Moses, Christ or the Law of Love?

Yes, God most certainly is love, but the Bible also declares that the foundation of his stone is righteousness and justice. He is just as concerned with holiness, justice, and righteous behavior as he is with mercy, grace, and forgiveness. So in light of the apostle John's warning that he who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. I think we would all be well to get this right. Fortunately, God has not hidden the ball from us. And neither has he shrouded this in such mystery that no one can possibly understand it. Just as no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, there is only one correct answer to this question. Praise the Lord. He has not left us our own devices to figure it out. You see, both the Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations, instructions, examples, and yes, commandments that show us exactly what it means to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. And don't let any smooth-talking preacher deceive you with empty words and flattery. Christ did not lower the bar, he restored the law of God to its original glory and power, and in doing so, he raised the standard of righteousness to a level infinitely higher than anything we see in the Law of Moses, or for that matter, anywhere else. And it's much more difficult, demanding, and glorious than what multitudes of professing believers have been taught, or for that matter, want to believe. There is a very good reason why Christ said, narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. What law are we under as blood-blooded disciples of Christ? At first blush, that may seem like a no-brainer, as I think most people would readily agree it's the law of God, which of course is absolutely correct. After all, one of the great promises of the new covenant is that God will place his law in our minds and write it on our hearts. And if that's as far as you care to take it, everyone can generally get along just fine. You know, I'm okay, you're okay. However, the minute you start asking exactly what that means and looks like in real life, not to mention when we all stand before Christ as judge, it's a very different story altogether. If you've been a believer for any length of time, you know exactly what I'm talking about. There are almost as many opinions about this as there are versions of the Bible. It's literally a theological and spiritual minefield. The good news, however, is it does not have to be this way. Let me explain. Jesus Christ is not only the Word of God and only begotten Son of God, he is also the promised Son of David and prophet greater than Moses. He is the one to whom we're to listen. As Moses himself told the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, him you shall hear. What Christ said is therefore the ultimate, complete, and full revelation of the mind, heart, soul, spirit, righteousness, holiness, character, nature, and will of the one true invisible God. In his own words, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. It's that simple. So with that in mind, the million dollar question we're going to ask and answer is which commandments Christ was referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. Stay with me till the end, as there's a very good chance it's not what you've heard or been taught, and please do not let any smooth talking preacher deceive you. God has committed all judgment to the Son, and the Bible declares that he will judge everyone, Christian, Jew, or otherwise, not only according to what we do, but also according to our motives, thoughts, and even our words. Paul, the apostle of Grace, left no doubt about this when he wrote that God will render to each one according to his deeds. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good seek for glory, honor and immortality. But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. That's the New Testament, brother, and the scripture cannot be broken. Yes, God most certainly is love, but the Bible also declares that the foundation of his stone is righteousness and justice. He is just as concerned with holiness, justice, and righteous behavior as he is with mercy, grace, and forgiveness. So in light of the apostle John's warning that he who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. I think we would all do well to get this right. Fortunately, God has not hidden the ball from us, and neither has he shrouded this in such mystery that no one can possibly understand it. Just as no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, there is only one correct answer to this question. Praise the Lord. He has not left us our own devices to figure it out. Let me explain. In American jurisprudence, a law is constitutionally invalid if a person of common intelligence has to guess at what it means. Laws are therefore carefully drafted to give everyone fair notice of what actions will be considered a crime before they act. This is rooted in the constitutional principle of due process or fundamental fairness. Think about it. If man's law, as imperfect as it is, must be sufficiently clear and precise so that a person of common intelligence doesn't have to guess at its meaning, how much more so will God's perfect law be? And by the same token, if man's law, as imperfect as it can be, is required to give fair notice of what actions will be considered a crime, why would anyone in their right mind think our Heavenly Father, not to mention Christ as righteous judge, would do any less? Just as it is written, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? So make no mistake, we most certainly can know what God requires of us, but there is a caveat. We must come to Him with an honest heart, a genuine spirit of