If Jesus said we don't have to obey God's silly Old Testament laws why do we have to obey the Ten Commandments

Question

Laptop Jesus: Does that decoder ring work with all Bibles or do I have to send an additionnal $39.95 for the "official" Bible that it works with?

M: Did you stone to death any of your neighbors today for missing church yesterday as it says to do in the Old Testament?

Answer 1

Ray!! You didn't get your Christian Decoder Ring (tm). See this is where you determine which bits of the Old Testment to toss out (eating shrimp is an abomination, unruly children should be stoned to death), and keep the bits you like (gays ARE an abonimation and 10 commandments).

It's easy with a decoder ring. $39.95, includes shipping and handling.

Edit: Ray - "other bibles"? You don't mean the bibles of Satan, like the NIV, NAS, etc? The only REAL bible is King James Version. Specifically the Ryrie Study Bible.

(Was this a test?)

Answer 2

Furthermore the laws he makes for one group should apply to everyone correct? Why? If you have two groups of people; one group made up of good people, and the other group made up of bad people, would not the bad group need more rules? If you have a good child who is obedient, you only need a few basic rules. If you have an unruly child who tends to be disobedient, you will end up giving that child more rules, as they will always find something to do wrong and proclaim to you that you didn't tell them they couldn't do that. So why would he make special laws for ancient israelites that do not apply to christians today? Because, God made them through the medium of a "covenant". A covenant here is like a contract, and the legal parties to that covenant were God and Israel, and no others. The only provision in that law that allowed for one to come into that covenant and under the law was if a person underwent circumcision. In Acts 15, you will read that Christians (non-Jewish) were NOT required to undergo circumcision. So your overall premise is false here. There are two groups. Israel, seen as being stiff-necked, rebellious and faithless, and: Those who are willing to live by faith, such as Abraham. Which group do you prefer? How do you want God to treat you? .

Answer 3

Jesus has never said that his followers dont have to obey the Ten Commandments.

Jesus orders Christians to follow the Old Testament's laws: "Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke or a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (the Old Testament) until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)"

It is clear from these verses from the New Testament that Jesus peace be upon him did honor the Old Testament and did say that every single "letter" of it has to be honored, followed and fulfilled.

God knows best

Peace and Love

Answer 4

You don't. 2 Corinthians 3:14 says "the old covenant ...is done away with by means of Christ." The Bible book of Hebrews makes it exceedingly clear that the Law (as it was called) was fulfilled by the Christ and therefore done away with.

The Ten Commandments are part of the "Old Testament" that included over 600 laws in a covenant with Israel, not mankind in general. But regardless of who the covenat parties are, it was all indeed canceled by the Christ, all including the Ten Commandments.

What about the principles set out in those commandments as well as the more than 600 other laws that came thru Moses? They are valuable because they teach us much about the disposition of Almighty God. They help us to know how to please him.

So are we free then to committ adultry, worship idols do and other things forbidden by the Ten Commandments? Of course not. The "New Testament" (also known as the Christian Greek Scriptures) make clear that such things are wrong.

Interstingly the Commandment to tithe is certainly not in force to true Christians today. That was in effect to support God's Temple arrangement of worship in Israel. All the tribes of Israel got an apportion of land except the Levites who were to serve in the Levitical priesthood. Therefore the tithe of one tenth was to support their temple service. Christians are told to give as "cheerful givers" from the heart. No specific amount was prescribed. (2 Cor. 9:7)

But remember, the "Old Testament" isn't just made up of the Law covenant mediated by Moses and fulfilled by Jesus. It also contains the prohetic books (Isaiah thru Malachi) as well as the poetic books (Job thru Song of Solomon). These were not canceled by any means and, like the Law and the Ten Commandments, are rich in meaning for us today.

Answer 5

First of all, I think it's disrespectful to refer to "God's silly Old Testament" law. God's law was perfect for the time he issued it.

Now to your question, yes, Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. However, if you look at the New Testament, you will find that some of those "silly" 10 commandments are pretty much restated by Jesus or other other NT writers. The remainder of the "law" is summed up by what Jesus called the two greatest commandments: To love Jehovah Your God with your whole heart, mind & strength" and "your neighbor as yourself". If you do either of those, you wouldn't go murdering, coveting, etc.

The law against murder? At Matthew 5:21,22 Jesus said "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times 'You must not murder, but whoever commits a murder will be accountable to the court of justice.' However, I say to you that everyone who continues wrathful with this brother will be accountable to the court of justice...." Jesus here went even further than the mosaic law, condemning even the attitude that might lead to murder.

About the law against adultery: At Matth 5:27, 28 again jesus went a step further by saying "You heard it was said 'You must not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already commited adultery in his heart.

I hope that helps you.

Answer 6

Jesus never said that we did not have to obey God's laws. We could not and did not, due to our bad choices. The reason Jesus came was not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it- He died so that we can be forgiven from disobedience, sin against the Lord. When we are saved through Christ, we can obey Him, even though there are many times that we do not. If we did not have to obey Him, Jesus died for nothing. And He died for the whole world!!

Answer 7

Actually, Jesus said that we as Christians have to "obey the ordinances of the land for the Lord's sake." If we have to obey man's law, wouldn't it stand to reason that we have to obey GOD'S law or at least an updated version of such? You have to remember, certain points of the law were amended by Christ's death, but NONE were superseded by it.

Answer 8

First of all, Jesus NEVER said that we did not have to obey the OT "silly" laws - because they are not "silly", they are perfect.

The OT laws give us a picture of what God would do, and what God would not do.

Since God wants to hang out with like-minded individuals, life is a sort-of test to see if you are in line with what God would or would not do.

Therefore the OT laws are an example to us today of how we need to strive to be.

If we happen to fall short (which, all of us do) we receive the forgiveness through the blood of Christ, and then we get back up and go on.

The day of judgement approaches my freind, make sure that you are living up to God's standards, but remember that there is forgiveness in Christ.

Peace.

Answer 9

You can call it the "pick and choose" principle followed by many christians.
It works with admittedly silly stuff within the bible. You pick and choose what is "metaphorical" and what is "literal." It usually happens if science clearly illustrates the silliness of it.

For instance, christians will say "oh unicorns aren't real and the bible uses it metaphorically" but they have no trouble believing in a literal son of god who resurrected and did all sorts of magic.

Pick and choose also works so we don't have to follow totally brutal practices by ancient men: for instance, stoning a rape victim because she didn't cry out within the city. We pick and choose what we pray for: we'll pray for abstract things, but we still have health insurance. We are allowed to pick and choose what medical practices we follow. For instance, we no longer put blood on our ears to cure skin disease.

Answer 10

Even better than that is that the Bible was written by the Jews, yet even the most devout Christians who preach the ways of the Bible don't think of themselves as Jewish...