Fulfill or Abolish

Finally i've time to at least copy something from my other blog, www.xanga.com/blackpeachtree, to here. Enjoy.

Let's talk about the difference between Yeshua fulfilling the law, and Yeshua doing away with it. Because the word used in the scriptures is "fulfill," and not "abolish." Yeshua even said that He did not come to abolish the law (get rid of it), but rather, to fulfill it (bring it to it's fullest point). Most simply put, the difference between the old testament law and the new testament law is the relationship aspect. Motive is everything. That is what changed. The point, before, was more less to keep people, in a lawless world, from killing each other (like I've seen it put). However, it was still God's law, and He still is the one who put it in place. This is something that has seemed to be over looked.

The fact is, God never changes. This most definitely doesn't mean that He doesn't do new things, in new ways, but He can never contradict Himself in doing so. Why would He establish something said to be so important, tell us that all generations would live by it, and then later be like, "Okay, well, I guess it's not necessary since my sinless Son is now available for a direct connection for you and Me," and forget the whole thing ever happened? Is that not a contradiction? Here it comes! I am a forgiven being, that was once a sinner, and then I became, by Biblical definition, a saint; an heir of God's kingdom. I live under grace, and by grace alone, just as scripture tells me. This in no way means that I, myself, am to abolish the law. God clearly told me not to. But, I now have the Holy Spirit, and a direct connection with Yeshua, and the Father, and that relationship enables me to have right motives in doing the law. The most important thing, hands down, is to love the LORD with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your mind. And it is not necessarily by loving Him that you DO the law, but by loving Him, you find you WANT to do the law.

Most people I know go through life on a roller coaster, saying, "It's really hard sometimes to stay in my Bible, and to pray every day. Most weeks I just go to church and that is it," when all God wants to say to them in that time is, "Honey, you're doing just fine. I love you with all of My heart, regardless. Just trust Me, and know Me, and I will make your path straight." You see, the more we know just who HE is, the more we will love Him. The more we truly believe (our belief determines our actions) who He is, the more we will love Him. The more that we love Him, the more we will want to do His will, which He made foundationally clear in the law, that He clearly did not abolish.

I could go on and on emphasizing the importance of obeying Him, obeying the law that He set forth in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), give you scripture references, original wording, and maybe some really great points to back this up, but I believe the truth of the matter is there is something much more important to deal with first. If you are not truly in love with His very being, and feeling a desire to please Him, instead of just wanting to "do what is right," then the law, should you try to go by it, would not be being fulfilled in the new testament sense. Once you fall in love with your Creator, and actually make Him your master (we're not asking for perfection here, just sincerity of heart), then you are in a position to obey the law in Spirit and in Truth, because the motive will then be set, and the law will not be works based, but faith, belief, and truth based. The law is terribly important, but only when we are doing it the way Christ said to do it.

Over and over you see things like Jesus healing on the Sabbath, or the disciples picking crop for food on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees having a cow about it, because this Jesus of Nazareth, who claimed to be the only way to the Father, was breaking the law (How dare He!). The only problem was, the Pharisees were not living in the law in relationship, love, grace, and freedom. They, just as everyone else who took heed to it at that time, were living by the law the old testament sense (although they added a lot of extra legalism, which was NOT God's idea). They had no freedom to pick food on the Sabbath if they were hungry, because all they knew was, "obey, obey, obey," and, "do, do, do!" And it probably wasn't so much that they knew they were being selfish in the act, but that they were not aware of the new things God was doing, just as much of the church today. Everyone is just, "trying to do the right thing," when the first thing to work on is NOT DOING! In fact, we have freedom to not DO!

Do you understand what I am trying to say? The point of the law is not to be as a slave is to a master, mistreated, or condemned when you mess up. God does not expect perfection out of you! Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't surprise the Lord when we mess up. The point is the relationship of the bride to the husband, the husband being the head of the household. The two are to be in love, and the wife, at the same time, is to be submissive. Our relationship with the Lord is a clear picture of this. You see, He wants us to do His will, and He wants us to be submissive to His authority, but He, more than anything, wants us to love Him, because He knows the fruit of true love is submission.

It is His perfect will that we live by the law, but only if our motive is to please Him and love Him. He does not want our dead works. He does not want our occasional love. He just wants us. He wants us to find the balance between faith and works (and find the balance between justice and exhortation), and live by His word because of our heart for Him, and not because we want to be good people or to do the right thing. The summary is this: faith without works is dead, works without faith is dead, belief is a verb, the law has not been abolished, and Yeshua wants you to know of His acceptance of you.

Bless you.