humility, and a sincere love for the truth. You see, for centuries, theologians and Bible teachers have clouded this question with false assumptions, pagan philosophy and thought, traditions of men, and outright heresy. Among these are teachings such as no one could ever be righteous under the law of Moses, no one could keep the law, so Christ had to keep it for us. Christ came to set us free from the bondage of the law. The law of Moses has been nailed to the cross and therefore abolished. Christ came to point us back to the Torah. Being led by the Spirit means we're no longer under any law. One law for Jews and another law for Gentiles. Law of any kind is antithetical to grace. Works of any kind are antithetical to faith, and anything we do in obedience to God's law is an attempt to earn our salvation or add to Christ's finished work on the cross. And these in turn have led to all kinds of errors, such as the Marcionite heresy of the wrathful, vengeful God of the Old Testament versus the loving, merciful God revealed by Christ, pitying Moses against Christ, the Old Testament against the New Testament, Jew versus Gentile in Christ, Paul against James, and of course, law versus grace, which in turn has led to endless debates, arguments, and controversies about genealogies, whether the law of Moses has been abolished, whether Christ changed the law of Moses, whether the same law applies equally to Jewish and Gentile believers, whether we're still required to keep the Sabbath, whether we're only under the Ten Commandments or perhaps only what some call the moral laws of the Torah, whether the only obedience that's acceptable to God is keeping the law of Moses, whether Christ did everything for us at the cross, whether all God requires of believers is to love Him and love your neighbor as yourself, or whether we're under any law at all, that's just the tip of the iceberg. As a result, multitudes of sincere and not so sincere believers have been drawn away from the narrow path that leads to life and bewitched into following other paths, masquerading as the narrow path. Rather than edification, these in turn lead to endless arguments, contentions, debates, strife, divisions, and fights about genealogies, Jewish fables, commandments of men, and of course, the law. To make matters worse, many other sincere and not so sincere believers are so turned off by all of this infighting and division that they go all the way to the opposite extreme and simply check out, neither of which glorify the Lord. You have to admit it's a brilliant and highly effective strategy on the part of the devil, his fifth column inside the church, if you will. And multitudes of believers have fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. You see, Satan loves religion. So let's take a quick look at some of the main schools of thought about this in Christianity and Messianic Judaism as we answer this most important question. What commandments was Christ referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. On one end of the spectrum is the popular view that since we're under grace, Christians are now free from what is viewed as the bondage and legalism of being under the law of Moses, or for that matter, any law at all except what's loosely called the law of the Spirit. According to this line of thinking, the law of Moses has been nailed to the cross and thereby abolished as an irrelevant Jewish artifact of the Old Testament. Any form of law is therefore viewed as antithetical to the liberty of being led by the Holy Spirit. Any form of obedience to God's law, whether in the Old or New Testament, is sanctimoniously dismissed as legalism. Being a Pharisee, trying to improve upon or add to Christ's finished work on the cross or the classic, trying to earn our salvation by works. After all, didn't Paul write things like the letter kills, but the spirit gives life? Never mind that he also said things such as the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. And rather than make void the law through faith, we establish the law. Or what the other Jewish apostles, Hebrew prophets, Christ, and God himself said about the law righteousness, holiness, justification, sanctification, and eternal life. Divorced from its proper biblical foundation, this distorted view of Christian liberty essentially means the freedom to do whatever you feel led to do. No rules, burnsome commandments, or anything of the sort, just the freedom of being led by the Spirit. Unfortunately, very few, if any, ever consider or question which spirit they're being led by. Never mind the fact that the apostle John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commanded us to test the spirits. Or the fact that the liberty Paul spoke of was actually freedom from the bondage of sin and the futility of trying to please God in our damn nature. This is what the Bible condemns as all as this ordiquity, and it should be firmly rejected as such. You see, contrary to popular teaching, grace and law are not opposed to one another, not at all. In fact, it is the grace of God that empowers us to keep his commandments. And yes, I know Paul said, You're not under law, but under grace, twice in Romans chapter six. But make no mistake. The Bible never pits God's law against his grace, and neither should we. That's a doctrine of devils. If you look at what Paul was actually saying in the first eight chapters of Romans, it is clear that he was contrasting being in bondage to sin while trying to keep the law of Moses with being set free from its power by the grace of God. That's the issue, and it is consistent with the full testimony of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. So then, rather than wasting our time asking whether we