Do Catholics and other Christians have to obey the Old Testament law?

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englands123

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My understanding is Jesus came to fulfil the Prophecies and Law, not to reject them. The Old Testament was for Israel as guide lines ?

Example : “ love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself “ (Matthew 22:37-39). If we obey those two commands, we will be fulfilling all that Christ requires of us: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”…

Am I wrong to think the Old Testament Laws are only guidelines for Catholic’s?
 
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The Mosaic Law was Law for those who followed Moses…

Jesus fulfilled them… And now - and for Everyone - Faith in Jesus with the Guidance of God’s Holy Spirit - is the Way to Salvation…
 
In or around the year 50, at the meeting now known as the Council of Jerusalem, it was decided that the OT laws governing Jewish life should be binding upon Christians only in an attenuated form. The details are in Acts 15:1-21:

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
 
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Yes! As Christians, in general, we should obey the 10 commandments. This is also emphasized in the catechism class. Violation on any one of those commandments would tantamount to committing a mortal sin. That’s as far as I know. I may be wrong .
 
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Some laws are stricter now.

OT: don’t commit adultery
NT: don’t even look lustfully at a woman

OT: don’t murder
NT: don’t even harbor anger in your heart

Also, we can’t divorce and remarry anymore, and everybody is our neighbor who we are responsible for.

But we are allowed to eat bacon now.
 
When all is said and done … the New Covenant is in effect and the Old - as it was - is not.
FAITH in Jesus the Door to God’s Holy Spirit is now the Way to Salvation
 
The OT laws were never meant as a means of salvation for Jews or anyone else. They were, and still are, meant as a means for leading a moral, ethical, and good life here on earth. According to Judaism, non-Jews need not obey all the (ritual) details of the Law (Torah), BUT they do need to obey the Seven Laws of Noah. Jews are still commanded to follow all the laws of the Torah (except the Temple laws for obvious reasons), because it is believed that the so-called ritual laws are inextricably linked to the moral and ethical laws. According to the Church, the moral laws of the Ten Commandments are still to be followed, PLUS anything commanded by Jesus. The ritual laws need not be followed.

BTW, since the title of the thread is Catholics and Christians, I hope you realize that Catholics are Christians.
 
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Totally agree both are generally the same Catholic’s & Christians but many would not agree with that. Another subject completely!!
 
@englands123 So, if you actually do know that Catholics are Christians, as you claim, why did you word your title as you did, thereby implying that Catholics are not Christians? And, when you say, “…both are generally the same, Catholic’s [sic] and Christian’s [sic]…”—what do you mean by “generally?”
 
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If I must answer that question, then I will.

This is a Catholic Forum not a Christian forum.

A Catholic can be a Christian but a Christian cannot be a Catholic. That’s not to mean any disrespect.

The most obvious , not being in communion with [the Pope] and Faith without Works.

But not to offend anyone I mentioned them both separately.
 
Now to ask you a question. Do Christians believe in the same Laws as Catholic’s ?
 
@englands123 Please do not separate us, as that is disparaging. Not only are Catholics Christians, but we were Christians for about 1500 years BEFORE other varieties of Christians appeared.
 
@englands123 Post 10: “This is a Catholic Forum, not a Christian Forum.”

No, england, this is a Catholic CHRISTIAN forum. There should be no separation between Catholic and Christian in your thinking. We were the first Christians. If you’re thinking of non-Catholic Christians, then say so, but do not insinuate that we’re not Christian.
 
Minks said:
if you actually do know that Catholics are Christians, as you claim, why did you word your title as you did
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Because most folks would realize that it’s short-hand (and therefore, easier to fit into a title) for “Catholics and non-Catholic Christians”… 😉
Minks said:
Please do not separate us, as that is disparaging.
Click to expand...
Common way of referring to non-Catholic Christians. Generally understood as such. 🤷‍♂️
 
@englands123 Post 11: “Do Christians believe in the same Laws as Catholic’s [sic]?”

In the words of a famous US President, “There you go, again!”

One. More. Time.

CATHOLICS ARE THE ORIGINAL CHRISTIANS !!!

If you are referring to non-Catholic Cristians, in every way that non-Catholic Christians have rejected Catholicism, they have rejected Christ.

For example, all those who falsely lead their followers to believe the lie that Catholics are not Christians do not follow the commandment that those who seek heaven must not bear false witness.
 
My very limited perspective:

They’re certainly not guidelines. That’s a dangerous way of viewing them. They are indeed laws, and God’s laws do not change (per se). Laws have two components: prescriptions and intentions. So an example of this in contemporary law is that cigarette companies have to pay a premium tax. That is “the law”, but really that is the prescription of the law. The intention is to reduce the sale and use of tobacco.

When Christ said that he came to fulfill the law and prophets, he was not reducing the laws to loose guidelines, but rather revealing the full extent of the laws as they were given to the prophets. Or rather, Christ came to reveal the intention of the law, and insodoing, changed the prescription so that His faithful might more fully attain to the intention of the law. So we follow the laws, but more “fully” than the Israelites did because we understand their true and proper end.

For example, Israelites were prohibited from eating unclean meat and from drinking the blood of the animal for the purposes of purity. That was the prescription of the law, which was prohibitive in scope because the intention was for the Israelites to understand and abide in spiritual purity. Consequent of the New Testament, this prohibition does not apply to Christians because the intention is fulfilled in Christ, who purifies us all through his sacrifice. The intention of the law remains, but the prescription was no longer necessary. By our faith in Christ and by living a life of charity, love, penance, we follow the law to its intended end.

That being said, there are different categories of law in the Old Testament, such that they don’t fit neatly into a category of “Old Testament Law”. An example of this difference is the Noahic covenant versus Levitical law. The Noahic covenant is binding upon all man through all time, as it was given to Noah for all men after God had flooded the world and cleansed it of man’s evil. Conversely, within Levitical law are subdivisions, such as judicial law and ceremonial law, and then moral law. Judicial and ceremonial law applied directly to the Israelites’ prescription for living, but moral law pointed to definitive distinctions between good and evil. The former is no longer binding upon us largely because it was prescriptive for its time. The latter remains binding because morality is unchanging.
 
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You apparently have considerably more than a limited understanding. Great post!

One addition: The Levitical law is not only designed for the purpose of spiritual purity, cultural identity, and sanctification of the Jewish people, but it also serves as a way for Jews to learn and understand that even ordinary, everyday activities such as the foods we eat and how they are prepared are regarded as holy acts according to G-d. Thus all behavior, even the simplest and most mundane, is linked to the holiness and goodness of G-d.
 
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There are many “brands” whom label themselves Christian (aka followers of the Messiah/Christ) in the sense that they accept JESUS to be The Messiah of all people. Catholic Teachings specifically declare Catholicism to be the one true ( yes of course Christian ) religion over all religions - whether Christian or Non-Christian.
 
From the POV of Catholicism / Christianity - Jesus is of course The Messiah who in turn specifically Preached to the Jews… And what separated the Jews who accepted Him from those who Rejected Him and hung onto Moses / Mosaic Law - ultimately orbits around Faith and Spirit… AKA a Rejection of the New Covenant… which in turn led to Jesus’ Passion - along with an ongoing Gulf between Non-Christian Jews and obedient faithful followers of Jesus: Jewish or not. That said, and connected with the Return of Messiah - is the Prophesy concerning the Return of many Jews back into the fold of Jesus.
 
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