The Torah is Still Binding and We Must Obey It

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Burn1986

Active member
Mar 4, 2024
918
212
43
#81
You might want to drop the “duh” until you do some research. The Torah requires that you…

- get circumcised
- pay a tithe on your crops and farm animals
- attend the temple festivals three times a year in Jerusalem
- stone adulterers
- bring animals for slaughter to the temple in Jerusalem when you violate any of the laws

Oh… right… there is no temple. You’re hooped.
Okay lol. This is a Christian forum right? There’s some things that we don’t need to go back over. Do we really need to discuss Stoning or falling into a well? Cmon man. Not sure what the issue is. But on the other hand, I’m not even sure this is a Christian forum by some of the stupid stuff that gets posted.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,793
1,069
113
Oregon
cfbac.org
#82
~
Jeremiah 30:30-33 (chabad.org)

30 . . Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will form a covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant.

31. . Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I
took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they
broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says the Lord.

32 . . For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after
those days, says the Lord: I will place My law in their midst and I will
inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people.

33 . . And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or [shall] one [teach] his
brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know Me from their
smallest to their greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and
their sin I will no longer remember.

The thing to note is that the new covenant's "My law" in verse 32 isn't a
repetition of the "My covenant" in verse 31.

For example: God says; "their sin I will no longer remember" when Yom
Kippur's very purpose is an annual remembrance of the people's sins, i.e.
there's no Yom Kippur in the new covenant.

Plus: verse 31 says the new covenant is "not like" the covenant that I
formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take
them out of the land of Egypt.

A significant difference between the two covenants pertains to enforcement,
i.e. the first covenant's law is compulsory with curses for non compliance
hanging over people's heads like the sword of Damocles, whereas the new
covenant's law is voluntary, i.e. the first is a legal system whereas the new is
an honor system.
_
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#83
We need to distinguish between the Torah (all five books) and the Law of Moses (contained within it) which is under the Old Covenant.

1. The Torah cannot be abolished since it is an integral part of the Bible. Indeed a very critical part of the Bible.
2. The Law of Moses was given specifically to Israel and contains 613 commandments.
The Torah was given to Israel to equip Israel to be a light and a blessing to the nations by turning the nations from their wickedness and teaching them to obey it in accordance with spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom.

3. The Law also contains the Ten Commandments, which remain effective for all humanity.
For example, do you think that the greatest two commandments and the commandments against committing rape, kidnapping, and favoritism are not effective for all humanity?

4. But the New Covenant replaces and ABOLISHES the Old Covenant, and if you disagree with that you are disagreeing with God and Christ.
While we are under the New Covenant and not the Mosaic Covenant, we are nevertheless still under the same God with the same eternal character traits and therefore the same eternal instructions for how to act in accordance with His eternal character traits, which is why the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Jeremiah 31:33). For example, God's righteousness is eternal (Psalms 119:142), therefore all of His righteous laws are also eternal (Psalms 119:160). The way to act in accordance with God's righteousness is straightforwardly based on God's righteousness, not on any particular covenant, so any instructions that God has ever given for how to act in accordance with His righteousness are eternally valid regardless of which covenant someone is under, if any.

Likewise, sin was in the world before the Torah was given (Romans 5:13), so there were no actions that became righteous or sinful when it was given, but rather it revealed what has always been and will always be the way to do that. For example, it was a sin to commit adultery in Genesis 39:9 long before the Mosaic Covenant was made, during it, it remains as sin after it has become obsolete, and if this were to ever change, then God's righteousness would not be eternal.

5. The blood of Christ ratified the New Covenant, therefore there can be no going back to the Law of Moses.
In Galatians 3:16-19, a new covenant does not nullify the promise of a covenant that has already been ratified, so it is also true that the New Covenant does not nullify our need to obey the Torah in connection with the promise.

6. Anyone who now clings to the Law of Moses nullifies the grace of God and the finished work of Christ.
In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith. In Titus 2:14, Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah is the way to come under the grace of God and to believe in the finished work of Christ while returning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from is the way to nullify the grace of God and the finished work of Christ.

