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OnlyAmbrose
Guest
In a recent AAA post, Fr. Vincent said that as Christians we don’t have to follow the old law. I suppose I knew that already, but I just want to know why. Didn’t Jesus say he didn’t come to replace the old?
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G
geezerbob
Guest
The command from Jesus to love God and love your neighbor encompasses all of spirit of the old law.
J
Joel_Tunnah
Guest
(DR) Matthew 5:17-19
17Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
18For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.
19He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
He’s talking about his elaborations and clarifications on the 10 commandments in the verses that follow… not on the kosher dietary “laws”, circumcision, etc and other portions of the Torah.
17Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
18For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.
19He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
He’s talking about his elaborations and clarifications on the 10 commandments in the verses that follow… not on the kosher dietary “laws”, circumcision, etc and other portions of the Torah.
B
bilop
Guest
This was definitively decided by Peter and Paul when they decided to convert Gentiles without requiring them to become Jews. It was officially codified, I believe, at the Council of Jerusalem with their decision regarding circumcision.
If you search Acts, in a good online Bible, for references to the “law” you will find the passages.
God Bless
If you search Acts, in a good online Bible, for references to the “law” you will find the passages.
God Bless
J
Joel_Tunnah
Guest
One small point, but it wasn’t “decided” by Paul or Peter, or any council. They merely correctly interpreted Jesus, whereas many of their fellow believers at the time were not correctly interpreting his words.
Paul didn’t invent christianity.
Paul didn’t invent christianity.
D
drafdog
Guest
The early Christians were not made to become Jews. This does not mean that we are supposed to ignore the Torah. Jesus commands us to make our righteousness greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees. We cannot do this without knowing the code of the Torah.
Would the American Civil War have occured if Christians in the US had freed their slaves after seven years after the injunction in the Torah? Would people suffer under such a load of debt if lenders forgave debts after seven years as prescribed in the law? There is a lot to be learned from reading and understanding the Torah. Unfortunately many people took the abolition of sacrifices for sin and laws regarding unclean foods as applying to the whole of Mosaic law.
We are answerable to the Law in many ways, may God forgive us.
Matthew
Would the American Civil War have occured if Christians in the US had freed their slaves after seven years after the injunction in the Torah? Would people suffer under such a load of debt if lenders forgave debts after seven years as prescribed in the law? There is a lot to be learned from reading and understanding the Torah. Unfortunately many people took the abolition of sacrifices for sin and laws regarding unclean foods as applying to the whole of Mosaic law.
We are answerable to the Law in many ways, may God forgive us.
Matthew
D
drafdog
Guest
To include non-Jews in the Christian community does not mean to ignore the Torah. Learning what God demanded of the children of Israel was deemed of secondary importance after repentance and belief in the Messiah.
We should all learn and observe the code of behavior taught in the
Torah so that we are better able to follow the demand of Jesus that our righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. The laws regarding sacrifice for sin are overshadowed by the sacrifice of the Messiah and we can add nothing to that. But the offering of thank offerings should probably be revived. Dietary laws are problematic in that much was after the manner of public health practices (pork carries worms and is unsafe to eat if not refrigerated and cooked properly). Much of this sort of problem has been solved by agricultural practices legislation in the US.
How much better would this world be if we followed the Torah and forgave debts after seven years, let our fields lie fallow after seven years of production, treated animals humanely following the law which says not to cook the flesh of the calf in the milk of the mother. There are laws dictating how to treat slaves, including the demand that they be freed after seven years of service. Christians ignored these laws for centuries although they were supposed to learn the law and do better than it demanded.
There is a lot of wisdom in the Torah that Christians ignore thinking that the law was complete irrelevant after the coming of the Messiah.
Matthew
We should all learn and observe the code of behavior taught in the
Torah so that we are better able to follow the demand of Jesus that our righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. The laws regarding sacrifice for sin are overshadowed by the sacrifice of the Messiah and we can add nothing to that. But the offering of thank offerings should probably be revived. Dietary laws are problematic in that much was after the manner of public health practices (pork carries worms and is unsafe to eat if not refrigerated and cooked properly). Much of this sort of problem has been solved by agricultural practices legislation in the US.
How much better would this world be if we followed the Torah and forgave debts after seven years, let our fields lie fallow after seven years of production, treated animals humanely following the law which says not to cook the flesh of the calf in the milk of the mother. There are laws dictating how to treat slaves, including the demand that they be freed after seven years of service. Christians ignored these laws for centuries although they were supposed to learn the law and do better than it demanded.
There is a lot of wisdom in the Torah that Christians ignore thinking that the law was complete irrelevant after the coming of the Messiah.
Matthew
F
Fidelis
Guest
What Jesus actually said is that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to **fulfill **it.In a recent AAA post, Fr. Vincent said that as Christians we don’t have to follow the old law. I suppose I knew that already, but I just want to know why. Didn’t Jesus say he didn’t come to replace the old?
The Law basically had three distinct components: The Liturgical and Sacrificial Laws, the Ritual and Social Cleanliness Laws, and the Moral Law. The first two were simply means to accomplish the third, which is based on the Natural Moral Law which we all know we should be following, but because of original sin and our own rebeliousness, can’t, don’t and won’t.
When Jesus came, by his atoning sacrifice on the Cross, he abolished the need for the first two components of the Law, and in their stead provided (through the Church and her Sacraments) abundant **grace **to be able to fulfill the Moral Law (which is still binding) without recourse to the 613-odd prescriptions of the Mosaic Law.
If you read the first four chapters of Paul’s Letter to the Romans and the Book of Hebrews, this is what the whole thing is about.
D
Daniel_Marsh
Guest
Read Gal 5, if one is walking in the spirit, then the old law is fulfilled.
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