Did Christ abolish God’s law?

 

In Paul’s writings, especially in his epistle to the Romans, some passages seem to say that God’s law should no longer be observed: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4).

The grace of God, rather than the law, he also said, now holds sway over believers. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom 6:14).

Moreover, Paul stated that, in effect, there is no salvation in the law: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Rom 3:20a).

He even further declared that, when we become members of the body of Christ, we are released from the law. “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom 7:6). 

The law upheld.

However, Paul himself said the law is still in force! “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Rom 3:31).

What is even more, the very people whom God considers acceptable to Him are those who obey the law. “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Rom 2:13).

Was Paul contradicting himself? Was he guilty of doublespeak – saying one thing and meaning another?

Tough topics misunderstood.

The apostle Simon Peter observed that Paul was sometimes misunderstood: “…our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15a-16).

Did you get that? Some of the subjects Paul wrote about were hard to understand!

Unchanging validity

Christ Himself affirmed the continuing validity of God’s law. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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).

According to the Son of God Himself, God’s law will remain unchanged and continue to be in force until all prophecies, including those of the end-times, shall have been realized to the last letter.

The writer of the book of Hebrews, thought to be also Paul himself, points out that the new covenant has not completely replaced the old covenant. “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Heb 8:13).

The old covenant may be nearly obsolete, but it is still in place. For example, God had said that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11). It still does; the law has not changed – only now it is the blood of Christ, and not the blood of sacrificial animals, that atones for the sins of men.

Key to eternal life.

Keeping the law of God, Christ said, is basic and instrumental to gaining eternal life.

“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt 19:16-17).

The commandments are key to being admitted into the kingdom of heaven. Christ told John in his visions of Revelation: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev 22:14).

King Solomon taught that obeying God’s law is mankind’s principal obligation. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc 12:13).

Sentences suspended

So, why did Paul say that we are no longer under the law? Fausset's Bible Dictionary notes that the law “convicted of sin and was therefore ‘a ministration of condemnation’ and ‘of death…’ (2 Cor 3:7,9).”

In other words, under the Old Covenant, if anyone broke a commandment, judgment, the most severe of which was death, was usually meted immediately upon the transgressor without much ado.

However, in Colossians 2:14, Paul very clearly said that Christ has blotted “out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

With His teachings of love, Christ suspended the inexorable punishments under the law, even death, which was very much against and contrary to us. 

The idea becomes quite clear in Romans 8:2 – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Christ has liberated us from the law which called for merciless punishments on lawbreakers. We see this illustrated in some New Testament incidents.

The adulteress.

In John 8:3-11, the scribes and Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery, but, before stoning her to death according to the law (Deut 22:22), they brought her to Christ.

“So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her… And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Christ forgave the woman, thus saving her from immediate death. Nevertheless, adultery is still a sin (“sin no more”, He said, referring to the commandment in Exodus 20:14). Christ therefore affirmed, even if indirectly, that God’s law is still in force – but tempered by love and mercy under the New Covenant.

The eunuch.

Under the Old Covenant law, “No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD” (Deut 23:1, NASU).

Yet, in Acts 8:36-38, the evangelist Philip baptized the eunuch from Ethiopia to become a member of the Christian church. “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”

So, what Paul was trying to say was, Christ set aside the harsh punishments under the law that were against and contrary to us – giving transgressors the chance to repent and return to God – but otherwise God’s law, i.e., its basic precepts and principles, still stands!

Do We Have Guardian Angels?

 

Angels guard all children?

Many people today believe that all innocent little children have guardian angels. This belief is primarily based on one particular verse in the Bible. "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt 18:10). Indeed, that is what the verse seems to say. Let us look for pertinent passages in the Scriptures

In 2 Samuel 12:22-23a , we read about David 's newborn son out of adultery with Bathsheba. 'While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead." The infant was gravely ill, so David fasted and prayed -- to no avail; the child died just the same. It looks quite clear that, although David was beloved of God, his innocent little child had no guardian angel.

