CHRISTIANS: How do we know which parts of the OT to no longer follow? Some things modern Christians don't do

Question

anymore. Does Christ address all the OT commandments?

Answer 1

I think it's a question of covenants. Covenant and Testament mean basically the same thing in old English.

God made the Old Covenant with Abraham, and established the rules of that covenant with Moses. That covenant was covered by the descendants of Abraham in the form of circumcision and sacrafice. Then God set up the rules of New Covenant with the Church through Paul. All of the old commandments are still in effect (when properly understood... I'll get to some tricky ones in a minute.) The difference is that circumcision has been replaced by Baptism, and sacrifice has been replaced by the Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist/whatever your church calls it. To see that circumcision is replaced by baptism, see Col 2:11&12. To see that sacrifice is replaced by the Lord's Supper, see 1 Corinthians 10:20&21 and compare matthew 5:24 to 1 Corinthians 11:27&28.

So with that in mind, and that Christ will not remove a jot or a tittle from the Law or Prophets, we can read the Law of Moses easily and determine what effect it is to have on our lives: if it says "Do such a sacrifice," then instead we take the Lord's supper. If it says to circumcise, then instead we baptize. Simple, right?

Okay, now as I promised, the tricky things. First, civil laws. There are commandments about how government should be run. Government *should* be run that way, but you're not in government, that's not your issue. Second, the food laws. When properly understood, the food laws aren't a problem. Look at Daniel. He understood the food laws properly. It's not that pork and rabit are unclean in the sense of being evil or poisin, they're just not healthy. Having a little bit of sausage with breakfast isn't going to kill you or cause you to loose your salvation, but it will cause your arteries to clog up a little more. If you're careful, and learn from medical science how much is okay and how much will be bad for you, then you can have a little without fearing the wrath of God. Third, the marriage of a brother to his widdowed sister-in-law. I'm already married, and polygamy is illegal in the US where I live, so if my brother marries his current girlfriend (which looks likely) and then dies, she may just be out of luck. But again, if you properly understand the law, it's not such a big deal in America as it was in the badlands of Israel. Back then, a girl without a husband was without protection. She could be rapped, killed, or worse, and no one would lift a finger to help her. In America, there are ways for her to get protection. We have police, etc, in a much more "evolved" (so to speak) system that protects women. I love my "little sis" to death, so if my brother did die, I might talk to my wife about inviting her to stay in our spare bedroom while she got on her feet. That would then fulfill my obligations under that law. (If it was needed, doens't look like it would be needed in her case.)

The only other "sticky" one people try to get me on is shaving. I've got a beard now, but I've been shaven more than not in my married life. Why don't I care about that? The way I read that commandment from the Hebrew (yes, I read a little bit of Hebrew and Greek) it says "Don't cut off the corners of your head or destroy your beard." There are also places where, for health reasons, it commands the shaving of the entire head. Now, for my part, I have never met a Jewish man who looked bad with a beard. I'm not attracted to men at all, but every man of Jewish descent I've ever met looks awesome with a beard. That's how I know the Irish didn't come from Jewish stock: I look like I'm wearing a dead cat when I grow a beard. My wife asked when I plan to shave again, I told her when our son is old enough that I'm able to get more sleep... she suggested that might happen at 2, I agreed it might, and she started counting down days. That *might* affect my reasoning in this particular commandment, but I have tried with all I have to be reasonable when I speculated that it has more to do with making sure you can tell the difference between men and women (like no cross dressing) and so as style changes, it's okay so long as I make sure to always wear men's clothing and haircuts. But if you took that with a grain of salt and decided to only date men who don't shave, I'd understand.

Answer 2

Believe it or not, the OT is the foundation of Christianity!!!

1. What did Jesus read in the synogogues? The OT!

2. What did Paul teach in the synogogues? The OT!

3. Where did Jesus quote the "Laws of Love"? The OT!

There are many others. Bottom line, DO NOT be swayed toward giving up everything the OT teaches. There are some things that were shadows of better things to come, i.e. the Sanctuary. The Ten Commandments came directly from GOD. These laws are universal!!!

Answer 3

There is a conflict here, how can Jesus reject the Old Testament, when his claim to being the Messiah is based on OT prophesy. He had a vested interest in maintaining belief in the OT. However once the church tried to spread its message to the Gentiles, this became an unwanted burden to growth. No Gentile would want to follow the 100s of dietary and ritual laws put down in Leviticus. You could explain this as Jesus preaching to the Jews and Paul to the Gentile Christians. It must be left to your conscience what you must believe and follow.

So for keeping the law:
Matthew 5:18-19
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 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.

Luke 16:17
It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

Against keeping the Law:

Romans 6:14
Ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 7:4, 6
Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ .... We are delivered from the law, that being dead.

Romans 10:4
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Galatians 5:18
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Ephesians 2:15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

Colossians 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances ... nailing it to his cross.