7. The Ten Commandments have been carried over into the Law of Christ, which is the Law of Love (also called the Law of Liberty and the Royal Law).
In Psalms 19:7, the Torah is perfect, in Psalms 119:45, the Torah is of liberty, and in Psalms 119:1-3, the Torah blesses those who obey it, so when Jame 1:25 speaks about the perfect law of liberty that blesses those who obey it, he was not saying anything about the Torah that wasn't already said in the Psalms. Moreover, in James 2:1-13, he spoke agains the sin of favoritism, which is not listed as one of the Ten Commandments. Christ spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Torah by word and by example, which included teaching more than just the Ten Commandments, so the Torah is the Law of Christ.

8. But salvation is purely and solely by the grace of God and the finished work of Christ.
Obedience to the Torah through faith is the one and only way of salvation by the grace of God and the finished work of Christ.

9. Those who refuse to believe the Gospel and obey the Gospel condemn themselves to eternal damnation.
In Matthew 4:15-23, Christ began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, which was. light to the Gentiles, and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so repenting from our disobedience to it is a central part of believing and obeying the Gospel of the Kingdom.[/quote]
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
59,996
29,365
113
#84
We should follow the Torah to the extent that we are able to obey it and we are not required to obey commands that can't currently be obeyed.
You should open a waffle house. It might be more successful than your faulty attempts to get Christians to follow laws that were never meant for us in the first place. Laws that you erroneously claim were written on our hearts while also admitting that we are not able to follow them.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,773
113
#85
"In Galatians 3:16-19, a new covenant does not nullify the promise of a covenant that has already been ratified, so it is also true that the New Covenant does not nullify our need to obey the Torah in connection with the promise." -- Soyeong

You have totally perverted the meaning of Galatians 3:16-19 which says that the Law CANNOT DISANNUL the promise made to Abraham! Now read this carefully:
17And this I say, that the covenant [made with Abraham], that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, (which was four hundred and thirty years after), cannot disannul, that it should make the promise [to Abraham] of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

What does it say? The Law CANNOT DISANNUL the promise. But you are telling people THE EXACT OPPOSITE. Since you are so blind to the truth about the New Covenant, there is no point is discussing this with you. The New Testament says that the Old Covenant has been abolished, so you are simply contradicting the Bible (and creating a problem for yourself).
 

Burn1986

Active member
Mar 4, 2024
918
212
43
#86
So if we have a donkey dont fall into a well on the Sabbath, because some of these posters (OP) will not help you out :)
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#87
~
Jeremiah 30:30-33 (chabad.org)


30 . . Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will form a covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant.


31. . Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I
took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they
broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says the Lord.


32 . . For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after
those days, says the Lord: I will place My law in their midst and I will
inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people.


33 . . And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or [shall] one [teach] his
brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know Me from their
smallest to their greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and
their sin I will no longer remember.


The thing to note is that the new covenant's "My law" in verse 32 isn't a
repetition of the "My covenant" in verse 31.


For example: God says; "their sin I will no longer remember" when Yom
Kippur's very purpose is an annual remembrance of the people's sins, i.e.
there's no Yom Kippur in the new covenant.


Plus: verse 31 says the new covenant is "not like" the covenant that I
formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take
them out of the land of Egypt.
In Deuteronomy 30:1-10, it prophesies about a time when the Israelites will return from exile, God will circumcise their hearts, and they will return to obedience to the Torah, which is the basis for the New Covenant. In Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Jeremiah 31:33, the context is speaking about the Israelites returning from exile, and they are describing God as circumcising our hearts by means of the Spirit, and they are speaking about returning to obedience to the Torah in accordance with the New Covenant by saying that God will take away our heart of stone, give us hearts of flesh, and send His Spirit to lead us in obedience to the Torah, and where He will put the Torah in our minds and write it on our hearts. In Romans 2:25-29, the way to recognize that a Gentile has a circumcised heart is by observing their obedience to the Torah and circumcision of the heart is a matter of the Spirit, which is in contrast with Acts 7:51-53, where those who have uncircumcised hearts resist the Spirit and do not obey the Torah. So the New Covenant is also about Israel returning to obedience to the Torah, and while it is not like the Mosaic Covenant, the way that it is not like the Mosaic Covenant is not in regard to following the Torah. In the New Covenant, everyone will know God from the least to the greatest and the Torah is God's instructions for how to know Him, so we will all be obeying the Torah.