So, who were the children Christ was referring to? We find a lead to the answer in 1 Corinthians 7:14 - "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wile, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. "

Let us allow The Wycliffe Bible Commentary to explain: "This does not mean that a child born into a home where only one of the parents is a Christian is born into the family of Christ. Paul simply means that the OT principle of the communication of uncleanness does not hold (cf. Hag 2:11-13). The union (marriage) is lawful and confers privilege on the members (cf. ICC, p. 142), privileges such as the protection of God...”

In other words, children are made "holy," because of one faithful parent, though not "unclean" owing to a faithless parent. The "holy"  children are not yet spiritually saved, but they nonetheless deserve the protection of God in preparation for future salvation. Hence , they have guardian angels.

It now becomes clear that the children Christ was referring to were only the children of the disciples around Him, not all children in general. In the case of David, when his son was born, he was sinful and unclean in the sight of God.

What about grownups

Let us consider the grownup children of Job, the most pious man in his time. He prayed and made burnt offerings to God for his seven sons and three daughters, who were fond of merry­making. “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early                                                                                                                                        in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all- for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually" ( Job 1:5). Today this is called "intercessory pray.”

Yet, just like in David's case, Job's efforts came to naught. "While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in                             their eldest brother's house: And, behold there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four comers of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead,· and I only am escaped alone to tell thee " (Job 1:18-19).

Job's piety and intercession bore no fruit for his children. After all, they had all likely reached the age of accountability and were all answerable to God for their individual behavior.

Heirs of salvation.

So, aside from disciples' children, who are the grownups angels guard? Paul reveals the answer in Hebrews 1:13-14: "But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

Apparently, all of God's angels in heaven are guardians who watch over those who will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God! Thus, if you are a future heir, you have a guardian angel and so do your innocent little children, if any. If not, you and your children have no guardian angels whatsoever and are exposed without any protection to all sorts of danger on earth.

Do you think you qualify to be a future heir of salvation, and so deserve to have a guardian angel? Let us examine the necessary qualifications.

Co-heirs with Christ.

Faithful believers who choose to follow in the footsteps of Christ can become children and heirs of God. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And  if  children,   then  heirs,; heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with Christ,· if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified toge ther" (Rom 8:16-17).

From being mere servants, we can look forward to inheriting all the riches of the kingdom of heaven. "Wherefore thou art no more a sewant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ ' (Gal 4:7).

This has been made possible by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for  you" (l Peter 1:3-4).

Heirs are called "saints"

All the heirs of God are called "saints." ''But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever... Until the Ancient of days came , and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom" (Dan 7:18, 22). Translated from Hebrew qadosh ("holy or morally clean") and Greek hagios ("pure and morally blameless"), "saint" means a faithful believer who consecrates or sets himself or herself apart from the world to the worship and service of God.

Easy to become a saint?

In Paul's epistles , it sounds quite easy to become a "saint." All we have to do is believe and have faith in Christ. "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" {1 Cor 1:2). People anywhere who call on the true name of Christ can become saints. Is it really as simple as that?

Luke, the Bible historian, recorded: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" {Acts 16 :31). Faith in Christ saves spiritually.

Incomplete knowledge.

Yet, Paul, in about 55 AD, wrote in his first letter to the converts in Corinth that: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away' (1 Cor 13:9-10).

Did that make you sit up? Paul said that, at that time, the knowledge of the apostles was still incomplete!

Two requisites.

Some forty years later, around 95 AD, John (the only apostle to die of old age) wrote the book of Revelation, whose contents had been shown to him by an angel sent by Christ from heaven {Rev 1:1). He penned in Revelation 14:12: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. "

That may come as a surprise to many. John wrote that the saints do two things, not just one:

1)       Keep the commandments of God; and

2)       Keep faith or believe in Christ.

Additional commandments

After giving Moses the Ten Commandments, God told him to have a wooden chest made (the “Ark of the Covenant” or “Ark of Testimony”).

“And they shall make an ark of shittim wood… And thou shalt make a mercy seat… And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Ex 25:10a,17a,21-22).

God would give Moses additional commandments for Israel from above the ark. The lid or cover of the chest was called the “Mercy Seat” – it served as the throne of God on earth.

