The Law

Title: The Law

Today’s Bible Verse: [Deuteronomy 32:45-46 ESV] 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, "Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.

[John 1:1-3 ESV] 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus is the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was Jesus that dictated the law to Moses.

[Numbers 23:19 ESV] 19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God does not change His mind thus, we are to follow His law, His instructions. His law is His instructions on how to live life.

Well, what about the sacrifices? These were a shadow of what was to come; the one perfect sacrifice that would atone sin for all believers. That sacrifice was Jesus Himself. Once that atonement happened then all of the sacrifices were no longer necessary.

The Jews never recognized His sacrifice and continued the sacrificial system, so Jesus used Rome to destroy the temple and all the genealogical priesthood records in it in 70 AD. Wiping out the genealogical records meant that the Levitical priesthood could never be reconstituted. Since the temple and priest was needed for the sacrificial system that system and the old covenant came to an end.

So, what about the feasts? The only feast that does not require a sacrifice is the Sabbath. Thus, the destruction of the temple and Levitical priesthood in 70 AD ended the observance of the feasts as well. Additionally, we have lost the timing for them.

We should never forget the purpose of the feasts and we should never forget that Jesus was the fulfillment of that purpose.

What about the dietary code in Leviticus 11? Leviticus 11 tells us what animals are clean and what animals are not clean. The clean animals are for food and the unclean ones are not for food. Many will say that God rescinded that and use passages like 1 Timothy 4:1-5 or Peter’s vision to prove it.

First, Peter’s vision in of God telling him to kill and eat unclean animals was actually related to Cornelius and if you continue reading the passage you will find it explained. You will find this vision in Acts 10:9-16; go an read all of Acts 10 for yourself.

Now let us look at 1 Timothy 4:1-5:

[1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV] 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

In the English it says foods.

Foods: βρῶμα brōma, bro'-mah; from the base of G977; food (literally or figuratively), especially (ceremonially) articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law:—meat, victuals.

Unclean animals were never meant to be food.

[Leviticus 11:2 ESV] 2 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

The things that you can eat are food.

Is the dietary code a salvation issue? Well, then, what is sin? Transgression of the law. Is the dietary code part of the law? Yes. What are the wages of sin?

[Romans 6:23 ESV] 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’ll leave it to you to decide.

My bottom line is that Jesus fulfilled the feasts and the sacrificial system and all else still applies.

Faith is given to His elect by God. Faith is the overwhelming belief in God; it is not head knowledge, it is a deep down in your soul belief that God is your creator and your means of salvation from His wrath due to the fall. This faith was given to His elect from before creation. We have it for His glory.

Through our faith we know that Jesus died for us, and we have justification through Him. This justification means that our sin is covered with the blood of Jesus and, though we may die physically, we are not dead spiritually and will be resurrected into everlasting life when Jesus returns.

It is the elect that have salvation and it is my prayer that you are among the elect and that this serves as your catalyst for awakening.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 NLT] 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

[Acts 2:22-24 NLT] 22 "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

[1 John 2:2 NLT] 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins--and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 NLT] 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.