There have been some mainstream preachers and teachers who are now claiming that Christ in His ministry went around teaching the law of the Torah. This is not so, Christ chiefly went around teaching about the Kingdom of God and how we are to develop this kingdom inside of us which is through His ethical teachings and the last great commandment to love one another.
For a brief foundation let me share a brief lesson we learn from the Old Testament.
Firstly, the laws outlined in the Old Testament are relevant to us Christians because they tell us of the consequences of what happens when we violate the spiritual and physical laws of God. The first instance that we can relate to this is the first ever recorded murder in history; Cain and Abel. We find this account in Genesis 4. Most of us are familiar with the story, Cain and Abel gave offerings unto the Lord. God was well pleased with Abel's offering as it was his best that he had, and God was displeased with Cain's offering because it was more of an afterthought to Cain, not his best. Cain became jealous of his brother and the favor he had won with the Lord, so Cain murdered Abel.
In Genesis 4:10-11 we see Cain's consequence. "He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth." Genesis 4:10-11 (NASB).
So what am I trying to relate here? Simply that if you commit murder, you will not be able to settle anywhere, there will be no provision for you, you will be a vagabond and find no peace. This is what the word of God says. I can guarantee that anybody who has committed murder feels an intense isolation because of what they have done. This is a spiritual consequence of violating God's natural law.
The point in this exposition is to say that we do not discount the Old Testament or the law. In Galatians 3:10 we see a stunning statement, "But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law." (New Living Translation). This is a somewhat confusing sentiment because int he first part it is saying that those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, yet the second half states cursed is everyone who doesn't obey the commands in the book of the law.
How does this make sense?
In my understanding, this verse is saying that we cannot be saved by simply following the law of God because the consequence of law is the curse of death because NO MAN can fulfill the law. This is why God sent Christ to be the perfect man who was able to fulfill the law and be the perfect sin offering for all of mankind in order for us to be able to have the chance to have a relationship and an intimacy with our creator, God. What a beautiful chance we have in this sacrifice of unselfish love.
Christ did not teach the Torah, he taught ethics.
A chief example of what Christ taught is exposed in the gospel of Mathew, chapter 5. ""You have heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." Mathew 5:21-22 (New Living Translation).
This seems pretty straightforward to me. As Christians we are supposed to get rid of the things in us that would even cause us to have a negative emotional reaction such as unrighteous anger which leads to hatred or toxic shame which leads to guilt. Christ was teaching that we are to be in accordance with the law, but to also not even be tempted to violate the law or hold negative attitudes against people because we are called to love one another.
What is the point here? Well, the point is that God knew that man could not maintain and fall into total compliance with the laws that he set forth in the Old Testament, so he sent us a savior, Christ Jesus. This is not to say that we disregard the Old Testament or it's law, because we have looked into the very real spiritual consequence of violating the law of God, but it is to say that we as Christians are not only called to abide in God's law, but to also endeavor to build up our character so we do not even think about violating God's law or hold onto negative emotions or attitudes that would tempt us to sin. We are called to be a new species of humanity, that is not susceptible to the law because we are to be so tempered and refined that our character would not let us transgress or violate the word of God.
I will be posting more on this subject in the coming days, so please stay tuned and keep on reading. It is my hope that this has opened your mind a little bit to delve deeper into the word and the things of God.
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