Answer 4

god made all the commandments to be followed.
read them and youll see

Mark 2:28.
Luke 4:16.
Matt 24:20.
Luke 4:31; 6:6.
John 5:5 9.
Mark 3:1-5.
Matt. 12:12;
Luke 13:16.
Ex. 20:10;
Deut. 5:14.
Lev. 23:3;
Ex. 20:10.
Neh. 10:31; 13:15-17.
Neh. 13:19;
Jer. 17:21.
Ex. 16:23.
Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23. 31.
Lev. 23:32;
Mark 1:21, 32.
Neh. 13:19.
Acts 16:13.
Acts 13:27; 15:21.
Acts 13:14, 15, 42-44; 17:2; 18:4.
Num. 28:9;
Matt. 12:5;
John 7:23.
Matt. 12:1;
Luke 13:15, 16; 14:1.

god sactified the 7th day
the sabbath is a sign of obediance

hope this helps

Answer 5

The new covenant is just that ... all new.

The authority which God left in charge for the new covenant is the Catholic Church, which he personally founded, not the old law, and certainly not the bible.

The Church, and no one else, decided what laws to readopt and readapt to suit the realities of the new covenant.

Included in this is are the revised commandments, including the one allowing the sabbath observance to be moved from from Saturday to Sunday, and the one allowing us to worship Jesus Christ, who is God, but is also the "image of a heavenly thing".

All those "new" Christians who showed up after the 15th century and chose to make and follow their own rules, try to conveniently ignore all this, but there is no other explanation for it.

The old testament of the bible as scripture, will never go out of style.

But all the old laws, ordinances, and statutes expired the moment Jesus gave us the new covenant in his blood, and they are no longer of any good effect.

To read the new covenant commandments, go here:

http://catholicism.about.com/cs/basicbeliefs/a/tencommand04.htm

Answer 6

when Christ lived he upheld the laws of the old testament. it was actually his death and Resurrection that changed the way we see the old testament laws. i am not talking about the ten commandments. i am talking about the blood offering for our sin. we no longer have to kill lambs or sheep or anything and all of the rituals that were required when someone sinned. Christ took the burden for us he became our blood sacrifice and paid the price for our sins. he still want us to follow the bible and the commandments but he died so we no longer have to follow the sacrifice rituals to be cleansed of our sins. modern Christians still fall short of being perfect and always will, but that is why we can go to god through Jesus to ask forgiveness and know we are forgiven. i hope that helped a little.

Answer 7

The law of Moses was 'done away' when Christ died on the cross. Simply put, can one have the law of Moses, before Moses was born? One of the 'tests' for Christians is whether the 'old testament' was the law of Moses or Genesis-Malachi. I believe the (despite what I have heard for years now, that the old testament is the law of Moses (reference 2 Cor.3:13-14).

Answer 8

It's true that we no longer follow some parts of the Old Testament the way people in those days did. The reason is because they have been replaced by what Christ did for us (just as the Old Testament said He would). For example, we no longer practice animal sacrifices—and the reason is because Jesus Christ became the final sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross. The Bible says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

But the Old Testament tells us many truths about God we need to know, and it also shows how He preserved His people so His salvation could come to all the world. It also gives us many examples of men and women who walked with God, and we can learn from their lives. The Bible says, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us" (Romans 15:4).

Let me suggest you begin with the book of Psalms (which has been called the "hymn book" of the Bible). Then expand your reading to Proverbs, which gives us practical wisdom for daily living. Then turn to the lives of some of God's people, like David or Job. When you do, the Old Testament will come alive.
In the Old Testament, God selected the nation of Israel to be His "special" people. As such, they were to be "holy"—separate from the unbelieving nations around them and God's own possession. This was to be expressed by their obedience to the laws God gave them to direct their life as a nation. There were civil laws, ritual laws, and moral laws. By the time of Jesus, the Jews thought that the law was a way to earn salvation—something God had never intended. The Bible stresses, "Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, 'The righteous will live by faith'" (Galatians 3:11).
The New Testament says that the Old Testament law was intended "to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). The ritual laws of sacrifice teach us that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22) and point us to Jesus on the cross. The moral laws—those against lying, stealing, immorality, etc.—show us how far we fall short of God's will and how badly we need salvation as a free gift, earned by Jesus' death on the cross (Galatians 3:24).

Once we accept God's free gift of eternal life through repentance from sin and faith in Jesus, the moral law becomes a guide for how we live out our new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26). The civil laws of Israel have passed away, since the church is not a nation. The ritual laws of sacrifice, priesthood, and temple have been fulfilled in Jesus, and are no longer applicable to the church (see the book of Hebrews). However, the basic moral law of the Old Testament is clearly reflected in the New Testament guidelines for the Christian life (e.g. Colossians, chapter 3) and is summarized by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40.

Many people feel they can win God's favor and have eternal life by following the old civil and ritual laws, and do enough good deeds so that they balance out their bad deeds. But this is a misunderstanding. You cannot save yourself—but Christ can, and He will as you commit your life to Him by faith.

Answer 9

Jesus gave two commandments to replace the ot commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength" and "Love your neighbors as yourself." These commandments should be the ones we follow, and if we follow them, then we're also basically following the ot commandmetns as well.