Are We Still Under The Law of Moses?

It’s been a while since I wrote about a misconception about the Bible, and I’m afraid this post might be controversial for some, but it is important and if I get this subject out of the way, it allows me to write future posts without having to explain the law as well.

Or, do we still follow the ten commandments?

A lot of people would say yes, that we are still under the ten commandments.

This can be so confusing to many! Growing up, I was taught that we were under the ten commandments, I always wondered why we, as baptists at the time, followed some of the rules of the old testament but not all of them.

At sixteen, I realized that that was just one of the many (if not all) the things that I was incorrect about, so let’s get into why we are no longer under the law of Moses.

First off, I am not invalidating the Old Testament, it is valuable for learning. 

^“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”-Romans 15:4

However, it is in the past.

There were three ages/dispensations:

• The Patriarchal age (think Abraham)
• The Mosiac age (the law of Moses can be found in Exodus 20)
• The Christian age

The law of Moses had a purpose

 

• It was a tutor.

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”-Galatians 3:24

• It showed the righteousness of God.

 “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” -Romans 7:12

• It showed sin.

 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”-Romans 3:20

• It led man to Christ.

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”-Galatians 3:24-25

However, the law of Moses also had weaknesses…

 

• It couldn’t take away sin. 

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”-Hebrews 10:1-4

• It was temporary.

 ^“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”-Galatians 3:19

 

• It was exclusive to only one nation (the Israelites). 

“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”-Ephesians 2:12-14

This means, if we are still under the Law of Moses, you and I (unless you are a jew) aren’t under it, and thus have no hope of salvation, and what a terrible thing that would be!

Thankfully, we have the New Law.

The Old Law (the Mosiac law) was flawed, but the New Law is perfect (James 1:25, Hebrews 7:22).

^“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”-Romans 8:1-2

We have been freed from the Old Law, it was blotted out (Colossians 2:14-17).

When Jesus died, so did the Old Law. It was a contract and then it was fulfilled, finished, done (Hebrews 8:13). The Old Law has fulfilled its purpose, to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-15).

Romans 7:1-6 reads:

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

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.”

We have the New Law now, the New Testament. 

Nine of the ten commandments were repeated in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 8:4-6,  Galatians 5:18-21, Ephesians 6:1-3, Romans 13:8-10,  Revelation 21:7-8,  Ephesians 5:1-7).

Instead of the Sabbath, we meet on Sunday, the first day of the week like the very first churches of Christ did (Acts 20:7).

To say or think that we are still under the ten commandments would demand you in order to be consistent with your beliefs, to do everything else required at the time (animal sacrifices, restricting on kinds of animals that can be eaten, not wearing fixed fabrics, etc).  

It would also demand you to disregard the sacrifice Jesus made for all if you believe that the Law of Moses was enough.

Whew! That was a longer post, thank you for sticking with me.

What are your thoughts?

 

I know I said that with Coffee Dates I would have some lighter content, and I will! It’s coming up, but this has been in the drafts for a while and I want my blog to be a good mix of soft and more deep topics. 🙂

The Spoiled Americans

I wish that I could just go see my friends…

I wish that event wasn’t canceled… 

I wish everything would go back to normal…

I wish that the stores had what I wanted… 

“And then I realized how many stupid times a day I use the word “I”. And probably all I ever do is think about myself. And how lame is that when there are, like, seven billion other people out there on the planet.” -The Princess Diaries 

It might seem like a silly movie to quote, and while it is, I still like that quote very much because it can be true about all of us.

If this pandemic is showing America and other first world countries one thing, it is that we are spoiled. 

Can you believe that we are over here complaining about not being able to go get ice coffee for a few months when there are people who struggle to just find drinking water every single day? 

 

I read an article today by The Balance titled The America Middle Class is Among the Richest in the World.

The article talked about why our middle class believes they are middle class when we are actually rich:

“Another reason for the middle-class en huit is the rise of mass media combined with an entitlement culture. Americans now demand more. They believe they are entitled to more. And, honestly, provided it is done in a way that doesn’t destroy the greatest wealth building system in global history, I think that’s a good thing. That is the reason life keeps getting better and better. We should all want to someday get to a point where everybody can afford Elysium-style medical intervention. This entitlement is why we don’t think anything of it when every grocery store we visit is air-conditioned or nearly everyone we know is carrying what amounts to a supercomputer around in his or her pocket.