A significant difference between the two covenants pertains to enforcement,
i.e. the first covenant's law is compulsory with curses for non compliance
hanging over people's heads like the sword of Damocles, whereas the new
covenant's law is voluntary, i.e. the first is a legal system whereas the new is
an honor system.
_
The point of the promise is to bless the nations, which is in accordance with teaching the nations to obey the Torah, so it is not removed from he blessings and curses.
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#88
So if we have a donkey dont fall into a well on the Sabbath, because some of these posters (OP) will not help you out :)
It is lawful to get a donkey out of a well on the Sabbath, so those who are speaking in favor of keeping the Sabbath will help you out.
 

NightTwister

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2023
2,091
784
113
65
Colorado, USA
#89
The Israelites were given a number of laws that had the condition "when you enter the land..." while they were still wandering the wilderness for 40 years, so there is nothing wrong with not following laws that can't currently be followed. Laws in regard to temple practice that weren't followed after the destruction of the 1st temple were once again followed after the construction of the 2nd temple, so there is nothing about the destruction of the 2nd temple that means that those laws have gone anywhere. Again, if the Israelites were required to obey the laws in regard to temple practice before they could return from exile, then they would have never returned from exile. In 2 Chronicles 30:15-20, Hezekiah prayed for Gd to pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God even though they were not acting according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness and God heard him and healed the people.

Even when the Law was first given to Moses, there wasn't a single person who was required to obey all of them, and not even Jesus obeyed the laws in regard to having a period or to giving birth. Some laws were only to govern the conduct of the King, the High priest, priests, judges, men, women, children, those who are married, those who have servants, those who have animals, those who have crops, those who have living in the land, those who have tzaraat, and those who are strangers living among them while other laws were given to everyone. A large portion of the Mosaic Law was given to govern the conduct of the Leviticus, which the other Israelites were not permitted to follow, so while there can be illegitimate reasons for not following a particular law, there can also be legitimate reasons.
Cop out.
 

ThereRoseaLamb

Well-known member
Jan 17, 2023
4,773
2,059
113
#90
Anyone who reads Matthew 5:17-19 can see that you are the one who is lying, so shame on your for being so obvious about it.

Anyone who understands why Jesus came and what He accomplished knows you're the one in the wrong. We are no longer under the law. Period.
 

jamessb

Active member
Feb 10, 2024
738
122
43
Santa Fe NM
#91
In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law in contrast with saying that he came not to abolish it and he warned against relaxing the least part of it or teaching others to relax the least part of it, so you should not interpret fulfilling the law as relaxing any part of it. Rather, "to fulfill the law" means "to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be" (NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo). After Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law, he then proceeded to fulfill it six times throughout the rest of the chapter by teaching how to correctly obey it as it was originally intended.

In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that tithing was something that they ought to be doing while not neglecting weightier matter of the Torah of justice, mercy, and faith, so he was not saying that we should follow those principles instead of following the Torah. If God were to teach someone the principle of how to be a doer of righteousness, then He could give them a list of 100 scenarios where someone was being a doer of righteousness, from which they could abstract of principle of righteous from what all of those scenarios have in common that could guide them in how to be a doer of righteousness in accordance with those 100 scenarios even in situations that are not one of the scenarios that God listed. In other words, God does not need to exhaustively list how to be a doer of righteousness in every possible scenario in order to teach us how to be a doer of righteousness. Correctly understanding the principle of righteousness will always lead us to be doers of actions that were give to teach us that principle. In other words, correctly understanding the principles of the Torah will never lead us away form follow the laws that were given to teach us how to be doers of those principles.

In Titus 2:14, it doesn't say that Jesus gave himself to free us from the Torah, but in order to free us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah is the way to believe in what Jesu did for us (Acts 21:20) while returning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from is the way to reject what he did for us.
[/QUOTE]

You are clearly misinterpreting (at best) or not understanding (at worst).

To whom was Matthew's gospel written? Clearly, it was written to the Jewish people to give them understanding of their Messiah. It was not written to Christians! When He warned against relaxing the least part of it or teaching others to relax the least part of it, that was said before the new covenant was instituted.

Have you forgotten about Romans 6:14? To refresh your memory... "For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. "

Or Romans 7:6, "But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code."

If, as a Christian, you put yourself under the OT law, YOU ARE DENYING CHRIST!
 

