I AM the Law.
Is the LAW still binding?!?!
by EndofMysteries 21 Replies latest watchtower bible
-
-
Chalam
Hi A&S and welcome!
I agree with the things you have said. However, the law in all its forms is not for Christians, not even the ten commandments!
See here Romans 8
In short
Romans 8:1-2 (New International Version)
Life Through the Spirit
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
2 Corinthians 3:6 (New International Version)
6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Hebrews 8:13 (New International Version)
13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Blessings,
Stephen
-
Leolaia
Early Christians took different positions on the matter, as reflected in the NT and other early Christian literature. The antinomian position is most commonly associated with post-Pauline and Western (often Gentile, sometimes anti-Jewish) Christians, while the Law-observant position is most commonly associated with Eastern (specifically Syrian) Jewish Christians. The strong Law-observant position (requiring even circumcision of Gentiles for full table fellowship, as it was the case with Gentile converts to Judaism) was linked to James the Just, the proto-antinomian position (denying circumcision for Gentiles and neglect of purity and holy day commandments for Gentile Christians) was associated with Paul, whereas the Petrine position was mediating between the two (regarding those in Christ as a "third" race distinct from Jews and Gentiles with their own way of observing the Law). Law-observant Jewish-Christians allowed Gentiles to join without fulfilling the Law (like other God-fearers) but denied them full table fellowship on account of the fact that they have not accepted the full yoke of the Lord. They were in conflict with Paul (see Galatians 2 and similar stories in Acts) because he was flouting purity laws by treating uncircumcised Gentile Christians as equal members. To a great extent, the evolution of Christianity as a sect separate from Judaism contributed to the different stances towards Torah observance.
The oldest Pauline statements on the Law (Romans and Galatians) proposed the idea that Christians were "set free from the Law" (e.g. Romans 7:2) but Paul affirmed that Jews who were not Christians were still bound to the Law. Deutero-Pauline works like Colossians and Ephesians went further in claiming that Jesus "abolished the Law with its commandments in his flesh" (Ephesians 2:14-15). It is this later view, which regards the Law as wholly defunct, that the Law-observant Jewish-Christians polemicized against in their own writings. The epistle of James interprets Romans in light of this later view, and Matthew (written c. 80-90 in Syria, possibly Antioch) explicitly denies that Jesus came to abolish the Law (5:17-20); it also criticizes those Christians who confess Jesus as the "Lord" without "doing the will of the Father" (7:21-23), and criticizes the Pharisees while affirming that they have halakhic authority such that "you must obey them and do everything they tell you" (23:2-3). The Didache, which is strongly close to Matthew and which also was written in Syria not much later, is a Jewish-Christian tract for Gentile converts, giving minimal rules for fellowship but encouraging them again to accept the full yoke of the Lord, reminding them that they must be made "perfect" and only those who are "perfect" would be saved on the day of the Lord. Later second-century AD Jewish-Christian (Ebionite) writings that take a strong Law-observant view include the Itinerary of Peter, the Ascents of James, and the Kerygma Petrou. The latter expanded as the Kerygmata Petrou and also the appended Epistula Petri are also important later works taking a strong Law-observant stance that engages in polemic against Paul. Meanwhile the antinomian position became more extreme in Western non-Jewish-Christian Christiniaty. The early second-century AD epistle of Barnabas is noteworthy for characterizing the whole Law as allegorical and thus presenting its observance as a fundamental tragic mistake. Justin Martyr positioned his views of the Law against that of the Jewish position in the Dialogue with Trypho and Marcion of Pontus (who regarded Paul as the only important apostle) went further in rejecting any scriptural authority or value in the Law. Eventually the Law-observant position lost out to the Western one, with Jewish-Christians characterized as "heretics" by the emerging orthodoxy (although their position was among the oldest within Christianity). But many Jewish-Christian ideas (including kosher ritual purity of foods) were incorporated into the new religion that emerged in the region in Late Antiquity: Islam.
-
hamilcarr
Muslims as the only surviving law-observing Christians ?
-
-
Perry
No, and Yes; there being no greater law than Christ who inhabits the believer. Christ is the law in action, raised from the written page and lived out by believers.
Jeremiah 31: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Hebrews 10: 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Gal. 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me
-
Leolaia
hamilcarr....LOL well no, but they did preserve a lot of Byzantine-era Ebionite beliefs. The Muslim view of the crucifixion, the non-divinity of Jesus, and views pertaining to various legal stipulations are informed by now lost Jewish Christian perspectives. In other ways, Islam was very different from Ebionism (such as in views pertaining to the Eucharist, the virgin birth, etc.).
-
Chalam
Perry agreed!
2 Corinthians 3:6 (New International Version)
6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The new "law" is the Spirit of Grace which is freedom from the law!
See here that Jesus shows here the "law" of the new covenant is a far higher standard that the old one, v.17 onwards Matthew 5
Quite simply, the law cannot save, it only shows sin for what it is and that is its purpose.
Jesus came to save us from the death the law brings to sinners and give them life and freedom. Sinners are slaves to sin.
Blessings,
Stephen
-
cameo-d
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
It's debateable as to whether Moses was even circumsized. If not, this bs probably doesn't count.
Moses did not even circumsize his son. So what kind of a good prophet was he? What god was he really serving?
-
GromitSK
Only if you get caught.