The problem? There is a lot of evidence from behavioral economics that indicates people measure their success and affluence relative to what they see. A generation ago, you didn’t experience much beyond your own world. Now, someone earning a middle-class income can witness an endless parade of others their same age earning $10,000 a month, $50,000 a month, or $1,000,000 a month, splashed across hundreds of cable channels and innumerable internet sites as they sit at home in their pajamas.”

 

Isn’t that terrible?

It’s like an endless cycle of greed, vanity, selfishness, and misery.

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,”-2 Timothy 3:2-4

We don’t have to be part of this spoiled and entitled cycle though.

Combat… 

• Selfishness with outrospection (Philippians 2:4).
• Ungratefulness with thankfulness (Psalm 136:1). 
• Greed with generosity (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). 

We have so much to be thankful for. 

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”-1 Thessalonians 5:18

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and gave us the gift of eternal life if we obey Him and His word (John 3:16, Mark 16:16). That’s something to be grateful for not only every day but every second.

Starting today, let’s work on not only being grateful but realizing how blessed we are to be capable of helping others with greater needs than our own.

“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”-1 John 3:17

What are your thoughts?
How are some ways you can work on changing from spoiled to grateful in this time?

Christians and Euphemisms

[Disclaimer: bad words are written out in this post are for the sake of example and to warn people not to use them. I do not agree with the normal use of any of said words outside of discussions such as this one]. 

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”-James 3:6

Many people use euphemisms, a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. 

For example, we sometimes say “they passed away” instead of “they died” because the first seems softer and less harsh than the latter.

Obviously, euphemisms aren’t always bad, they become bad when they are used in place of a bad word but still mean the bad word.

Words like “crap”, “dang”,  “frick”, “heck”, and “B.S.” etc. are all substitutes for what we know to be much harsher words from vile and not-God honoring meanings.

A lot of people argue that words such as the ones above are okay and that even swear words are fine, however, in the Bible we are told that:

• Our speech should always be gracious. (Colossians 4:6)
• Christians need to be set apart from the world. (Romans 12:2)
• Our words need to build others up. (Ephesians 4:29)

 

Do words that come from vile origins and often mean terrible things glorify God?

Do they build others up?

Do they show non-Christians around you that you are living for the Lord and not for yourself?

“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.”-James 3:8-9

Now that we’ve touched a little bit on swear words and their euphemisms, let’s talk about taking the Lord’s name in vain and the euphemisms for it that I hear Christians using all the time.

Words like:

• My goodness
• Goodness gracious
• Oh my gosh
• Jeez
• Golly
• Good grief
• Gee whiz
• Sheesh
• Cripes
• For crying out loud
• dadgum
• doggone

And many, many more (here is an extensive list of euphemisms that come from taking the Lord’s name in vain that I found: https://www.topical-bible-studies.org/21-0008.htm) all are euphemisms for “Oh my God”, “Jesus Christ”, “God damn”, “Jesus”, and “God”.

All of these words originate from people disrespecting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and yet, so many people exclaim them without a thought.

Sadly, it’s very easy to be ignorant or slip into it from being exposed to it all so casually, before I was a Christian I said a lot of those words on that list even though I have always loved God.

A good friend of mine, who is a strong Christian, was one of the first people to really lay out what all the euphemisms were for me. She’s typically one of the most cautious people I know when it comes to her speech which is why it shocked me to hear her exclaim, “Oh, my goodness!” one afternoon. I didn’t say anything, assuming that it was a mindless slip from being around non-Christians for work.

When she said it again another day, I asked her why she was using a euphemism.

“I wasn’t using “goodness” in place of “God” though,” she said.

“But, it’s already in the place of God in that phrase. It’s a substitute.”

 

I could say “drat” thinking of oops, but it doesn’t change the meaning already attached to that word.

As Christians, we need to be honoring God, and taking His name in vain either directly or indirectly isn’t honoring.

God’s name is holy (Psalm 111:19) and we shouldn’t take His name in vain (Exodus 20:7).

Using our Lord’s name or even a euphemism for his name when we are upset or angry isn’t honoring in the slightest.

We shouldn’t be using substitutes for terrible words and phrases, and sometimes when we typically use those words, we shouldn’t be talking at all to begin with (James 1:19).

 

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,

But he who restrains his lips is wise.” -Proverbs 10:19 

 Have you fallen into the habit of using euphemisms?

How have you broken that habit?