9-10).

16 “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” (Hebrews 9:16-17).

”And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament…” (Hebrews 9:15).

27 “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28).

50 “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; “ (Matthew 27:20-51).

8 “Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” (Hebrews 10:8-9).

“And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” (Acts of the Apostles 15:1).

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts of the Apostles 15:5).

“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment” (Acts of the Apostles 15:24).

28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well." (Acts of the Apostles 15:28-29).

7 "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).

“But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 3:14).​

The Old Covenant says this about circumcision:

"And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." (Genesis 17:14).​

Yet, the New Covenant says this about circumcision:

"Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." (Galatians 5:2).​

The Old Covenant says this about the Sabbath:

32 "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
35 And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." (Numbers 15:32-36).​

Yet, the New Covenant says this about the Sabbath:

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:" (Colossians 2:16).​

So it appears things have changed.

This makes sense because Hebrews 7:12 says the Law has changed.

"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Hebrews 7:12).

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).​

In conclusion:

You sort of have to look at the Old Covenant (Old Testament) as one contract, and the New Covenant (New Testament) as another contract. It's kind of like a contract when you buy a house. If you did not like certain things in the contract, you could ask them to make some changes in the contract. If they agreed to the changes, you would then go by the new contract, and the old contract for the house would be discarded. There may be some similar things between the old contract, and the new contract, but you stick with the new contract in your dealing with buying the house. Meaning: This is why we seek to follow the New Covenant (New Testament) primarily even though there are certain laws that have carried over from the Old Covenant (Old Testament). We are clearly not under the 613 Laws of Moses as a whole or package deal. We follow the commands that come from Jesus and His followers.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I agree that we are not under the law, however, Paul spoke about multiple different categories of law, such as God's law, the law of sin, and works of the law, so it is important to correctly identify which law he was saying that we aren't under. For example, in Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law that is of works with a law that is of faith, and in Romans 7:25, he contrasted God's law with the law of sin. The Torah is not sinful, but rather it is a law where holiness, righteousness, and goodness have dominion over us (Romans 7:12) and In Romans 6:14, Paul specified that the law that we are not under is a law where sin had dominion over us, therefore it is not referring to the Torah, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace doesn't mean that we are permitted to sin, and sin is the transgression of the Torah (1 John 3:4), so we are still under the Torah. Furthermore, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to God and against sin and in Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, so when we are under grace we are under the Torah and not under the law of sin.

All throughout the Bible, God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Torah, and even Christ began his ministry with that message, so it would be absurd to interpret Galatians 5:4 as Paul warning us against doing that and saying that we will be cut off from Christ if we follow Christ. Furthermore, it wouldn't make sense to think that we fall from grace by obeying the Torah when God was gracious to David by teaching him how to obey it. Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to obey the Torah as if obedience to God were somehow a negative thing, but rather his problem was with those who were wanting to require Gentiles to obey their works of the law in order to become justified. So neither Romans 6:14 nor Galatians 5:4 are referring to the Torah.



To believe in Jesus is to believe in who he is, what he accomplished, and in what that means for how we should therefore live our lives. Jesus is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3) and what that looked like was a life lived in sinless obedience to the Torah, so he is the personification of the Torah. He began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17-23) and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is, so repenting from our disobedience to it is an integral part of the Gospel message, which he prophesied would be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:12-14).

In Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is what God's law was given to instruct us how to do. Furthermore, verse 14 says that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so if we believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and understand what it means for how we should live our lives, then we will become zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah (Acts 21:20) and will not return to the lawlessness that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from. So obedience to the Torah is what it looks looks like to believe in Jesus, what he accomplished through his ministry and through the cross, and to understand what that means for how we should live our lives. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Torah as being about how to love God and our neighbor, so obedience to the Torah is also what it looks like to love one another as he commanded us and to love as he loved us.

We do not earn our justification by obeying the Torah because it wasn't given for that purpose, yet it is also true that only the doers of the Torah will be justified (Romans 2:13) because only the doers of the Torah have faith in God to guide us in how to rightly live and are justified by that faith. In Deuteronomy 4:2, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Torah, and Jesus was sinless, so he did not do that, but rather he taught obedience to the Torah both by word and by example.

As for subtracting from the Torah:

First, Deuteronomy 4:2 is in reference to men and not God.

Second, Jesus spoke everything that the Father told him to say.

For Jesus said:

“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” (John 12:49).​

So any new commands that Jesus made was by the authority of change from God the Father. Plus, Jesus is GOD, as well. So this was not some mere human alone making changes to God's laws but GOD (the Word) incarnate (or made flesh) dispensing God the Father's new laws. GOD Himself is not subject to the Laws he makes for mankind. GOD can later change the very laws that He makes. His has such authority to change laws for mankind because He is GOD. In fact, Hebrews 7:12 says the Law has changed. These are words from the Bible (i.e. God's Holy Word).

Not all laws by God are applicable for all people. GOD told Noah to make an ark or boat because it was going to flood. We are obviously not under that command or Law. That Law or command was meant for Noah and the people during his time.