One of the most common questions seems to be why some things from the Old Covenant are no longer applicable?

Question

It is written in the NT, “No one shall be justified by following the law, rather through the law we become conscious of sin…”

How do we as Christians identify sin from the laws of the Old Covenant (i.e. murder, following different religions or gods, sexual immorality, etc.) versus restrictions of the Old Covenant that applied specifically to the Israelites of that time such as prohibitions on the eating of shellfish, for example (perhaps similar to how Samson was required in the covenant between him and God to not cut his hair, and yet this restriction on hair cutting does not apply to us today)?

10 pts for best answer….

Answer 1

A good question - or series of questions. I'll start with Samson as that is the easiest. Hair cutting was not wrong in his day either. It was a sign for a certain kind of person God wanted him to be. - You might relate it to a uniform.
As to general Old Testament laws, those which were ceremonial, according to the Epistle of Hebrews, were all fulfilled in Jesus at the cross. They were considered to be "the shadow of things to come".
As for the moral laws, they are summed up in "Love God and love your neighbour as yourself". Three New Testament books that go into this subject are Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews.
But I'll try an analogy. When the diplomatic staff of the US embassy in Iran were held hostage for about a year, Many American homes had yellow ribbons tied to a tree or post in the front yard. It was an expression of concern and affection for the hostages, and a hope that they would return.
Once the hostages were back, there was no more reason for the yellow ribbons. Nobody would have accused you any more of not caring if when you removed the yellow ribbon.
The Old Testament is very much like that. Many laws were very important in the anticipation of the coming of Jesus. He came to fulfill the law, and unless the laws came under loving God and your neighbour, they were really not applicable any more. They continue to be useful to teach us about Jesus.

Answer 2

Jesus came to fulfill the law and so it was passed away. Jesus came to bring the law to fullness by accomplishing what the law could not do. The law couldn't make anyone righteous by directing the right way. Jesus could do that by dying in their place and taking sin away. Jesus brought people more righteous living by sending the Holy Spirit to lead them and by planting the will of God in their hearts guiding them to love by doing the right thing. The passing of the law does not mean that it's great moral priniciples are no longer in effect. These principles are rooted in the the very nature of God and are as eternal as He is. The law is no longer a bases between God and man (woman).

When it comes to shellfish, Jesus stated that it's not what goes into the mouth that defiles man but what comes out. So, it's not what you eat but what you say that can harm you most.

A sin is a sin. We all know when something goes against the nature of God. When it does it's a sin.

Answer 3

As Christians, we are not under the Law, period.
Joh 1:17 For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Restrictions were part of the whole Law and no human born in sin could possibly follow the Law to the letter perfectly except Christ.
James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

There were converted Jews who had problems turning their backs on the Law, it was soooo ingrained in their upbringing, culture, religion, etc... that to live under grace alone caused dissention between some churches. Concerning those specific food restrictions, read:
1Co 10:25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no question for conscience' sake;
1Co 10:26 "for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it."
1Co 10:27 If any of those who do not believe invite you to a feast, and if you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake.
1Co 10:31 Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1Co 10:32 Give no offense, either to the Jews, or to the Greeks or to the church of God;

As Christians if doing certain things (eating pork, drinking alcohol, etc...) offends another of the brethren we are not to partake in that thing in their company even though we have no personal convictions about it because it may cause them to stumble and we are to have enough love to not do anything that would cause another to stumble. The Law, the WHOLE LAW, has been superceeded by Grace. I'm not sure if I answered the question sufficiently, but I hope this helps.

Answer 4

First of all, as gentiles, we must understand that we were never a party to the Mosaic Covenant.

Secondly, you can very generally categorize the Mosaic Law into four categories: 1) moral law (10 Commandments, for example); 2) laws of defilement, which are actually symbols of how sin "defiles" a person (for example, the dietary laws are merely an example of how sin, once incorporated into the body, defiles a person); and laws of everyday conduct that may (or may not) be pre-empted by God's moral law (for example, we are told the Hebrews may have slaves, but on the other hand, they were commanded to love their neighbor); 4) the Levitical priesthood, which was annuled outright by the New Covenant and replaced with a more perfect priesthood, the Order of Melchizedek.