have to choose between law and grace, let's keep our attention focused on the real question. Which commandments was Christ referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. Now, if you just start asking people this question, say, out on the street or in a park somewhere, I think many, if not most, would say the Ten Commandments. And that's a great start, but of course, it begs the question, what about the rest of the commandments in the Bible? And here is where the plot starts to thicken because not everyone agrees about this, not by a country mile. However, we can't just agree to disagree about something this important. We can do better than that, so fasten your seatbelts, and let's dive in. Now, another popular view in modern Christian ministry and culture is that the only law we're under is quote unquote the law of love. Whatever that means. Sounds really simple and easy, doesn't it? After all, didn't Paul write about the simplicity that is in Christ? And didn't he also say, Oh no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and further, that love is the fulfillment of the law? Yes, he did. Defining exactly what that means, however, is an entirely different matter altogether. It really depends upon who you ask, but one thing is pretty certain in these camps. Any form of obedience to God's law, whether in the Old or New Testament, is once again scorned as legalism, being a Pharisee, trying to improve upon or add to Christ's finished work on the cross or the classic, trying to earn our salvation by works, and just like in the days of the judges, everyone is pretty much free to do what is right in their own eyes, all in the name of love and Christian liberty, of course. Unfortunately, this line of thinking has laid the groundwork for terribly destructive teachings such as no one could keep the law of Moses, no one could ever be righteous under the law, and the only righteousness we can ever hope for is the imputed righteousness of Christ. According to this view, Christ did it offer us at the cross, so anything we do in obedience to God's commandments is sanctimoniously dismissed or even condemned as an attempt to improve upon or add to Christ, finish work on the cross, or once again earn our salvation by works. The many commandments and exhortations in the both the Old and New Testaments to live, act, and speak righteously are whitewashed, explained away, reimagined, or simply ignored. Never mind what the Bible actually says about righteous men and women such as Abraham, Noah, Rahab, Daniel, Job, David, and the parents of John the Baptist, Zacharias, and Elizabeth, or the fact that Paul, the apostle of grace, said that it is our obedience to God's law that leads to righteousness, which in turn leads to holiness, leading to eternal life. Talk about turning the scripture on his head. Let God be true and every man a liar. This can't be, and most certainly is not what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. So let's keep looking. Which leads us to the popular teaching that all God requires of us is to love him and to love our neighbor as ourself. According to this view, Christ took that old burdensome and supposedly impossible to keep law of Moses and reduced it down to just two commandments. Now all we have to do is love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Sounds really simple and easy, doesn't it? Even biblical. What's not to love? After all, didn't Christ say all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments? Yes, he did. And didn't Paul say that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself? Yes, he sure did. However, this again begs the question, what about the rest of the commandments in the Bible? And I'm not just talking about the six hundred and thirteen commandments in the law of Moses. I also mean those in the New Testament, and yes, you heard me right, the New Testament. You see, there are actually more commandments in the New Testament than there are in the law of Moses. Well over a thousand, as a matter of fact. Not just given personally by Christ, but also by the apostles speaking and writing in his name. Now, of course, it is certainly true that we are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, no doubt about it. But it is patently false, deceptive, and misleading to teach or give the impression that we're free in Christ to decide for ourselves what this means and how we're to live this out. That again is lawlessness, and I'm sorry, but we can't agree, just agree to disagree about this. The fact is by making the complex aspects of righteousness appear simple and the difficult aspects of salvation appear easy, such a gross oversimplification of God's law greatly obscures and distorts the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Not to mention what the Bible actually says about righteousness, holiness, sanctification, or loving and worshiping God in spirit and truth, or how Christ raised the bar even higher than this when it comes to loving one another. You see, both the Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations, instructions, examples, and yes, commandments that show us exactly what it means to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. And don't let any smooth talking preacher deceive you with empty words and flattery. Christ did not lower the bar. He restored the law of God to its original glory and power, and in doing so, he raised the standard of righteousness to a level infinitely higher than anything we see in the law of Moses, or for that matter, anywhere else. And it's much more difficult, demanding, and glorious than what multitudes of professing believers have been taught, or for that matter, want to believe. There's a very good reason