Law vs. Lawlessness #4

Matt 24:11 "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Doing Away with God’s Law ?

The False Prophets & Teachers of this world's ways say:
"The new covenant is not simply a restatement of the old laws. We have already seen in Hebrews 8 that the old covenant is obsolete. Some of its laws have bee discarded. Some of its laws have been changed. Some have been continued, and others have been added. The new covenant . . . removes some of the laws of the old" .

    Here is the crux of the problem! Is this statement entirely true? Or is it a part of Satan the devil’s "big lie" technique? Is it a clever twisting of the truth?

Jesus Christ declared, in no uncertain terms: "Think NOT that I am come to destroy the law . . . I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt.5:17-18).

Isn’t that plain? He added, "For I say unto you, That unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (v.20). Now the scribes and Pharisees were famous for their punctilious observance of the Law—even technical matters of tithing (Matt.23:23). But Jesus said we must be more righteous than they were! He also said, "Be [or become] ye therefore PERFECT [whole, complete, mature, upright, just as God commanded Abraham to become in Genesis 17;1!], even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matt.5:48). Does this sound like mere empty "faith" is enough for us to receive salvation? Nonsense! Does this sound like some of God’s laws have been "discarded"? Nonsense! Nothing has been discarded—not even a jot or a tittle!

Whom will you believe? This World's Teachers? or Jesus Christ?

The New Covenant "removes" none of the Laws of God!
We find that the weekly Sabbaths will be observed in the Kingdom of God (Isa.66:23).
We find the holy days of God—specifically the Feast of Tabernacles—will also be a commanded observance during the Kingdom of God (Zech.14:14-16)!
We find that even the Levitical priesthood has a function to perform on this earth (Heb.8:4-5), Heb 8:4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
Heb 8:5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." 
...And will be fully operational during the reign of Jesus Christ, in the kingdom of God! (see for proof Ezekiel 40, especially verse 46; chapter 41; 42:13-14; all of chapter 43; 44:5-24; chapters 45-48). Zechariah says, "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar" (Zech.14:20-21).

What law of God, then, pray tell, has been "removed" or "discarded"?
James plainly said that ALL GOD’S LAW stands or falls together. He wrote, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is GUILTY OF ALL. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a TRANSGRESSOR OF THE LAW. So speak ye, and so DO, as they that shall be JUDGED by the Law of liberty [i.e., God’s Law which insures true liberty]" (James 2:10-12). James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 2:11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
James 2:12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

The world says the old covenant was set aside—and declares:
"This ‘setting aside’ is not just talking about Levitical and sacrificial laws that were added to the old covenant—it is talking about the old covenant itself. The WHOLE PACKAGE was SET ASIDE AND REPLACED by Christ".  They then quote Heb 8:6 Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

They then say that this fault filled covenant was Replaced by Christ.   They need to continue reading the spiritual intent of what Paul was saying here as he spoke to the Hebrew Church. 

Heb 8:8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, (When Christ Returns) says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;   (When Christ Returns)...
Heb 8:9 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.
Heb 8:10 "For this is the covenant that I will  (When Christ Returns)  make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Heb 8:11 "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

    Did you get that? Satan wants you to believe that the ENTIRE CONTENTS of the Old Covenant were set aside and replaced! Once again, this is Satan the devil’s "big lie" technique at work—smothering and confusing the minds of millions, part of Satan’s great deception!

This "setting aside" therefore would include the Ten Commandments, statues, judgments, holy days, Passover, Sabbath day, clean and unclean meats, civil laws, laws against gossip, false witness, idolatry, and EVERYTHING ELSE which was covered in the Old Covenant

This is the DIAMETRIC OPPOSITE to what Jesus Christ taught!

The Levitical sacrifices and laws were not set aside, but today they are not being offered for the simple reason that there is no Temple in which to offer them!
The apostle Paul himself, in about 60 A.D., 30 years after the crucifixion of Christ, went up to Jerusalem, and offered sacrifice at the Temple of God (Acts 21:26-27; compare Numbers 6: 13-21).

Acts 21:26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Num 6:13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

If there were a Temple of God in Jerusalem today, it would not be wrong for a Christian to offer a sacrifice, as Paul himself did. The sacrificial system God gave Israel was patterned after the heavenly altar and Temple (compare Rev.11:19; Heb.8:1-5). It constitutes a teaching system, a "school," to teach us about the heavenly truths of God, the heavenly tabernacle, altar, Temple, and system. The sacrifices by and large picture Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, our supreme heavenly sacrifice (I Cor.5:7-8; Heb.9:1-14). So long as there is no Temple, however, it is obvious that the laws relative to the Temple worship are temporarily "set aside" or suspended.

So you see the laws were not done away with at this present time. None of them have been destroyed, and if a law were written in your mind and heart, you would continue to keep it.

 

Part 4  Progressing   If you missed part 1 2 or 3 click on the one missed.  jw9/00