Why Don't Christians Follow The Mosaic Law?

Are the laws of the Old Testament still binding?

No, Christians are not under the OT law.Luke 16:16

The law and the prophets were until John [the Baptist]: since that time the kingdom of heaven is preached.Romans 6:14

Ye are not under the law, but under grace.Romans 7:4, 6

Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ .... We are delivered from the law, that being dead.Romans 10:4

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 2 Corinthians 3:14

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.Galatians 3:13

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.Galatians 3:24-25

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.Galatians 5:18

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.  Ephesians 2:15

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.Colossians 2:14

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances ... nailing it to his cross.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 ³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

 ³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:32-36

Does the Mosaic law still apply?

If you want to follow me on this bible study, feel free to come often and to learn about how you are free because Jesus set you free. Here I'll post each and everything that I've being studying about the Mosaic Law. Let's start with me.

Many followers of Judaism still follow the Mosaic law, where it can be applied either directly or in principle to today. An example is in relation to sabbath keeping and the prohibition against work. Lifts are provided and set so that they stop on every floor of a building to alleviate the necessity for a person to perform the work of pressing the button. In certain situations a 'sabbath days journey' is specifically defined by markers to avoid the breaking of this precept.

Christians have clearly been set free from following the provisions of the Mosaic law as Jesus' finished work on the cross fulfilled the law and superseded it. This was symbolized by the tearing of the thick curtain in the temple. Numerous New Testament scriptures demonstrate this.

For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1 v 17

Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped , and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no person be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3 v 19-20

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3 v 24

Knowing this that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.Galatians2v16

The first council of the Christian church held at Jerusalem and presided over by James the brother of Jesus, specifically addressed this issue. Only a very few provisions were seen as being still relevant for non-Jews to follow. This discussion is recorded in Acts 15.

Jesus' statement in Matthew 5 v 17-18 means simply that he himself was to fulfill the law perfectly, which he certainly did. The law, being given by God himself is certainly inspired and its chief purpose was to point to Christ and to show people their need of a savior. The book of Hebrews discusses much of this at length. The book of James and any other verses cited to prove that a Christian is to obey the law of Moses or do works for salvation are simply taken out of context and/or misunderstood and misapplied. It is also incorrect to say that it is faith and works for salvation.

The moral aspects of the Mosaic Law are certainly fulfilled in Christians as they, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God naturally do God's will. Thus lawlessness is not at all a natural consequence of the abrogation of the Mosaic law. It is simply that the law of Moses does not apply today to Christians in regard to salvation or as a system of religious works. Any religious systems which are works-based are thus by definition not Christian.

Verses taken firstly out of context and wrongly interpreted do not prove that the Mosaic law still applies to Christians. As mentioned above, it most certainly does apply to those who follow it today, viz. those who follow the religion of Judaism. Nor is there any contradiction at all between Jesus' teaching and Paul. The following passage from Romans 1 v 1-4 make this clear: ' There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'

Further to all this, the principles contained in the Mosaic Law most certainly form the basis of much of the legal framework in Western cultures which have had a substantial Christian influence. This also includes principles relating to compensation apart from the obvious such as murder (thou shalt not kill), theft (thou shalt not steal) etc.

In this much broader sense where the Mosaic legal principles demonstrate God's knowledge of what is best for society generally it has an abiding usefulness but this is not of course in any religious sense, nor does it mean or imply any adherence to Christian or Biblical principles on the part of those who enjoy its benefits.


== It depends if you follow ==
The teachings of Jesus
Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
5:18 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. (obs. and the law was fulfilled by Jesus Christ, who did it following God Father's will).
5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Or; if you follow the teachings of Paul;
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
see related link; " Are the laws of the Old Testament still binding? "

Alternate View:

There is a danger in confusing "application of Mosaic Law" and right action. No one will argue that since Christ has come, the laws saying "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" can be tossed out the window. If you claim to be saved by grace, then you are not and cannot be bound by Mosaic Law. Salvation by grace is a position, and adherence to Mosaic Law is a practice. You are not bound by law, but you are constrained to right action by the indwelling spirit.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_the_Mosaic_law_still_apply#ixzz1HA3DYJsU

Jesus is Coming

Since we know that we are all sinners and we all deserve God's judgment. We must do something to be saved. Once God became a man just because He loved the world and its creature, He's willing to save the world and its creatures. As He sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, and with your mouth declaring all that and also saying "Jesus is Lord", you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven. Because it is written on Bible.

healthy on the outside and rotten inside

hypocrite

A person who pretends to be good, pious or sympathetic without really being so

hypocrisy

•The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
•An act or instance of such falseness




Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.

Hypocrisy is not simply failing to practice those virtues that one preaches. Samuel Johnson made this point when he wrote about the misuse of the charge of "hypocrisy" in Rambler No. 14:

Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself.[1]
Thus, an alcoholic's advocating temperance, for example, would not be considered an act of hypocrisy so long as the alcoholic made no pretense of constant sobriety

Etymology

The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "Jealous" "play-acting", "acting out", "coward" or "dissembling".[2] The word hypocrite is from the Greek word ὑποκρίτης (hypokrites), the agentive noun associated with υποκρίνομαι (hypokrinomai κρίση, "judgement" »κριτική (kritiki), "critics") presumably because the performance of a dramatic text by an actor was to involve a degree of interpretation, or assessment, of that text.

Alternatively, the word is an amalgam of the Greek prefix hypo-, meaning "under", and the verb krinein, meaning "to sift or decide". Thus the original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to sift or decide. This deficiency, as it pertains to one's own beliefs and feelings, informs the word's contemporary meaning.[3]

Whereas hypokrisis applied to any sort of public performance (including the art of rhetoric), hypokrites was a technical term for a stage actor and was not considered an appropriate role for a public figure. In Athens in the 4th century BC, for example, the great orator Demosthenes ridiculed his rival Aeschines, who had been a successful actor before taking up politics, as a hypokrites whose skill at impersonating characters on stage made him an untrustworthy politician. This negative view of the hypokrites, perhaps combined with the Roman disdain for actors, later shaded into the originally neutral hypokrisis. It is this later sense of hypokrisis as "play-acting", i.e., the assumption of a counterfeit persona, that gives the modern word hypocrisy its negative connotation.

Hypocrisy and vice

Although hypocrisy has been called "the tribute that vice pays to virtue",[4] and a bit of it certainly greases the wheels of social exchange, it may also corrode the well-being of those people who continually make or are forced to make use of it.[5] As Boris Pasternak has Yurii say in Doctor Zhivago, "Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike... Our nervous system isn't just fiction, it's part of our physical body, and it can't be forever violated with impunity.





from : wikipedia.com

Jesus talks about teachers

Teachers of the law and Pharisees

which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean

A Warning Against Hypocrisy

 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
   5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

   8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
    13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [b]
   15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

   16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

   23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

   25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

   27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

   29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

   33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

   37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Matthew 23

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