why Christ said, Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Which brings us right back to our original question. Which commandments was Christ referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. And here's where the plot gets even thicker, as once again, not everyone sees eye to eye about this, far from it. Some say it's only the words of Christ in red, while others to one degree or another take a more expansive view. Still others teach that he was referring to the law of Moses, while yet others are somewhere in the middle. It's literally a spiritual and theological minefield. For example, many teachers in the evangelical, fundamentalist, and reformed camps genuinely seek to honor and glorify God, but do so through the lens of Hellenistic Gentile Christianity. They rightly emphasize the need for obedience and holiness, but very considerably as to exactly what that means and looks like. One thing they generally do have in common, however, is a rejection of pretty much anything that looks or sounds Jewish, including the Hebraic foundation of the Bible itself. The scriptures are instead viewed through a predominantly Gentile lens, while the writings of early church fathers such as Augustine, Origen, and Justin Martyr, and even Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin often have almost the same level of authority as the Bible itself. Never mind the fact that they all, in one way or another, mixed Greek philosophy and thought with biblical truth, or the fact that this unholy mixture makes a mockery of the Reformation rallying Christ's solace scriptura. That's a huge mistake, and it inevitably leads to highly spiritualized and distorted views of matters such as justification, salvation, righteousness, sanctification, holiness, Israel, the new covenant, and the promised divided kingdom. Not to mention what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. Now in this camp, Christians are free from the law of Moses, but are still governed by God's moral laws, such as the commandments concerning murder, adultery, stealing, coveting, marriage, and complete devotion to the Lord. Exactly which laws those are, however, varies depending upon who you ask. This certainly is a step in the right direction, but it too misses the mark. It's nowhere near specific enough for us to know with any reasonable degree of certainty what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. We still have to account for all of the other instructions, exhortations, and commandments in both the Old and New Testaments, and this unfortunately just doesn't get us there. So now let's look at the other end of the spectrum, where we find the various expressions of messianic Judaism and its controversial offshoot. The Hebrew roots movement. Generally speaking, these groups place great emphasis on the Hebraic origin and Jewish character of the New Testament, the Apostles, early church, and of course Christ Himself, and rightly so. However, what started as a biblically correct response to Christian anti-Semitism, replacement theology, and the overwhelmingly Hellenistic orientation of modern Christianity has evolved into a highly organized religious movement that increasingly exalts Jewish culture, tradition, and identity over biblical truth. Let me explain. Now to varying degrees, these groups view the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy as the supreme authority and highest revelation of all scripture. Viewed through this lens, everything in the Bible, including the New Testament, points back to the Torah and the law of Moses. Now, some believe the entire Torah, as interpreted through Christ, is to be our guide, while others teach that we're only governed by what they call the moral laws of the Torah. Never mind the fact that the Bible makes no such distinctions in the law or the fact that Christ is the prophet greater than Moses and the Torah itself says it is him we are to listen to. Or the fact that Paul said Christ, not Moses, is the end or goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Not to mention all of the New Testament passages that clearly teach that those who are in Christ are no longer under the law of Moses. Now, of course, there are many variations of this, and the further you go down this road, the murkier things get. For example, many of these groups teach that keeping Torah is only required for Jewish believers, while Gentile believers are solely governed by God's moral laws. Still others twist the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 31 31 to claim that God promised a renewed Mosaic covenant rather than what the text actually says and means. A new covenant distinct and different from the one he made with Israel at Mount Sinai. Now, this linguistic and theological sleight of hand, of course, is necessary to validate their view that everything points back to Moses and the Torah, and there's just no end to it. If you're not careful, you can get into the weeds spiritually and theologically faster than you can say John 316. When everything is said and done, however, in their minds it is Moses, not Christ, who in all things has the preeminence. The New Testament is therefore, to one degree or another, seen as nothing more than inspired commentary on the Torah. In other words, when Christ said, If you love me, keep my commandments, he meant the law of Moses. Perhaps the best example of this is the popular messianic teaching that Christ meant the law of Moses when he referred to these commandments in Matthew 5, verses 17 through 20. And I'll freely admit that a superficial reading of this passage certainly does seem to support that view. And of course, this same reasoning is also applied to all of the other biblical passages that