Burn1986

Active member
Mar 4, 2024
918
212
43
#92
It is lawful to get a donkey out of a well on the Sabbath, so those who are speaking in favor of keeping the Sabbath will help you out.
Whew, Thank Goodness! I’ve been up late all week worrying about this. In fact, I haven’t been able to sleep, with all the worry over possibly breaking any of the laws of the Torah. Is there any relief for me?! If only someone could take away all this worry and fear. If there was only some payment or sacrifice on my behalf, for breaking one of these laws!
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
59,996
29,365
113
#94
The way to act in accordance with God's righteousness is straightforwardly based on God's righteousness, not on any particular covenant...

Obedience to the Torah through faith is the one and only way of salvation by the grace of God and the finished work of Christ.
Way to contradict yourself!
 

ThereRoseaLamb

Well-known member
Jan 17, 2023
4,773
2,059
113
#95
Not sure what the issue is. Yeah obey them, duh

I think the issue is are Christians still under the law. If we are my neighbor is gonna be missin' her goat tonight and a couple fowl. ;)
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#96
"In Galatians 3:16-19, a new covenant does not nullify the promise of a covenant that has already been ratified, so it is also true that the New Covenant does not nullify our need to obey the Torah in connection with the promise." -- Soyeong

You have totally perverted the meaning of Galatians 3:16-19 which says that the Law CANNOT DISANNUL the promise made to Abraham! Now read this carefully:
17And this I say, that the covenant [made with Abraham], that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, (which was four hundred and thirty years after), cannot disannul, that it should make the promise [to Abraham] of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

What does it say? The Law CANNOT DISANNUL the promise. But you are telling people THE EXACT OPPOSITE. Since you are so blind to the truth about the New Covenant, there is no point is discussing this with you. The Nehaw Testament says that the Old Covenant has been abolished, so you are simply contradicting the Bible (and creating a problem for yourself).
While I agree that Galatians 3:16-19 is speaking about God's law not nullifying the promise made to Abraham, it is just as true that the New Covenant does not nullify the promise that was made to Abraham. While we do not earn the the promise as the result of having first obeyed God's law, that does not mean that that the content of what is promised is not in regard to obeying God's law. In Genesis 18:19, God knew Abraham that he would teach his children and those of his household to walk in God's way by doing righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to him all that He has promised. In Genesis 26:4-5, God will multiply Abraham's children as the stars in the heaven, to his children He will give all of these lands, and through his children all of the nations of the earth will be blessed because he heard God's voice and guarded His charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. In Deuteronomy 30:16, if the children of Abraham will love God with all of their heart by walking in His way in obedience to His commandments, statutes, and laws, then they will live and multiply and God will bless them in the land that they go to possess. So the promise was made to Abraham and brought about because he walked in God's way in obedience to His law, he taught his children and those of his household to do that, and because his children did that in obedience to the Mosaic Law. So the position that the New Covenant nullifies our need to obey the Mosaic Law nullifies the promise made to Abraham, which is contrary to Galatians 3:16-19. I agree that the Mosaic Covenant has become obsolete, but the Mosaic Law and the promise did not become obsolete along with it.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,412
13,760
113
#97
Okay lol. This is a Christian forum right? There’s some things that we don’t need to go back over. Do we really need to discuss Stoning or falling into a well? Cmon man. Not sure what the issue is. But on the other hand, I’m not even sure this is a Christian forum by some of the stupid stuff that gets posted.
This is indeed a Christian forum, but you will see from this thread that some people who believe themselves to be Christians are advocating that Christians must obey the entire Torah. Don’t blame me for the stupid stuff that others post.
 

FollowerofShiloh

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2024
4,321
714
113
#98
I think the issue is are Christians still under the law. If we are my neighbor is gonna be missin' her goat tonight and a couple fowl. ;)
That's ok if you repay it with a car and a couple plants you should not get stoned over it (y)
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,412
13,760
113
#99
I think the issue is are Christians still under the law. If we are my neighbor is gonna be missin' her goat tonight and a couple fowl. ;)
What time is dinner? I’ll bring the mint, cumin, and dill. 😜
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
59,996
29,365
113
I think the issue is are Christians still under the law. If we are my neighbor is gonna be missin' her goat tonight and a couple fowl. ;)
There is also the matter of false teachers like Soyeong telling us that the 613 mitzvot have been written on our hearts... and that we should practice a religion that is impossible to follow.