Gary E. Moreland wrote:Murder Avoid Killing Avoid anger and hatred
Adultry Avoid adultry Keep our hearts from
lusting and be faithful
Sabbath Keep it Holy Take rest evary day
with Jasus Christ
The Ten The Law The spirit of the law
Command
ments
We are to keep the law AND the spirit of the law. You cant keep the spirit of the law until you keep the letter of the law.
You're reading it the exact opposite of what Jesus was saying.
He was opposing the teaching of the Pharisees by demonstrating that the law goes beyond the letter of the law and in the spirit of the law requires absolute perfection.
If you can keep the law perfectly (and you can't) then you don't need Christ.
If Christ has kept the law on your behalf you no longer need to base your righteousness on anything but Christ.
Everything following is obedience based upon love and appreciation for what Christ has already done.
Do you base your salvation in any measure upon your keeping of the law?
If so, then that is no salvation at all, but slavery to a code you cannot keep.
If you do not, and your conscience is such that you wish to observe Old Testament Law from a sense of obligation or works based righteousness, then I grieve for you but that is between you and God.
You may be following the error of the Judiazers whom Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit rebuked for seeking to require kosher laws, circumcision and law following of gentile converts. He was not gentle in his assessment of these Pharisaical legalists. He wished them not to stop with just circumcision and go the entire measure and emasculate themselves.
Ouch.
Does that sound like Paul is in any measure suggesting that keeping old testament law is a requirement of Christians?
I accept you think otherwise.
I have yet to hear you respond to any of the epistle passages you've had posted to you to other than to state you think otherwise.
What's the standard? Your opinion or Scripture?
If Scripture, then you have some questions to answer.
Dogmatism is the comfortable intellectual framework of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is more decadent than the worst sexual sin. ~ Dan Allender