equate loving Christ with keeping his commandments. However, hardly anyone seems willing to consider, much less admit, the possibility that maybe, just maybe Christ was referring to what he said in the Sermon on the Mount, which, truth be told, also happens to be full of commandments. You know, things such as love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Nor does anyone even seem to consider the fact that many of Christ's commandments in the Sermon on the Mount expressly supersede what is written in the law of Moses. Now, apparently, none of that matters, as in their hearts and minds, Moses will always reign supreme. Now, another example of this is the popular messianic claim that Paul, or Roshaul, as I love to call him, continued to identify as a Torah observant Pharisee after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. In support of this, these camps love to point to passages such as Acts 21, verses 15 through 26, where Paul took a Nazarite vow to show the other Jewish believers that he himself kept the law of Moses in Acts 23, verse 6, where he referred to himself in the present tense as a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. Often they admit that a superficial reading of these passages, once again, certainly does seem to support this theory. However, it is nowhere near as simple and clear-cut as these teachers would have us believe. On the contrary, a very different picture emerges when you read these passages together with the rest of the New Testament, and all the more so when you consider that everything Luke recorded in the book of Acts took place during the 40-year transition from Moses to Christ. You see, the early church didn't just go to sleep one night under the Mosaic Covenant and wake up the next morning in the new. That's not how God works. Instead, there was a gradual and divinely ordered transition from one to the other, just like the gradual transition from night to day we see at sunrise. In other words, as the new covenant was coming into definition, the Mosaic Covenant was in the process of fading away, exactly as the letter of Hebrews said. This transition was complete when the temple was destroyed in seventy AD, which means that as long as the temple was still standing, the law of Moses remained in effect alongside the growing body of instructions, exhortations, judgments, and commandments being given by the apostles. This one detail alone puts everything Luke recorded in the book of Acts in his proper biblical perspective, so take heed. While this heavy emphasis on Torah and the law of Moses does indeed have the outward appearance of truth and respect for God's law, it actually does much more to confuse things than clarify what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. We still have to account for all the instructions, exhortations, and commandments in the New Testament, and the fact is, an honest reading of the Bible leaves no doubt that what Christ and the apostles said and wrote is much more than just inspired commentary on the Torah. So here is where the path really starts to get narrow. Either Christ is the prophet greater than Moses, or he's not. It's that simple. If he isn't, just convert to Judaism, take on the yoke of the Torah, and go all in with Moses. If, on the other hand, he is the prophet greater than Moses, then do what Paul and the other Jewish apostles did. Put Moses in his proper God given place of honor alongside the prophet Elijah. Take up your cross and follow Christ with everything that's within you, which in turn brings us right back to the law of Moses. And the first question we're going to address is whether, as so many claim, it has been abolished. And what shall we say about this? There are so many passages in both the Old and New Testament that destroy this nonsense. It shouldn't even be up for debate, and I'm not going to waste your time or mine doing so. The answer is a clear and resounding no. Christ made it absolutely clear that he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. And furthermore, that not one jot or tittle of the law will disappear until all is fulfilled. Now I think much of the confusion surrounding this is due to the fact that many theologians and Bible teachers carelessly treat the law of Moses and the Mosaic or Old Covenant as one and the same. They're not. So let's clear this up once and for all. Simply stated, the Mosaic or Old Covenant was the agreement God made with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 19. In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. Again, this is the original covenant or agreement that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. It is this, not the law of Moses that has been superseded by the new covenant in the blood of Jesus. Let me repeat that. The Mosaic or O covenant, if you will, is the original agreement God made with Israel and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The terms of the covenant are spelled out in much greater detail in other passages, such as Deuteronomy chapter 11, but the essence of the agreement was this. If the nation of Israel obeyed God's voice and kept his commandments, what we know as the law of Moses, then God would not only give them the land he had promised to Abraham, he would also bless, protect, and establish them as his special treasure above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Once again, it is this agreement, not the law of Moses, that has been superseded by the new covenant. And just so we're all clear, I am talking about the new covenant Christ referred to when he told his disciples, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 31. