Hi sets, I have read all of your replies and some over again. I understand that you believe leading a Christian life covers the Sabbath obligation of the fourth commandment spiritually.
Now you got it.
You wrote: "Yes, I deny that Paul ever wrote or taught that the Ten Commandments were ever transitory. If the Ten Commandments were ever transitory, then so is God's morality transitory. The Ten Commandments are the Eternal Moral Law of God." Well, the fact is that Paul did write it and he also wrote many other places that Jews are not under the Law. Gentiles never were under the dictates of the Law. He wrote in Eph2 the following: 14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations.
Paul also wrote very plainly in Gal3 the following: 19 Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised.
You seem to think by quoting Paul, that you prove that God's moral standards (which the Ten Commandments represent) change. That is not what Paul taught, and the Passages you quoted (
Ephesians 2:14-15;
Galatians 3:19) do not teach that.
God never changes his moral standards;
rather, unlike obedience to the written code of the Law, Christians fulfill the moral intentions of the Eternal Law by walking in the Spirit, which is founded in Love. By doing so, we fulfill all the commandments, because Love fulfills the intent of the Law. That is what Paul taught. So, if you disagree, you are disagreeing with Paul.
Romans 8:3-4 (WEB) 3 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; 4 that
the ordinance of
the law might be
fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.
Romans 13:9 (WEB) For
the commandments, “
You shall not commit adultery,” “
You shall not murder,” “
You shall not steal,” “
You shall not covet,” [
Exodus 20:13-15,
17;
Deuteronomy 5:17-19,
21] and
whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [
Leviticus 19:18]
Galatians 5:16 I say,
walk by the Spirit, and
you [
the Galatian Christians who are indwelt by the Spirit]
won’t fulfill the
lust of the flesh
The Ten Commandments are fulfilled in the true Christian who follows Christ into a sanctified life in the righteousness of love by the Spirit God gave us, just as Paul taught throughout.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 (
Paul admonishing Christians) 3
For this is the will of God:
your sanctification, that
you abstain from sexual immorality, 4 that
each one of you know how to control his own body
in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God, 6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a
brother or
sister in this matter. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins,
as we keep warning you [
Christians]. 7 For God did not call
us [
Christians, including Paul] to be impure, but to
live a sanctified life. 8 Therefore, anyone who
rejects this instruction rejects God, not man. This is the very God
who gives to you his Holy Spirit.
The scripture that I added bolsters the 2Cor3's account of the TC's being temporary.
The Ten Commandments are not temporary; rather, obedience to the written Law, including the Ten Commandments, was temporary. All the commandments of God are fulfilled in us who walk by the Spirit - which is a life of love.
Jesus in Matt 5:16-17 explains why He came. He said He came to fulfill the Law. In that same statement He also said He came to fulfill the prophecies. We have to believe the prophecies were about His coming to save mankind. Fulfill has to mean, in this case, that Jesus brought an end to the prophesies and the Law.
Lord Jesus indeed came to fulfill the Law, and he did abolish the requirement to obey the written code. However, Lord Jesus did not come to end God's moral standards that the written Law reveals. Lord Jesus taught us that we are to take up our cross and follow him to have life.
Matthew 10:38 (WEB) 38 He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me.
By walking in the Spirit, which is to walk in the Light, means that we now strive to live a sanctified life onto God by following Lord Jesus in the righteousness of love, which goes much deeper than obeying a set of written laws.
1 John 2:3-6 …
We [
Christians] know that
we know him if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments,
is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. 5 But God’s love has surely been perfected in
whoever keeps his word. This is how
we know that
we are in him: 6 he who says he
remains in him must walk just like he walked.
John 8:12 (WEB) “I am the light of the world. [
Isaiah 60:1] He who
follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the
light of life.”
And so, we keep the commandments of Lord Jesus by following Him into a sanctified life onto God in the righteousness of Love, just as Lord Jesus taught us and has shown us by example. This is the way of the Spirit, not the written code that cannot touch the heart.
I, too, believe morality commands are eternal, but the fact is the Sabbath command of the TC was a ritual command.
If God's morality commands are eternal, as you agree, then God's moral Law cannot be transitory. Rather, obedience to the written Law was replace with following Lord Jesus into a sanctified (separated) life onto the righteousness of Love, which is the Spirit of the Law, and fulfills the requirements of the Law - which is to love God above all things, and love others as Lord Jesus loves us.
The Sabbath Law was more than ritual; rather, it was a day to
keep holy - a day of rest and worship of God. In the NT, Christians are to worship God with their entire lives every day of the week to have peace, rest, and life, walking by His Spirit, not just on Saturday.
Galatians 5:24-25 Those who
belong to Christ [
saved] have
crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25
If we [
Paul includes himself]
live by the Spirit,
let us [
Paul includes himself]
also keep in step with the Spirit.
To teach that God does not change obliterates the New Testament. The old covenant was the way UNTIL Jesus ratified the new and better covenant. If that was not change then I have been completely deceived.
God does not change His moral standards, which the Ten Commandments represent. Instead of trying to obey the Letter of the Law, Christians are to repent of all sinful lusts, and follow Lord Jesus into a Sanctified life of the righteousness of Love. By doing so, we fulfill,
not only the written Law, but
the intent behind the Law that judges our hearts - which is to love God with all our being, and to love each other, just as Christ has shown us.
That is why Lord Jesus said that, he who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. So, walking in the Spirit is far more comprehensive than for a sinful man to try and obey written laws that cannot touch the heart.
Matthew 22:37-40 (WEB) 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ [
Deuteronomy 6:5] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [
Leviticus 19:18] 40 The
whole law and
the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