Your reference to Samson is an interesting one. Samson (like John the Baptist, and others in the OT and NT) was a Nazirite and was born into the vows proscribed by Numbers 6. Like the dietary laws, this is another example of God demonstrating to us the effect of preventing defilement by sin. While the dietary laws pertaining to clean/unclean foods demonstrated the "taking in" of sin, the Nazirite vow demonstrated keeping separate from sin by an ascetic lifestyle of varying degrees. The Nazirite had to stay away from dead bodies (this illustrates keeping away from sin); had to refrain from eating or drinking any grape products, such as wine, grape juice, raisins (reference the dietary laws); and had to refrain from cutting the hair (this would symbolize the end of his or her vow, which would require a complex ritual of sacrifices, etc. Since God never breaks a vow, it is logical that the cutting of a Nazirite's hair would be prohibited).

As Christians set free from the "yoke" of the Old Covenant laws, we have a huge amount of freedom; yet, we are not to permit this sense of freedom to encourage sin. We have very few commandments: love one another, as Jesus loves us; keep the Lord's Supper; love and obey both Father and Son; and be baptized. If a Christian catches him or herself doing something unloving, this is a violation of Jesus' commandment. We don't have to look to the Mosaic Law to tell us that adultry is wrong; since it's unloving, it's wrong under the New Covenant.

Peace.

Answer 5

Before the death and Resurrection of Jesus the goal was to literally live as long as possible. The dietary restrictions were geared around those things. No pork--Trichinosis, washing in running water--germs, not eating the fatty part of meat---cholesterol--etc. Also they took the core Commandments and in order to make sure that these were not broke, they made a big fence around them with other commandments in other words if you didn't want people to go over a certain boundary you would put an additional boundary around the first one as a safeguard sort of.

Answer 6

Some of the rules of the Old Covenant no longer apply because they were based upon the curse that man was under as a result of Adam and Eve. When Jesus sacrificed His life for our salvation, some of the old rules or laws no longer applied. Some of the rules and laws of that time were based upon the curse that man lived under. For example, to have your sins atoned in those days, you had to give a sacrifice and pray that God find it acceptable. Now, you only have to ask for forgiveness and confess your belief that Jesus died for your sins and that as a result of it, we have the opportunity to eternal life. To understand what laws no longer apply, search in the New Testament for the changes that take place as a result of Christ's Crucifixion.

Answer 7

The ten commandments are still applicable today also if we were to look at the book of genesis going back to the beginning very often we can unravel and understand problems of today. But if I understand the spirit of your question, this might help. If all the information was given to us at one time us humans would not be able to handle it all. Lets say Adam and Eve were told of Jesus and of the pascal mystery and all it entales the redemption for all
they would be lost. God leads us by the hand from one generation to the next. As an example; in time of slavery of the African American people and all their sufferings led to the freedoms they enjoy today.

Answer 8

The New Testament reiterates the laws that still apply to Christians. ( please refer to 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 and Acts 15:28, and 29 just for a couple of examples.) Also we need the Old Testament in order to understand the prophesies of the New Testament. Please compare (Daniel 7:1-14 to Revelation 13.) For example each time Jesus said, " It is written." without the Old Testament how would we know what he was referring to. Also many of the Prophecies for the Old Testament have yet to be fulfilled.( Please compare Isaiah 65:17 to Revelation 21:1-4

Answer 9

Sin is what comes between you and God, it's not necessarily something that is bad, but it is definately something that is bad for you, for your soul, your mind or your body.

We can now safely eat shellfish; in fact, eating shellfish or fish is good for you, if eaten safely. The law regarding shellfish was for the body of the Israelite, not the mind or soul.

Murder, however, is bad for you (not to mention the person you killed!) in your body, your mind and your soul.

We make the distinction in what is still sin according to those standards. Some of the things, such as the not eating of pork, or of wearing a covering on your head at the worship service, are things done not because not doing so is bad for you, but to show to God a reverence and obedience in that part of your life. By not eating pork, it is a dedication to God that even the food you eat is a sort of worship to Him.

Paul wrote "I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except to him who reckons anything to be unclean, to that man it is unclean. For if on account of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer according to love. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ has died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of" ... He wrote this to say exactly what I've stated in the above paragraph.

Answer 10

Because we do not earn eternal life from obeying the law. Jesus fulfilled the law and paid for our sins by dying in our place. But after we receive the Holy Ghost, then we have tougher laws to follow and only the Holy Spirit empowers us to be able to fulfill them.