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. This is the new covenant in the blood of Christ. The law of Moses, on the other hand, is the body of commandments, statutes, judgments, and ordinances that Israel as a nation agreed to keep as its part of the Mosaic covenant. Not just the Ten Commandments, but all of the laws and instructions God gave to Israel concerning the priesthood, sacrificial system, dietary laws, agriculture, the feasts, temple worship, warfare, conduct of kings, sexuality, marriage and divorce, widows, orphans, and the poor, false prophets, leprosy, slaves and bondservants, and adjudication of civil disputes and criminal matters. It stands on its own independently of this or any other covenant. So let's put this to rest once and for all. The law of Moses has not been abolished or anything of the sort. That's it. End of story. However, this does not ipso facto mean that God meant the Torah when he said he would put his law in our minds and write it on our hearts. Or that Christ meant the law of Moses when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. He didn't, and here's why. First of all, that idea is based on the assumption that the law of Moses is the only expression of God's law we see in the Bible. It's not. So just because the law of Moses has not been abolished does not automatically mean we're under its authority. Now let me say that again, as this is where many sincere believers stumble. The fact that the law of Moses has not been abolished does not automatically mean that we're under its authority. Neither does it ipso facto mean that Christ meant the law of Moses when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. You see, it's not an either-or situation, as if the only possible choices are the law of Moses, or lawlessness, not at all. This is exactly why Paul could say things like, Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law, and the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good, but then turn right around and write, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin, and you are not under law, but under grace. More about this shortly. Second and most importantly, the New Testament clearly says that those who are in Christ are not under the law of Moses. There are so many passages about this it shouldn't even be up for debate, and I'm not going to waste your time or mine doing so. As a Jewish believer who absolutely loves the Torah, let me say it loud and clear. If you are in Christ, you are not under the law of Moses. This is exactly what my Jewish brother Paul meant when he wrote, You are not under law, but under grace. And if there's still any doubt about this, he further explained that you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Now Paul was neither contradicting himself nor has so many misguided Bible teachers so confidently claim, contradicting what James wrote about justification by works. There's something much more glorious going on here that meets the casual eye, so without in any way disparaging or disrespecting the Torah, Paul and the other Jewish writers of the New Testament made it perfectly clear that those in Christ are dead to the law of Moses. And let's get real. Dead to the law means exactly what it sounds like. It no longer applies to us. We're no longer under its jurisdiction or authority. And you can't honestly whitewash this or spin it any other way. That's neither sacrilegious nor heretical. It's biblical truth. So let me be perfectly clear. Those who are in Christ are under a higher law, and the New Testament declares that the law of Moses is but a shadow of the good things to come. I'm not making this up. It's right in the tenth chapter of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews further affirmed this by pointing out that there has been a change of the law with regard to the priesthood, and this is no small matter. Remember, under the law of Moses, the priesthood was strictly limited to those from the tribe of Levi, while the office of high priest was further limited to the lineage of Aaron. No exceptions. As the writer of Hebrews also pointed out, Moses said nothing about the tribe of Judah with regard to the priesthood, yet Christ is now our eternal high priest, and he is from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. Moreover, his office as high priest is not according to the order of Aaron, but according to the order of Melchizedek. This is a clear violation of the law of Moses. There's no way around it, and it only leaves two possibilities. Either Christ is a lawbreaker or something has changed. He's not a lawbreaker. He is the word of God, and only a pagan or heretic would even suggest otherwise. No, something has changed, and that something is the law that God is putting in our minds and writing on our hearts under the new covenant. It's neither the law of Moses, the quote unquote law of love, nor what some call the moral law as if the law of Moses can be divided into disposable categories. The fact that the law concerning the priesthood has been changed therefore means, just as the writer of Hebrews said, that there has indeed been a change of the law governing God's people. Not part of it, the entire body of law. And there is nothing sacrilegious, heretical, or disrespectful to the Torah about this. It's the reality of the new birth in Christ. You see, those who are in Christ have been translated to another kingdom, not allegorically, symbolically, or just as a catchy religious slogan. The kingdom of God, or if you prefer, the kingdom of heaven. Or, as it's also called in the Bible, the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the Son of God's love. And just as Christ told Nicodemus, the only way to enter this kingdom is by the new birth. Again, not allegorically, symbolically, or