Featured Matthew 5:17 - 18 - a closer look

There are several texts that show that the Moral Law, specifically the Decalogue, occupies a higher place in the mind of God than the ceremonial or judicial law. The most obvious one is Deuteronomy 5:22, but there is no shortage of others (e.g. Amos 5:21-24). I have quoted them specifically to you on more than one thread before. Do you want me to trot them all out again?

The Lord Jesus tells us that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28 etc.). He gives us instruction as to how we should observe it (Mark 3:4 etc. cf. Isaiah 58:13-14). The Ten Commandments come as a boxed set. What precise verses are you thinking of in Galatians and 1 Corinthians?

 

Matthew 5:17; Matthew 7:12; Matthew 22:40; Luke 16:16; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; Romans 3:21. I may possibly have missed one, but I think that's every time the words 'The law and the prophets' is used in the NT, and all of them refer to the Bible as it was at that time, i.e. the Old Testament. The only possible doubtful one is Luke 16:16, but even that, I think, refers to the O.T.

 

Please read my post again. You wrote:

I am saying that there are many.

 

No man can do the will of God but that it be given to them, and in this Age God reveals His will through the Comforter.

There is a different Ministry in this Age:


Hebrews 8:7-12
King James Version (KJV)

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.


God has been writing His Law on the hearts of men in past Ages...


Romans 2:13-15
King James Version (KJV)

13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another)


In view is the Will of God, the works being done are the will of God being done. That is why God gave the written Law.

But the establishing of the New Covenant and the salvation of the individual is accomplished solely by Sovereign God:


Ezekiel 36:24-27
King James Version (KJV)

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.


Men could be justified in Old Testament Economies through obedience to the Law, but, in this Age God is Himself ministering directly to the hearts of individuals through the Ministry of the Comforter, so justification is now through Christ, rather than simply obedience to the Will of God.

And to illustrate the difference, whereas a man in past Ages could be justified through keeping the Law, the Jew today who does so (to the extent they can according to their faith in the Hebrew Scriptures) is in no way justified, because he is rejecting Christ.


Romans 3:20-26
King James Version (KJV)

20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.


All throughout the New Testament we see a distinction between then and now.


God bless.

 

Correct: in the Eternal State.

You are failing to do that which Christ did, which is to distinguish between the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which as has been mentioned before...

...is a reference to the Scripture, not to the regulations.

And the primary point you are missing in the Word of the Lord is that nothing in Scripture will pass away until all be fulfilled.


God bless.

 

Why thank ya!

Have you considered v.13?


Isaiah 51:13
King James Version (KJV)

13 And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Not relevant to the passages in view:


Revelation 20:11
King James Version (KJV)

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.


Revelation 21
King James Version (KJV)

21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

We would see that in v.13.

3, Actually, Israel, you, and me.

No, but the relevant New heavens and earth will be seen (and it is just my hope I will get an abode with a view).

And that has not taken place yet.

It doesn't take much imagination to understand that Prophecy is consistent, and if we do not nullify, or spiritualize the texts to death, we can see a very easy timeline of events given in Prophecy:

The Rapture, the Tribulation, the Return of Christ, the Sheep and Goat Judgment, the Millennial Kingdom, the Great White Throne Judgment, the passing away of this literal universe, and the New heavens and Earth, the Eternal State.

Likewise, there is no place in Scripture that allows us to separate the prophecies for the purpose of keeping some and relegating the rest.

Again, you are imposing into Christ's statement a meaning of the regulations of the Law. That is not what He is saying. He is speaking about the Scriptures and the principles they were given to teach.

The question is, why is it that you feel prophecies can pass away in contradiction to Christ's teaching?

Prophecy will be relevant until the Eternal State, when in fact, as Christ teaches...


Matthew 5:17-18 King James Version (KJV)

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.


...heaven and earth shall pass away.


God bless.

 

I'm not sure I'm following this. I have the feeling you're interpreting this through a theological lens that I'm not very familiar with.

So Tom, are you saying that when Jesus says, “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets” (Matthew 5:17a), he actually did come to abolish them?

Rob

 

Your reference of support in Isaiah 51 particularly weak and unconvincing. The passage references Eden and the garden; verse 16 draws up images of creation in Genesis 1:6-10.
Don't use this passage to convince anyone to abandon a literal reading!

Rather than discontinuity with the Law, I think that Matthew is communicating a continuity with the Law, it will not pass away.
Jesus is the Laws fulfillment, not its end.
He follows the passage with six antithesis (Matthew 5:21-48), the Law in the kingdom of heaven becomes internalized, a heart issue rather that one of stone.

Rob

 

...that don't jibe:

14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition,
15 having abolished in the flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; Eph 2

...He indeed WAS the end of the law.

 

All you need to do is highlight what you want to quote and you will see quote/reply pop up. Quote everything in the existing post you are dealing with, then hit the arrow to go to the original post and then quote the statements the responses were too, then go to the bottom of the page and hit Insert Quotes, then copy and paste the statements into the responses you quoted from the existing quote.

You'll want to make sure your code is arranged thus...

{QUOTE="asterisktom, post: 2412558, member: 8081"}
{QUOTE="asterisktom, post: 2412558, member: 8081"} What you write on;y proves the event. Which I don't deny. This change happened at the parousia, AD 70. You keep looking at this apocalyptic text though literalistic lenses. Please see what I wrote to Deacon.{/QUOTE}
It is too hard for me to answer these separate points in one post (The quotes don't show up, and I guess I am not savvy enough to work it right) so I will just answer this one for now:
{/QUOTE}

I've changed the code to deactivate it (using brackets) to show you how you want the code arranged. Put the date/time code (the first two codes with your name in it) back to back, with the end-quotes after your statement then after your antagonists statement.

That's one of the things I like about the format here, it makes it easy to quote.

But I don't see how you can take a teaching that shows the universe passing out of existence and make it symbolic, lol.

If this has happened, please send me a mapquest for New Jerusalem.




God bless.