613 commandments in all.

In time, the additional commandments God gave to Moses, including the first ten on the two stone tablets, made a total of 613 in all. These were made up of 248 instructions (do’s) and 365 prohibitions (don’ts).

An outline of God’s law, the so-called Mosaic law, is in Exodus chapters 20-23. Some scholars like to refer to Leviticus chapters 17-26 as the "holiness code." Most of the 613 commandments are in these places.

Do we have to keep all 613 commandments? No, not all. Only Israel must observe all of them. The 12^th century Jewish philosopher Maimonides codified the 613 instructions under various headings in the Misnah Torah.

Commandments classified

Christ made an extraordinary and supremely important, but little-noticed, comment about the law of God – “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” (Matt 5:19).

That statement of His is quite loaded, containing multiple implications. Let us examine the passage more closely to fathom its several meanings.

Two classes of saints. Contrary to what most people take for granted, the saints will not all be equal in the kingdom of heaven. Some will be called “least,” while others will be called “great.”

Two kinds of commandments. It appears that if there are “least” commandments, then it follows that there are “great” commandments. What, you will probably want to know, are the “great” and “least” commandments?      

 “Great” commandments.

A Pharisee asked Christ what the great commandment is: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt 22:36-39).

In short, the first two groups – (1) love of God, and (2) love of fellowmen – are the great commandments.

The Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments, which God wrote with his finger on two tablets of stone and gave to Moses, are great commandments:

Commandments 1-4 (Love of God):

            1. One God (YHWH), no other gods

            2. Do not make graven images to worship

            3. Do not profane YHWH’s name

            4. Do not work on the 7^th-day Sabbath

Commandments 5-10 (Love of fellowmen);

            5. Honor your parents

            6. Do not kill

            7. Do not commit adultery

            8. Do not steal

            9. Do not bear false witness

            10. Do not covet what belongs to others

All in all, through Moses, God gave a total of:

            248 instructions (do’s)

            365 prohibitions (don’ts)

            613 commandments

Five divisions.

The 613 may be divided into five groups, so we can see who should do which.

Great commandments:

1. Worship law (love of God – for all)

2. Moral law (love of fellowmen – for all)

Least commandments: 

3. National law (for Israel only, to set them apart from other nations)

4. Civil law (guidelines for theocratic governance ot Israel)

5. Ceremonial law (for Temple priests, sacrifices and offerings only)

Some least commandments:

National law for Israel only includes:

Circumcision: “If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child… in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:2b,3).

Clean and unclean food: “Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat… the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you… And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you” (Leviticus 11:3,4b,7).

“Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you” (Leviticus 11:12).

 Men’s hair: “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard” (Leviticus 19:27, NIV).

Civil law is suspended, because Israel’s government today is secular, not theocratic.

Ceremonial law is likewise in abeyance since there are presently no Temple and priesthood.

Optional commandments.

The "least" commandments appear to be optional , because those who violate them will find themselves in the kingdom of heaven just the same!

Nonetheless, it goes without saying that those who will be called "least" in the kingdom obey the great commandments; else, they will not be admitted into the kingdom at all.

The "least. " The Bible provides textual proof that a number of saints will indeed be called "least" in the kingdom of God. "For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist· but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28).

“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Cor 7:19). “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Gal 5:6).

On another occasion he said; “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.’" (1 Cor 10:25-26, NIV). Also, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4-5).

Summing up, Paul said: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Col 2:16).

Paul taught that a number of commandments - such as circumcision and the dietary laws -- were not compulsory and necessary for salvation. And so he admits that he will be called "least" in the kingdom. "Unto me, who am Jess than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8).

The "great ." Others will be known as "great," even "greatest" in the kingdom. “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted,  and become as little children,  ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”' (Matt 18:1-4; cf. 20:26; Mark 10:43; Luke 9:48 ).

What makes a little child special? A trusting and submissive spirit, perhaps? Or, in a nutshell, faith and obedience. That makes them, as well as us, their elders, worthy of the protection by guardian angels.