as a catchy religious cliche, but the organic reality and power of having the life of Christ birthed and formed in us. Just as the apostle Peter wrote, partakers of the divine nature, that's not New Age, that's the New Testament. And it's exactly what Paul meant when he wrote, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of his Son, of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And make no mistake, this kingdom is real and eternal, and it is governed by a higher, infinitely more demanding and glorious law than anything we see in the Torah, or for that matter, anywhere else. It's the highest law in all of creation, and it's what the Bible calls the law of God, possibly the law of Christ. It neither negates nor replaces the law of Moses, it fulfills it. It is the eternal law of God as it was from the beginning, and this is what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. Let me explain. One of the major clues we have of this is when the Pharisees asked Christ whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason. In response to his statement, What God has joined together, let no man separate, they asked him, Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away? Listen carefully to his answer. Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. Notice how Christ contrasted the concession made due to the hardness of their hearts with God's original standard for marriage. That's the issue, right there in black and white, or in this case, red. It's not that there's anything inherently wrong or faulty with the law, or as so many ignorantly teach that the law is a curse, those are doctrines of devils. The problem is and always has been the heart of fallen men. And so until the issue of sin was finally dealt with, God in his mercy did not hold us to his highest standard, no more so than a parent holds his or her young child to the same standard of conduct as when that child later becomes a teenager. But with the advent of the new creation in Christ, things have changed, which is exactly why Paul said that the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. You see, God is raising up sons. That requires us to come to full maturity, which, as Paul also wrote, is the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. It's the new covenant promise that God will put his law in our minds and write it on our hearts. You see, in Christ, God is restoring everything back to its original design, beauty, and glory, including his law, just as it was in the beginning. And this is exactly why those who are in Christ are held to an infinitely higher and more demanding standard than anything we see in the Torah. Again, it is just as Paul said. The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. And this is why it is so misleading to point God's people back to the Torah, and the law of Moses has God's eternal and highest standard of righteousness. Let me explain. Now as written in the Torah, the sixth commandment is clear. That means homicide, pure and simple. Christ, however, said in no uncertain terms that if you even hate your brother in your heart, you're guilty of murder. Yet nowhere in the law of Moses does it say you're guilty of murder if you hate your brother in your heart, and yes, I know Leviticus 1917 says, You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but that is not the same as equating it with the capital crime of murder. That sure sounds like a new law to me, which in fact it is. What about the capital crime of adultery? Well, as written in the Torah, the seventh commandment is also perfectly clear, thou shalt not commit adultery. And that means the physical act of adultery, pure and simple. Christ, however, said in no uncertain terms that if you even lust after another in your heart, you're guilty of adultery. Yet nowhere in the law of Moses does it say you're guilty of adultery if you lust after another in your heart. It's just not there. Now many try to get around this by pointing to the tenth commandment, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. Well, I'm sorry, but once again, that is just not the same as equating lusting after another in your heart with the capital crime of adultery. This too is a new law. There's no way around it. Now these are just two of many other similar examples by which sincere but misguided teachers try to make the law of Moses say something it never did. They all miss the mark because each and every one of them, in one way or another, tries to change, add to, or alter what is written in the law of Moses, and that, brother, is a big problem. Moreover, where in the law is there any commandment to take up our cross and follow Christ? Or to resist the devil? Or to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, or to not love the world, or for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, or to put off the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Or Christ's new commandment to love one another, not as ourself, but as He has loved us. They're not there, not one. And this explains why the Bible contrasts the righteousness that is from the law of Moses with the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. Turn on the Galatians chapter three. