Christians are no longer under the UNFORGIVING part of the ORIGINAL, WHOLE law (Galatians 5:3, James 2:10) codified by Moses, which even required the AUTOMATIC death penalty for some sins and which, in addition, did not provide for repentance for breaking God’s laws. So, it is true, in a sense, that you “are not under the law.” REMEMBER, though, that according to the complete, ultra literal Greek definition of “under” in anti-law keeping verses, Christians are MODERATELY or COVERTLY not under the law, meaning that they are still under the law, but not in the original, unforgiving way. Also, “not under the law” CANNOT be absolute because of the large number of NT verses supporting and even commanding obedience to the law. The old, whole law was not modified or moderated by the new gift of grace, which now allows for forgiveness upon repentance. Christians ALSO are no longer under
1) The now abolished SACRIFICE laws (Hebrews 7:27,9:9-13, 10:10: “Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.” (New Living Translation) Hebrews 9:9,10 “…… the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered …… 10 …… imposed until the time of reformation.” (Berean Literal Bible) Hebrews 10:10: ” …… we are having been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Berean Literal Bible), which were specifically discussed and identified by name. “The time of reformation” refers to the time after Jesus came.
2) The now abolished CIRCUMCISION law (Acts 15:24: “…… some who went out from us …… saying ‘You must be circumcised ……’ to whom we ordered no such thing;” (Modern Literal Version), 1 Corinthians 7:19: “For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments.” (New Living Translation), which was specifically discussed and identified by name.
3) The now abolished LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD (Hebrews 7:11-16,18,23,24,27,28: “…… the priesthood of Levi …… why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? 12 …… the priesthood is changed ……. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe ……. 14 …… our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. 15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside …… 23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 …… God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.” (New Living Translation), which was specifically discussed and identified by name.
4) MOST IMPORTANTLY BY FAR is the now abolished AUTOMATIC DEATH PENALTY FOR SIN. Romans 8:2: “…… Christ Jesus made me free from the law of SIN and DEATH.” (WEB), which was also specifically discussed and identified by name, thanks to the sacrificial death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that’s it, period, end of discussion, case closed, because the NT DOES NOT single out as abolished any more OT laws. Previously, under the old death penalty, you should have, for example, ALREADY BEEN EXECUTED AND QUICKLY BURIED MANY TIMES for repeatedly working on Saturdays (Numbers 15:35) or for cursing your parents when you were younger (Mark 7:10), if you did that, REGARDLESS of whether or not you had later repented of those sins. Due to the severity of this monumental law of sin and death we all must still experience a physical death unless Jesus Christ returns before we die. This law of sin and automatic death, though, has been annulled ONLY for REPENTANT, baptized, Holy Spirit led Christians (Galatians 5:18) continuing to obey the remaining OT laws that were never abolished plus NT modified OT law who also continue to repent whenever they “stumble” and sin (1 John 2:1, Romans 8:2, 1 Corinthians 9:27). Romans 8:2 was a MAJOR change in the ORIGINAL OT. The Old Covenant, though not literally a part of the original law itself, has been changed and improved greatly (2 Corinthians 3:11). The Biblical use of the word “covenant” generally simply refers to an agreement or promise, not to something that contains a set of laws, as demonstrated in Genesis 9:12-17 where the covenant was between God and man, including animals. Since animals cannot understand laws, that covenant logically did not involve laws to be obeyed. Yes, the OT Old Covenant was abolished, but OT laws were separate from the Old Covenant, so that does not mean that all the OT laws were abrogated. The New Covenant now promises 1) complete forgiveness of sin that has been repented of, 2) the Holy Spirit, and 3) immortality which were not available in the physical blessings and protection for obedience based Old Covenant.
So now you can see how the Bible CLEARLY, UNAMBIGUOUSLY, and WELL BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT explains the abolishment of the 4 laws above. No such clear and unambiguous verses are found in the Bible, however, about the annulment of the obviously safe meat, mostly prophetic festival, enriching tithing, and rejuvenating Saturday rest laws. You can read the New Testament forwards and backwards many dozens of times, and you will NEVER find the safe meat, mostly prophetic festival, Saturday Sabbath, and enriching tithing laws specifically identified by name in a discussion that even implies that those laws were abolished. Instead, you will find verses positively referring to the continued observance of the safe meat, festival, tithing, and Saturday rest laws as practiced by Jesus and Paul who also commanded us to imitate them.
THINK!!
An extremely awkward, highly embarrassing consequence of mainstreamers’ incorrect belief that ALL or MOST of the Old Testament laws have been abolished, which they never seem to mention much less acknowledge, is that bestiality (sex with animals), vandalizing mob membership, harmfully hitting pregnant women (which ultimately would include the abortion of live fetuses), eating leprous armadillos, forbidden in the safe meat laws (armadillos often carry leprosy, so just carelessly handling them before cooking them can give you leprosy), eating “bush meat” Ebola infected monkeys, again forbidden in the safe meat laws (which some black people in Africa like to eat), property landmark removal, bribery, arson, convicting an innocent son for a crime committed only by his father, and placing stumbling blocks in front of blind people are all now “Biblically” legal, since the OT laws forbidding them have supposedly been “abolished,” which of course is intensely ridiculous, totally absurd, and sometimes even criminal, punishable by fines or confinement in a steel and concrete cage. None of those above crimes prohibited by common sense, very essential OT laws are mentioned in the New Testament probably because the authors considered listing them was redundant since they they were already clearly, sometimes repeatedly, listed in the Old Testament which they read or had access to every Sabbath.
JUDE 1:4: “…… (impious, PROFANE) persons …… PERVERT THE GRACE …… of our God into LAWLESSNESS ……” (The Amplified Bible)
Remember, only 7 verses in the entire Bible say literally that Christians are no longer under the law, but every single one of those 7 contextually constricted verses is limited to the very few, specific laws that the Apostles said were now abolished. Those laws are the sacrifice, circumcision, Levitical priesthood, and eternal death penalty laws. The topic is never the general law, so that means the safe meat, mostly prophetic, hope filled festivals, and enriching tithing laws are still in full force despite what the popular, verse skipping, added verse supporting (the last sentence in Mark 7:19, which is highly deceitful and therefore sinful, in most translations, IS NOT in the original Greek),mainstream churches fanatically preach. Please read the page ROMANS 6:15: “SHALL WE SIN BECAUSE WE ARE NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE?” GOD FORBID!”