Are the Jewish laws the way of salvation? Are Christians obligated to keep them? Is it really necessary? Can it take us to heaven? Does keeping it make God more pleased with us?

This issue even arose in the Bible among the Christians in Galatia. Christians among them were including the Jewish laws into the salvation plan for us from God which is apparent in Christianity today.

Obeying the Jewish laws and Christianity doesn’t go hand in hand. If we were to be saved by keeping Jewish laws then there would have been no need for Christ to die to make us right with God.

The Holy Spirit isn’t received by keeping the Jewish laws but by believing. The Jews by obeying these laws never had a spiritual life (that is they never received the Holy Ghost or performed miracles), so it makes no sense to say keeping them will make us stronger Christians. Abraham’s real children are all men of faith who fully trust in God. Abraham was declared fit for heaven by God only because he believed God’s promises. The only way we can be right with God is by faith because we cannot keep all the laws (and a curse is on anyone who doesn’t keep all). Christ has bought us out from under the doom of that impossible system by taking the curse for our wrong doing upon Himself. So why should Christians cling to what they’ve been freed from?

Why were the laws then given you may ask? The laws were added after the promise was given to Abraham; to show men how guilty they are of breaking God’s laws. But this system of law was to last only until the coming of Christ, the Child to whom God’s promise was. So then, are God’s law and God’s promises against each other? Of course not! If we could be saved by His laws, then He would not have had to give us a different way to get out of the grip of sin. The law was our guide until Christ came to give us a right standing with God.
Many Christians then say, ‘Okay, if they say we are not meant to keep these laws, how do we live a righteous life?’ In the book of Galatians 5:16, we are to obey only the instructions of the Holy Spirit. He is our new guide and will always tell us what to do and what not. When you’re guided by the Holy Spirit, you need no longer to force yourself to obey Jewish laws. If we are now living under the power of the Holy Spirit, we should follow his leading in every path of our lives. Then we won’t need to look for honours and popularity, which lead to jealousy and hard feelings.

Those teachers who try to convince you to keep Jewish laws are doing it for one reason: so that they can be popular and avoid the persecution they would get if they admitted that the cross of Christ alone can save. And the problem is they don’t keep all but instead pick the ones they like, preach about it and then boast about the followership they get. Read Galatians 6.

So to all those on Naira land and Men of God preaching Laws: Do not eat snail or unclean animals, do not wear trouser, make up and blah,keep the Sabbath, circumcise your male, and the likes, you better stop putting people in bondage. Instead pray for the mighty dispensation of the Holy Spirit upon believers who will show them the right path to pleasing God.
SHALOM!

Well written @op, God bless u real good.

Never cease to wonder all these teachings of despite the clarity of the bible?

God bless you for this piece indeed.

Candour: God bless you for this piece indeed.

Amen. God bless you too

Pastor Olu T: Well written @op, God bless u real good.

Never cease to wonder all these teachings of despite the clarity of the bible?

Amen. God bless you too.

Nice piece, except that this part does not actually give an answer as to how we shall now conduct ourselves given that we are no longer under the law:

vickyO:
Many Christians then say, ‘Okay, if they say we are not meant to keep these laws, how do we live a righteous life?’ In the book of Galatians 5:16, we are to obey only the instructions of the Holy Spirit. He is our new guide and will always tell us what to do and what not. When you’re guided by the Holy Spirit, you need no longer to force yourself to obey Jewish laws. If we are now living under the power of the Holy Spirit, we should follow his leading in every path of our lives. Then we won’t need to look for honours and popularity, which lead to jealousy and hard feelings.

So what is the holy spirit then if we are to be led by it? This holy spirit firstly is the doctrine/knowledge that we are free from the definitions(of sin) and restrictions of the Law. We are absolutely free to go about our lives as we please, nothing in nature is forbidden to us, just like nothing is forbidden for God himself to do, we have become equal with the father because we have received the same spirit as him. This is what it means to be holy. It means you CANNOT be defiled(cannot sin) by anything created by God, whether food, drink, sex, clothes/fashion, music, etc. Absolutely nothing!!!. This is the will/guidance of the Holy Spirit.

okeyxyz: Nice piece, except that this part does not actually give an answer as to how we shall now conduct ourselves given that we are no longer under the law:



So what is the holy spirit then if we are to be led by it? This holy spirit firstly is the doctrine/knowledge that we are free from the definitions(of sin) and restrictions of the Law. We are absolutely free to go about our lives as we please, nothing in nature is forbidden to us, just like nothing is forbidden for God himself to do, we have become equal with the father because we have received the same spirit as him. This is what it means to be holy. It means you CANNOT be defiled(cannot sin) by anything created by God, whether food, drink, sex, clothes/fashion, music, etc. Absolutely nothing!!!. This is the will/guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I hope you believe in sin. Your definition of the Holy Spirit is wrong. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter Christ promised, He is not a doctrine. Don't get it all wrong and remember what Jesus said. IF your righteousness doesn't surpass those of the Pharisees, you can't get into heaven. Matt. 5:20

vickyO:
I hope you believe in sin. Your definition of the Holy Spirit is wrong. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter Christ promised, He is not a doctrine. Don't get it all wrong and remember what Jesus said. IF your righteousness doesn't surpass those of the Pharisees, you can't get into heaven. Matt. 5:20

This is the problem with most people professing to be christians and claiming to not being under the law, yet they continue to define sin as defined by the same law they claim to not follow. This is the fact: If you continue to follow the definitions of the law, then you are under the law. Simples. So to answer your question: No!! I don't believe in sin and a person led by the spirit CANNOT sin, else you are not led by the spirit.