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not, for if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. This is it. The law of Moses is holy, true, and righteous, but it was never designed or intended to lead us to eternal life. This again is exactly why Paul, contrasting his former life as a Pharisee with the new creation in Christ, could also say, But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. So then, what exactly are the commandments Christ was referring to, and what is the key to unlocking this? Simply stated, eternal life. You see, Christ is the way, the truth, the resurrection, and the life. The words he spoke are spirit and they are life. So just as Mary told the attendants at the wedding in Cana, the answer is, whatever Christ says to you, do it. Let me explain what I mean. By faith, we take everything he said, every single word, as a direct communication from God Himself and the lens through which we view and interpret everything written in the Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah. This in no way diminishes or denigrates what Moses wrote, but rather fulfills it just as God intended. We do not try to differentiate between what we think are commandments, inspired commentary, or sanctified opinion. We instead view everything he said in the As the absolute standard by which we order our thoughts, motives, words, and deeds. And not just what Christ said and did. We do the same with everything the apostles said and wrote. By faith we receive and submit to what they said and wrote as having the same authority as Christ Himself, which in fact they did. As Christ told the apostles, if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. And as led by the Holy Spirit, we do the same with the rest of the New Testament as well. Not as a matter of duty, but as his friends, and out of love for him, we see and value them for what they actually are. The heart of God and the words of eternal life. This is exactly what the prophet Micah meant when he said, He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? And it is the polar opposite of what it means to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, we either take it upon ourselves to decide what is good and evil, or we humbly submit to what God has said. It's really that simple. Let me give you a well-known example from 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where Paul contrasts the direct commandment of the Lord with his own commandment concerning marriage and divorce. Now to the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. A wife is not to depart from her husband, but even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife, but to the rest I, not the Lord, say. If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. Now there should be no question in anyone's mind about what Paul described as the commandment of the Lord. But what he says to the rest, I, not the Lord, we're not confronted with a choice. Either use this as an excuse to dodge what Paul said because we've decided it's just his opinion, or, by faith and out of love for Christ, humbly receive what he said as it truly is. The inspired word of God spoken with the same authority as if Christ Himself had said it, which in fact is the case, since Paul was writing under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of Christ. So let me say this loud and clear to everyone who speaks against my Jewish brother Paul, questions or challenges his authority in standing as an apostle, or otherwise seeks to subvert what he said and wrote. Not only did Peter view his epistles as inspired scripture, but Christ himself said that Paul was his chosen vessel to bear his name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. What Paul said and wrote therefore bears the full authority of Christ himself, and woe to anyone who says or teaches otherwise, so take heed. It isn't matters like this that the determination of who will be greatest and least in the kingdom is being made, or for that matter, who will be allowed to enter the kingdom, and who will be told, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And this is how our profession of love for Christ will be judged. Simply stated, it is the extent to which we, by faith and out of love for Christ, voluntarily submit our thoughts, motives, actions, plans, and even our very lives to everything he and the apostles said, whether given his commandments, instructions, principles, exhortations, judgments, or even sanctified opinion. This then is what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. And it can be summarized as follows. Whatever he and his apostles say to you, do it. It's that simple. So please, do not let anyone cheat you out of your reward with deceptive words that undermine the authority, inspiration, or validity of anything Christ, the apostles, or New Testament writers said. Every word, as recorded in a faithful and accurate translation of the Bible, was written under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it is the fulfillment of everything that was written in the law and the prophets. Every commandment, instruction, exhortation, and judgment they gave is part of the eternal law of God and is to be read, understood, and kept accordingly. Not outwardly as when the law was written on talents of stone, but inwardly, as we are being transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ. This is the true grace of God in which we are to stand, and it leads to actual righteousness leading to true holiness, which in the end will lead to eternal life. There is no higher law or calling at all of creation, as it is written, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. If this is your first time tuning in, please be sure to like, share, comment, subscribe, and ring the bell so you can be notified whenever we post new episodes. If you like what you've heard today, please also leave a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Tell us what you loved about this episode, how it may have helped or encouraged you, or you can simply leave a comment about any other topics you'd love to hear us cover in the future. Finally, remember to always keep your lamps trimmed lit and full of oil. Shalom and see you next time.