Today I wanted to talk to you with the title “which laws were abolished?” So in the old testament times there were a lot of laws written in the bible .So you may have heard that the law of Moses has been abolished.
So he says here Ephesians chapter 2:15 “having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from the two thus making peace”.
So it says the law of commandments which is written in the old testament bibles, they are abolished. So does it mean that all the laws written in the old testament bible are abolished, so they are no longer in effect in new testament times? So bible is not clear about how it transitioned into new testament times – like which laws were abolished or which was not. So it just simply says the law of commandment was abolished. But some christians might point out that in other books written by apostle Paul, it says the faith establishes the law and in other verses he says there is no one who can live by the law, so there is no one who can be saved by the law. So when you read apostle paul’s letters it gets very confusing. So it’s very easy to get confused what apostle paul means. So it’s something I will talk about later. So bible is not clear then how to make a conclusion about all the laws? So is the whole law abolished?
So there are many kinds of laws written in the old testament times. So some of them are relational laws. Others are holiness laws and about ceremonial laws due to God’s proximity to Israeli camp. So there are different kinds of laws.
Ceremonial laws
So if you look at the ceremonial laws there were many laws pertaining to how you carry out the animal sacrifice ceremonies. So like what kind of animals you can sacrifice and how you prepare them and on what days you have to sacrifice them – like all kinds of laws written for that but because Jesus himself was sacrificed as a one-time sacrifice so that we just have to believe so all the ceremonial laws pertaining to the animal sacrifice has been abolished. So now that’s clear
Laws due to God’s proximity to Israel
And the next one is laws due to God’s proximity to Israeli camp. So if you read the bible, actually in the old testament times God himself resided within the Israeli camp. So when they escaped Egypt, God himself led them and he was among Israeli people so there was like a holy of holies section within the tabernacle and later on they built the holy temple. So because God lived among Israel, there were laws that prohibited – like how Israelis approached God. So because God is holy, anything unholy cannot approach God. So there are many laws prohibiting about that.
So for example like women on periods, they could not enter the the temple and even if that woman sat on a chair, whoever said on that chair is deemed unclean. So anything unclean cannot enter the temple so there are many laws about what’s unclean and what makes somebody unclean and things like this. So those are the laws that were necessary because God dwelt among Israelites. But as you know God himself doesn’t reside among Christians anymore so all those laws about what’s clean or unclean is not necessary in the new testament times. So it’s clear that the laws due to
God’s proximity to Israeli camp were abolished.
Dietary laws
And the next one is the dietary laws. There were many kind of foods that were prohibited to eat. So are they still in effect? But in the new testament times Jesus himself said anything that goes into a man’s mouth cannot make him dirty but what comes out of him makes him dirty. So making something dirty means it becomes unholy. So anything unholy cannot enter the kingdom. So if you say something unholy, like if you swear and if you lie or if you abuse other people with your language then that makes you dirty, unclean. That means you are unholy, so anything who does that is not holy so cannot enter the kingdom. But Jesus proclaimed that anything that goes into the body cannot make him dirty – unholy. So although he eats pork or shrimps he can enter the kingdom. So Jesus abolished the dietary laws in the new testament times. So if you think about it, in genesis God allowed all the foods to the people. Right now I can’t remember to whom he said that but to you all the animals or plants on this earth are allowed for you to eat for your food so there’s a verse about that in genesis so before Israel the people were allowed to eat anything in this world except the blood so that’s something I have to talk about, but so the dietary laws were something was only in effect in the old testament times for Israeli people.
Holiday laws
And the next one is holiday laws. So there are many holidays in Israel. So like Passover and the day of trumpet and the new moon festival and of course there is a the sabbath.
So in the previous video I talked about, the sabbath is still in effect but there were many kind of laws like, you shouldn’t even work in sabbath so you can’t even fire your stove or like heat up any food or prepare any food in sabbath but those kind of laws I explained fully in that video but those kind of laws pertaining to the sabbath has been abolished but the sabbath itself is still in effect and God wants all his people together to worship him at least once a week and that is the sabbath. So I talked about it in the previous video but there are many other holiday seasons so are they still in effect? So do we still have to celebrate new moon festival? So it’s something we have to study and discern God’s will but if you think about it there are passages in the old testament times. It talks about the thousand years kingdom and it says even in the future in the thousand years kingdom all the people on the earth will gather to worship God and Jesus in sabbath and also in new moon so every new moon, people will gather to worship Jesus in the thousand years kingdom. So do we still have to keep new moon festival? So it’s something we have to study but so far God has not made me to fully observe new moon festival. So it’s something I have to study and seek God’s will.
So those kind of laws, looks like it has been abolished but there are many other kinds of laws about other things like relational laws and holiness laws. So relational laws are the laws about the relationship with God with other people. So in the Ephesians it says the law has been abolished. So does that mean that all these laws about the relationship with God – have they been abolished as well?
Relational laws
So there are many laws about the relationship with God so Jesus said love your God with all your heart and that’s the first commandment and also there were many laws about the relationship with other people like, do not steal, do not be violent toward other people, do not lie. So are all those laws abolished in the new testament times? So like if you just believe Jesus Christ then even if you like keep lying or keep stealing so keep breaking the laws then you still enter the kingdom?
So Jesus said in the book of Matthew, get away from me I do not know you. Get away from me all the law breakers. So some laws are still in effect. So I tell you for sure even if you believe Jesus but if you don’t repent and keep lying and keep stealing or murder other people; if you keep doing something like that, anyone who does things like that will not enter the kingdom. So all the laws pertaining to the relationship with God or the people are still in effect. They have not been abolished. So you have to study even old testament time laws still now because you have to know these laws to enter the kingdom.
Holiness laws
And there are other laws about the holiness. So it’s not something about relationship with other people but you have to keep yourself holy. So you have to keep your mind and your language and your body clean.
So for example if you say to yourself like “oh my something”. So for instance taking God’s name in vain, so it’s even mentioned in the ten commandments. So these days many Christians in churches, they don’t think that the ten commandments are still in effect. So they don’t keep sabbath; the sabbath is in the ten commandments. So like they are very loose with even the law written in the ten commandments, so which is taking God’s name in vain. So I see even pastors say things like “oh my something”. So there are many expressions that desecrate holy trinity these days, so you say like “oh my something” and then sometimes you say “holy something” when you’re like shocked. People always say “holy something” right? And then there are swearing like “son of something” so those are all the foul languages that desecrate g\God’s holy name, the holy trinity. So those who keep desecrating God’s name like that will not enter the kingdom. So even like Christians keep taking God’s name in vain all the time these days even in the church. It’s all because they think the ten commandments are not valid anymore and all the laws have been abolished and we are free from the laws because Jesus freed all of us from the laws, so even if we keep doing that if we just like say sorry and pray and believe Jesus we are forgiven. We can be saved.
Conclusion
So to walk in God’s ways we have to know God’s laws so we have to even study the old testament bibles. So I explained there are many kinds of laws written in the old testament bibles and we have to study them so that we have to still know what kind of laws are still in effect so we don’t become lawbreakers. So the bible is not clear about the laws when it transitions from old testament times to new testament so I hope that today’s study can be used as a basis as to what kind of laws are abolished and what kind of laws are still in effect. So using this as a base I would like to keep studying about laws so that we can walk in his ways.
I wish you blessings from the Lord.