As for the Holy spirit, yes it is a doctrine and this is the only way you can recognize him if anyone comes along claiming to be of the spirit. It is first a doctrine before a person, just like christ himself was first a doctrine(The Word of God) before a person.

And when Jesus says your righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and pharisees, he means your righteousness must surpass the Law which is the standard and custody of the scribes and pharisees. You cannot continue to be under the law(define right and wrong according to the law) and think you can surpass it. The only way is to cast it(The Law) away, it has been abolished by christ's death.

I think the books of Romans, Galatians and hebrews perfectly deals with this issue. What a lot of christians don't understand is that grace and works don't work together. Its either ur salvation and righteousness is by the works(law) or by grace(Jesus Christ) u just have to choose one.

Wats this am seeing about African Christians no longer under the law Were u ever under the law? If u are Oyo-Yoruba u are under the Oyo laws, if you are Ife-Yoruba u are under the Ife laws and are not free from it and never were unless u want to denounce ur ancestry.

You were never under the Jewish laws and should never be under it because u are not Jews neither are u in Israel. In Israel they still practice their laws because that's who they are, but if a Yoruba or Igbo wants to slave himself to Jews go ahead but don't contaminate people around, so u better move to where such laws are actual laws because in Nigeria no ethnic group deals with Jewish laws, we have our own laws, Unless u don't know them.

macof: Wats this am seeing about African Christians no longer under the law Were u ever under the law? If u are Oyo-Yoruba u are under the Oyo laws, if you are Ife-Yoruba u are under the Ife laws and are not free from it and never were unless u want to denounce ur ancestry.

You were never under the Jewish laws and should never be under it because u are not Jews neither are u in Israel. In Israel they still practice their laws because that's who they are, but if a Yoruba or Igbo wants to slave himself to Jews go ahead but don't contaminate people around, so u better move to where such laws are actual laws because in Nigeria no ethnic group deals with Jewish laws, we have our own laws, Unless u don't know them.

wetin you dey tok?

okeyxyz:

This is the problem with most people professing to be christians and claiming to not being under the law, yet they continue to define sin as defined by the same law they claim to not follow. This is the fact: If you continue to follow the definitions of the law, then you are under the law. Simples. So to answer your question: No!! I don't believe in sin and a person led by the spirit CANNOT sin, else you are not led by the spirit.

As for the Holy spirit, yes it is a doctrine and this is the only way you can recognize him if anyone comes along claiming to be of the spirit. It is first a doctrine before a person, just like christ himself was first a doctrine(The Word of God) before a person.

And when Jesus says your righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and pharisees, he means your righteousness must surpass the Law which is the standard and custody of the scribes and pharisees. You cannot continue to be under the law(define right and wrong according to the law) and think you can surpass it. The only way is to cast it(The Law) away, it has been abolished by christ's death.

I believe we're under a new law now, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Under Gods law of life, we're free from the power of sin and death as we walk in love.

We fulfill the previous law, as we walk by faith in love, free in this law of Christ.

Joshthefirst: wetin you dey tok?



I believe we're under a new law now, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Under Gods law of life, we're free from the power of sin and death as we walk in love.

We fulfill the previous law, as we walk by faith in love, free in this law of Christ.

uh huh
Nice one

Joshthefirst: wetin you dey tok?



I believe we're under a new law now, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Under Gods law of life, we're free from the power of sin and death as we walk in love.

We fulfill the previous law, as we walk by faith in love, free in this law of Christ.

It's all well and good to declare you are under a new law(like most Christians do), the law of the spirit, etc. But one thing you'd failed to declare is what this new law says. Every law must have it's mandates and definitions and do's and don'ts. Do you just claim to be under a new law and then when I ask for definitions (according to this new law) you take me back to the law of sin and death(the law of moses) to carry on with it's old doctrines?? My point is: if you claim to be free from the law of moses, then you must not follow it's definitions of right and wrong.

The law of the spirit has liberated us to those things that the law of moses forbids us from. There is no sin in nature. simples. If you still believe that food you eat, clothes you wear, music you listen to, having se.x without marriage, smoking, reading astrology and numerology, etc are sins, then you are still under the law of moses.

There is only one sin I know, that is fornication which includes unnatural(homo/bi-sexuality, bestiality, etc) sex and sex without consent.

vickyO:
I hope you believe in sin. Your definition of the Holy Spirit is wrong. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter Christ promised, He is not a doctrine. Don't get it all wrong and remember what Jesus said. IF your righteousness doesn't surpass those of the Pharisees, you can't get into heaven. Matt. 5:20

Absolutely. He is a personality not just an impersonal thing or force, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and the Son.

okeyxyz:

It's all well and good to declare you are under a new law(like most christians do), the law of the spirit, etc. But one thing you'd failed to declare is what this new law says. Every law must have it's mandates and definitions and do's and don'ts. Do you just claim to be under a new law and then when I ask for definitions (according to this new law) you take me back to the law of sin and death(the law of moses) to carry on with it's old doctrines?? My point is: if you claim to be free from the law of moses, then you must not follow it's definitons of right and wrong. If you are under a new law then you must be expected to fulfill different expectations, not the expectations of the law of moses that you are supposed to be free from.

Any significant [/b]thing required of the Christian will be found in the [b]New Testament epistles which constitute the blueprint for living the Christian life.

The prescription for the way of life for believers in other dispensations is unquestionably not the same for Christians under the dispensation of the church age. The same God, yes. Certain similar principles, yes. But quite a different system for living and administering the spiritual life. That a practice is in the Bible does not necessarily recommend it to be used or practiced by the Christian. The Christian must rightly divide whether such a practice is for him or not under the new Covenant. For example, the Bible, in the Old Testament has requirements for animal sacrifices and so on. Would anyone therefore justify animal sacrifice today simply on the basis that it is in the Bible?