"Christians": Why do you reject OT laws that affect you, but embrace OT laws that affect others?

Question

"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
"And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.
"For every one that curseth his father or mother shall be surely put to death ...
"And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife ... the adulterer and the adultress shall surely be put to death.
...
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman ... they shall surely be put to death ..."

Leviticus 20:7-13

Answer 1

Of course Jews and Christians living in the modern world can't accept thing like burnt offerings and some of the harsh punishments in the OT. they would sound too far out. Science and democracy have become very infused in the 'western world'.

In many Muslim countries heritics, homosexuals and adulterers ARE STONED TO DEATH.

Answer 2

The majority of the laws in the old testament where meant for the hebrew ppl
Becuz Jesus hadn't come yet there was no way for them to redeem themselves and have forgiveness except through offering sacrifices
A lot of these laws you can't take out of context
like the first two are also said somewhere along those lines in the new testament too
But the stuff about being put to death and all that
now we have Jesus and can just repent for those things because he paid the price of death for us on the cross

Answer 3

For every one that curseth his father or mother shall be surely put to death - In our modern age, there are laws that protect children from such penalties, so if we were to put our child to death for cursing at us, we would be put to death ourselves.

And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife ... the adulterer and the adultress shall surely be put to death - again, modern laws do not allow for this, as much as the adulterer's wife would wish she could, she cannot put them to death.

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman ... they shall surely be put to death - once again, see modern laws, they call it a hate crime now.

Were the laws harsh? You betcha! They had to be to preserve order and purity for those Hebrews out in the wilderness. They had no jail, they had no court except among themselves, therefore their laws were harsh ... make a mistake, you die.

Answer 4

As a Christian, I follow the principles of the new convenant that I have with God. I am not Jewish, nor have i ever been part of the old covenant that God made with those people. So the terms of that convenant is not binding on me.

I do follow the new convenant, which says for me to first love God, and secondly to love others. It includes no provisions for the "putting to death" of anyone. Under the Jewish convenant - in which there were judges, courtrooms, and the ability to try, convict, and punish people - civil and legal penalties for certain crimes were permitted. The Jewish covenant was both the religious and the civil government of that day.

The Christian convenant does not include the civil governing of a nation, there it does not include the right for Christians to arrest, try and punish criminals. That role has been given to a different group under the new covenant.

Christian are, however, responsible for seeing that the civil government remains moral and ethical. It can not be permitted to lie to its citizens, deny them civil rights, use their tax money to committ crimes or murder, etc.

Answer 5

I can only speak for me on this.. but I only take from the law covenant that which was brought forward into the Grace covenant, like the 10 commandments and the lessons learned by Sodom and Gomorrah, with the birth of Christ the law was changed into the grace and a lot changed.

A good example is men and their wives, under the law men were fornicating all over the place, under the grace we are told not to fornicate, and to avoid fornication 'let every woman have her own husband.. let every man have his own wife.'

Answer 6

Actually, OT Laws as you call them, are expired.

Except for the necessary ones.

Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well, Fare ye well.


The is a few more christians are required to keep,but I hope this give you an idea

Answer 7

These are the ones that are Lukewarm, and that Christ SPEWS out of His mouth. (Book of Revelation) It applies not only to the teaching of Revelation, BUT to ALL who are sitting on a Fence straddling it and also as a Reed in the Wind bending whichever way the wind blows. One CANNOT Serve TWO MASTERS as they will LOVE ONE and HATE the Other. The Old and New Testaments are ONE VOLUME that walks hand in had together. Read Psalms 40:7 and Hebrews 10:7. "Lo, I come, and the Volume of the Book it is written of me"---The Holy Scriptures--The Bible-- if that is what you want to call them. No harm no foul as both are the same thing.

Answer 8

You make a very strong point...the Old Testament is very valuable and must be have special attention paid to it....But here is the challenge, the Old Testament is the tool that shows just how fallen we are as man. It is the law, and as you have shown so well in your answer, there are many points that we as man struggle with to follow, that is why God had to send a savior (I am not telling you anything you didn't already know, I am really working to get to your answer).

Where we fail now as man is that we have this great gift in Christ, but we feel it gives us free reign to do whatever we want because we are "forgiven". I agree with you in that if you choose to reject "one word, on one page" in the Bible, you are rejecting the WHOLE THING! It is frustrating to see my brothers and sisters in Christ act so poorly, but I am required to bring this concern with love and forgiveness (and, of course accountability), because that is also what the Bible teaches.

Hope this helps

Answer 9

The Ten Commandments can be summed up in love your God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Mathew 7:12 Jesus says “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Why must we overcomplicate things? How can this be so difficult to understand?

We love God through our love and compassion for others. This is how we obey the Ten Commandments; this is how we follow the teachings of Christ.

Answer 10

Maybe it is because Christians also have the New Testament and they "look through it" at the OT and interpret new meanings and also disgard some ideas. Like eating unclean meat and beliefs about life after death.