Christians: How can you say the OT law is not to be followed?

Question

Heaven and Earth have not passed away, therefore the law is to be kept.

Matthew 5:17-20: "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say
to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will
pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes
one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be
called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and
teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I
tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 16:16-17
"The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good
news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it
violently. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away,
than for one dot of the law to become void.

Answer 1

In how many forms will you beat this dead horse of a question?

Answer 2

This is how the Catholic Church interprets this discourse of Jesus.

[17-20] This statement of Jesus' position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew's sermon documentation (see the note on Matthew 5:1-7:29), other Q material (cf Matthew 18; Luke 16:17), and the evangelist's own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Matthew 5:18). Yet the "passing away" of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The "turning of the ages" comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus' death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of "new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus' ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Matthew 5:21-48) show.

I hope this commentary has cleared up things for you as it has for me.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 3

Well, there are a lot of possible answers.

1. Literalist-the written law will be preserved without flaw. Problem is there are many OT textual variants, many of which are missing "dots".
A. Jesus does not say that heaven and earth HAVE to pass away for the law to become void, just that it is easier, yet shortly after saying this a man died, came back to life, and ascended to heaven, against all natural laws. Wouldn't that be just as hard if not harder as destroying the earth?

2. Dispensationalist-related to the idea of a new covenant, but saying that to "rightly divide the word" we must recognize that there have been a series of dispensations from God to mankind. These dispensations might have similarities in what God wants from us and in the end result (reconciliation between man and God) but the overall form becomes different. The rules of the OT Law were part of the dispensation which Jesus then fulfilled or completed as he issued a new dispensation, the new covenant.

3. Pauline-Since the Law cannot be kept, it cannot be relied upon for much more than training and edification. Keeping the law cannot be a requirement for salvation because salvation only comes by the grace of God, shown by Jesus's death on the cross for forgiveness of sins and the institution of a new covenant in his blood, rather than the blood of animal sacrifice. You could take this to say that gentile believers do not need to follow the Laws, but Jewish believers still need to continue to do so, but this doesn't seem to coincide with other Pauline teaching on unity, the body, and equality.

4. Not sure what to call it except common sense-Jesus actually spoke out against several "laws". They had been misused, indeed, but he negated the laws, nevertheless. If he negated the laws, then are his statements which you quoted contradicting this? Perhaps, or else he is not telling us to follow the law in those passages and is making another point about the intent of God's laws. This idea can be particularly illustrated if you continue on in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus poses several sets of antithesis which juxtapose the law with God's intent, thus "fulfilling" or making complete the law by increasing mankind's understanding of Why God has commanded what he has commanded, and telling us to consider the why rather than focus on individual details which weigh us down and lead to death because we cannot follow them.

I could go on, but you get the point. I personally believe that the OT is useful for instruction and offers us good lessons, but following the laws therein is not necessary for a Christian because Jesus actually calls us to something more difficult. After all, he tells us to be perfect in Matthew, too. In the OT, perfection was not expected, thus the sacrificial system.

Answer 4

18. For amen, I say unto you. The "amen" is an assurance, meaning, "Yes, truly I say unto you." Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be accomplished. He indicates here that the world passes away and undergoes a change in form. He is saying, therefore, that while the universe subsists, not the least letter of the law will pass away. Some say that the "jot" [i.e. the Greek letter iota] and the "tittle" [i.e. accent mark] signify the ten commandments of the law; others say that they indicate the Cross, for the iota is the upright beam of the Cross, and the accent, the transverse beam. Christ is saying, therefore, that everything that was spoken concerning the Cross will be fulfilled.

I believe this to be plausible.

Answer 5

Some of the laws are to still be followed, but it's obvious that we should not murder a preachers daughter if she acts whorish and such things as this. There is a verse in Romans (not sure exactly where) that says that the old law is passed and Jesus came to fullfil the new law (the ten commandments). Those OT laws were fitting for the Levites (the pagans), but most of them are not appropriate to apply to life today.

Answer 6

Jesus fulfilled the law so as Romans 8 says the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the laws of sin and death. We now have the infilling power of the Holy Spirit and have the laws written on our heart. This is where true freedom comes from, not being bound up in the law.

By the way, You sound like a preacher and a good one..
although I disagree with some of your doctrine.

Answer 7

Christ "fulfilled" the law with his coming, and with his atonement. The law of sacrifice, aka Abraham and Isaac, was fulfilled and no longer was sacrifice required. Those parts of the Mosaic law were intended to focus the believer toward Christ and his eventual advent. Now that his has come and the atonement was been completed, the law was fulfilled.
However, with that said, there are the 10 commandments which continue to be required of the believer.

Answer 8

I can understand your question, because my boyfriend says that too - that the OT Law is "outdated" because of the New Covenant. Horserubbish I say. I can't accept that God created laws that he's willing to say "ahh, nevermind" about. I think he created the New Covenant because he saw that people were having a hard time to stick to being good and was being forgiving then and giving them a 'way to heaven' through His Son.

Answer 9

You got this one right! The Law serves the purpose of showing how IMPOSSIBLE it would be for man to have true forgiveness for his sins and etc. This is among the reasons Jesus came to "fulfill" the Law. This way, there'd be no more need for sacrificing animals that couldn't die WILLINGLY for our sins and the outline for salvation (Law) would rest in the new Covenant detailing the things we needed to do (Law) to achieve salvation (repentance, water baptism, sanctification, and being filled with the Holy Ghost).

Answer 10

A two thousand year old book, does not make the laws.

I keep the moorals learned from the OT, about being a good person, but beyond that, it's kinda out dated.

Answer 11

Easy; the old testament (law of Moses) was abolished (fulfilled). An upgraded version was given to man by Christ when he died on the cross.