Gosh! I am REALLY confused. Please someone help me.?

Question

I was told that Christians don't follow the rules listed in the Old Testament, that they are Jewish Law, not Christian:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060829181920AANVXzc&r=w

But I was also told the Old Testament Jewish laws were never overturned:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au3ur4h7C5qFyLtAHKPvuaHsy6IX?qid=20060829175541AApcX9S


Even by some of the same people.


Boy, gollygeewillickers.
Gosh.

confusing, huh?

Answer 1

I think people should just follow what they believe is right. I would never let a book tell me how to believe and what's right and wrong.

Answer 2

A valid reason can be given as to why most modern day Christians do not follow all the rules set in the Old Testament. There is a concept called dispensationalism. At one point God gave a certain set of rules for a specific period in time. After that specific period of time came and went (the crucifixion of Jesus) theoretically many of the Old Testament rules were "fulfilled". All the sacrifices for example are in Christian Theology a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ. Since Christ work is done there is no need to sacrifice animals anymore. This makes total sense to me on a consistency level.

But where it gets a little murky is other such laws which is rationalized that the Law was meant to demonstrate that they are impossible to live up to since all men have sin. To live by the spirit brings life, as one should live by the spirit of Christ, which brings grace from the punishment of not being able to live up to the law. This kind of makes sense but still theoretically try to live by the law.

In past times witches and heretics were burned and there is some justification via the Old Testament for such practices. The church has lost most of its power so has become more placating of what is obvious to most society as to which is moral behavior concerning such matters.

Now many Christians classify the law into three categories of Priestly, Civic, and moral. The priestly and civic (specific to the culture of the Jews at the time) are no longer necessary. The moral however should always be followed. There is some debate as to which should be which, but to some degree can be obvious as what should be what.

Ultimately you are right there are some inconsistencies when it comes to fundamentalist Christian thought. However this may not matter so much as religion is an ever evolving cultural phenomenon. As long as it is heading in the direction of being functional I do not think the details matter so much. And compared the days of the Witch Trails, Inquisitions, Crusades, etc, modern day Christian have come a long,,, long,,, long,,, way.

Answer 3

I can see where it can be confusing. I was confused too when I first started studying it, and there are still some things I don't completely understand. That's why I keep studying it and learning as much as I can, and even then, different denominations teach differently. The most important thing is that Jesus died so that our sins are forgiven. That doesn't mean we can just ignore everything that the Bible taught. It's just that some of the Old Testament Jewish laws concerning dietary restrictions and so forth aren't necessary since we are forgiven, even if we don't follow every law to the letter. But to please God, A Christian wants to follow the basic guidelines for how He wants us to live, given in the Ten Commandments. Does that make it any clearer?

Answer 4

Interesting little avatar you have there. The short answer is that the Christians were originally just another Jewish sect. It's too late here to comment at length on the confusing twists and turns of the history of Christianity. But speaking as someone who is not religious, I suppose if you took any 2000-year-old institution and found literal truth and logical consistency in its precepts and practices, that would be a real miracle. The whole thing is a human concoction, and doctrinal inconsistencies are obviously explained by the history of how institutions develop, combined with human inspiration and human error. If a chunk of humanity takes it all literally, I agree it's good to keep an eye on their progress. All the same, I'm just glad most people have stopped worshipping sticks and stones and wind and trees by this point.

Answer 5

That's why you have to read the WHOLE Bible. Some of the laws were changed in the New Testament with Jesus' teachings. Since it is a later testament from the son of God that overturns some of the older teachings. However if Jesus didn't teach change in a particular law from the Old Testament then the law stays the same. This is the way I have understood it anyway.

Answer 6

You will get alot of answers on this - and you have touched on a very Deep subject which includes more than just following the laws set down for the Tribes of Israel (Old Testament)...

The Ten Commandments—the nucleus of the Mosaic Law—were written on stone tablets...
The Mosaic Law covenant was perfect. (Psalm 19:7)
In spite of that, Jehovah promised: “Look! There are days coming, . . . and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not one like the covenant that I concluded with their forefathers.”

In a nutshell...what prompted this new covenant that God is speaking about was the covenant set down by Jesus, when he came to the earth...and it would be a spiritual covenant...set down by Jesus.

If love was important in the Mosaic Law, it is the very essence of Christian law.

The law of the Christ thus includes a NEW command—Christians are to have self-sacrificing love for one another. They are to love as Jesus did; he willingly laid down his life in behalf of his friends. (John 13:34, 35; 15:13) So it might be said that the law of the Christ is an even loftier expression of theocracy than the Law of Moses was. As this journal has previously pointed out: “Theocracy is rule by God; God is love; therefore theocracy is rule by love.”

And Love covers all areas of a person's life - IF a person truly has this Godly love - then that person would do good for everyone, especially toward God...

The principles in the 'Old Testament' should still exist - God's principles never change no matter what covenant is in existence...

You picked a deep subject to talk about...

http://www.watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_10.htm

Answer 7

The reason you got conflicting answers by some of the same people is because often times they themselves dont understand what laws they should follow and which ones they should not.

Jesus came to earth to fulfill the law. Which means he was able to carry out every single one of the laws. But that also means, because he fulfilled it we are able to have freedom from that same law. If you were to read the book of Acts in the fifteenth chapter you would find that gentiles (thats us) only have a few "restrictions" put upon us. So really the answer is that we should follow the principles behind the laws in the OT but not neccisarily the laws themselves. I mean come on there are laws in the OT about wearing fabrics woven of two diff kinds of thread. I mean that makes a lot of people sinners right off the bat. Then there are ritual impurity laws. And it goes on and on and on. Your best bet. Stick to what Paul says in his books (see Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians) and you should be covered.

Answer 8

gollygeewillickers is right, that is a little confusing.

Christians believe that the Law (the Old Testament) is still important to understanding God and His character. That is why we still pay attention to it, even Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18:

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

But Christians also believe that because the Law wasn't enough for us to become holy (Romans 3:19-24), we need Jesus' sacrifice to make amends with God for our sins. Therefore even if we followed the Law to the best of our ability, it would not be enough for us to become perfect.

So yes it is true that we don't "follow" the Law anymore, we follow Jesus but the Law is still important because it teaches us about who God is and what He desires us to be like.

Hope this helps to clear some willickers...
(as a side note, my references are from the NIV Bible)

Answer 9

They way it was explained to me is that people of the Jewish faith still fallow the old testamet and there by live in what is called under the law. As they do not beielve the son of god has yet arrived they would therefore not beleive anything in the new testamet. Ergo for them they will always be under law. Christains how ever do beleive the son of god has come, and live according to his rules which is called under grace. They no longer fallow things like an eye for an eye and beleive instead in turn the other cheeck as that is under grace. Religion,no matter what your faith is, can geet very confusing, but my advice would be to just study and determine for yourself what it means and what is and is not true. Every thing written has as many inturpitations as there are people on earth. Just have faith in what feels right for you and what you can understand, and so long as you hurt no others i do not see where it truely matters which you choice, under law or under grace.

Answer 10

Jesus Christ fulfilled and set aside the old law.

The new covenant church which Jesus founded, chose to bring over some of the old law (primarily the 10 commandments) into the new covenant.

As the church was given authority by God to govern the church and to make such decisions, there is no problem with this.

The only problem comes with various Christian groups, who disagree on this and most other major faith issues.

That's probably why it seems so confusing.

Answer 11

The Old Testament today is just as relevant as it was when it was written. Jesus did not change one law. He came for our Salvation, not to change the laws. The Jewish people today could accept Jesus as their savior, and still be Jews. If you baptize a Catholic, all you got is a wet catholic.