Many churches claim this is the teaching of St. Paul—particularly in Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15, Galatians 3:25, Romans 10:4 and 7:6. Is the claim legitimate? The answer is No.
Scripture says, “The Lord will judge the world in righteousness” (Psalm 9:8). Along this line, Paul wrote:
13 It is those who obey the Law who will be declared righteous. ROMANS 2
12 The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. ROMANS 7
21 Is the Law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! GALATIANS 3
31 Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the Law. ROMANS 3
14 I [Paul] believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets. ACTS 24
Paul was not telling anyone to disregard or disobey the commandments. His full teaching was this: Man’s relationship with God should be one of faith perfected by 100% obedience of God’s instructions, resulting in good works motivated by love.
The Jews believed that obedience of the Law was enough to carry them to heaven. Paul said not enough: It is not obedience that matters but the motive behind the obedience. If love is not the motive, then the obedience is insipid and worthless in God’s sight.
10 Love is the fulfillment of the Law. ROMANS 13
14 The entire Law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself. GALATIANS 5
Also, Paul stressed that obedience must be accompanied with faith that Y’shua is God. God alone can forgive sin and he who has no faith in Y’shua cannot receive total forgiveness of his sins. Without the total forgiveness, the impure will stay impure and barred from heaven; his obedience will be worthless—an exercise in futility, an empty legalism.
4 If anyone ever had the reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be me [Paul]. 5 For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if there ever was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom. 6 And sincere? Yes, so much that I greatly persecuted the Church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the last point. 7 But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so I can put my trust and hope in the Messiah alone. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Messiah Y’shua my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have the Messiah, 9 and become one with Him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting the Messiah to save me; for God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith—counting on the Messiah alone. PHILIPPIANS 3 tlb
15 We are not under Law but under grace. ROMANS 6
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that one can boast. EPHESIANS 2
It’s unbelievable how churches can teach that the Ten-C were passé and obeying them were empty legalism. Think logically. Sin is the breaking of the Law (1 John 3:4). If the Ten-C were passé, then the Law would be passé. That would mean no more sin and no more need for total forgiveness and for faith in Y’shua. No more need for anyone to be righteous, ethical and decent. No more need for the churches and the pastors.
Is it true that New Covenant HAS REPLACED the TEN-C (LAW OF MOSES) WITH THE TWO commandments OF Love God and Love your neighbor (LAW OF CHRIST)?
It is not true. Y’shua said:
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill [pleroo, make full, perfect] them. MATTHEW 5
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. MATTHEW 24
17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a 
pen to drop out of the Law. LUKE 16
pen to drop out of the Law. LUKE 16 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. MATTHEW 5
Take note of His encouragement for the Ten-C to be taught and obeyed.
29 Let them listen to Moses and the Prophets. LUKE 16
31 If you continue in My Word, you really are My disciples. JOHN 8
21 My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice. LUKE 8
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. JOHN 3
Discard and dishonor the Ten-C? Do not be hoodwinked. Y’shua said:
17 “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man inquired. Y’shua replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” MATTHEW 19
The Gospel teachings were given to expound the proper intentions and applications of the commandments, to raise our level of awareness of them.
8 They [the commandments] stand fast for ever and ever. PSALM 111 kjv
34 I will not violate My covenant or alter what My lips have uttered. PSALM 84
Never will God abolish the Ten-C because doing so will contradict the very purpose of His incarnation and the New Covenant. “I will put My Law in their minds and write it on their hearts,” says God in Jeremiah 31:33. To stress this, the New Testament quoted Jeremiah 31:33 twice in Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16.
27 I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. EZEKIEL 36
19 Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 1 CORINTHIANS 7
The two commandments Love God and Love your neighbor (which really are one) were not given to replace the Ten but to make the Nine to be Ten again. The element of love was reinstated to perfect and amplify the Law.
God did not expunge any commandment. What He expunged were the man-made traditions (kjv calls them the handwriting of ordinances) that were effectively diluting or nullifying the sought-effect of the commandments to which they were grafted.
14 [He] canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. COLOSSIANS 2
Let us cite an example of a man-made tradition that was expunged off Commandment No. 5.
3 (Y’shua said to some Pharisees and teachers of the Law from Jerusalem:) Indeed, why do you break the command of God by your tradition? 4 For God said, Honor your father and your mother and Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. 5 But you say, “If anyone says to his father or mother I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you 6 then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.” Thus, by your tradition you make null and void the Word of God! 7 You hypocrites! Yesha’yahu [Isaiah] was right when he prophesied about you, 8 These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines. MATTHEW 15 cjb
12 Then His disciples came to Him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” MATTHEW 15 In the Oxyrhynchus Gospels Y’shua explained to His disciples, "The Pharisee plans in advance; before doing wrong, he slyly reasons everything out. Take care that you do not end up suffering the same fate as them. For the wicked of humanity receive Judgment not only among the living, but they will also undergo punishment later." (Wikipedia)
11 Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 12 Then they understood that He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. MATTHEW 16
ISN’T IT TRUE THAT THE MESSIAH’S RESURRECTION HAD FULFILLED THE LAW AND THEREFORE SABBATH-KEEPING IS NO LONGER NECESSARY?
Let us recall what Y’shua said on the matter:
18 I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass [disappear] from the Torah—not until everything that must happen has happened. MATTHEW 5 cjb
Take note of the words “until heaven and earth pass away.” Neither the earth nor the sky has passed away. That means the Law stands and Sabbath-keeping is necessary.
Colossians 2:17 says the Law is a shadow of things to come, the substance of which is Y’shua. That is true. But “not everything that must happen has happened”—at least not yet. For the Law is given so man could be restored to his original blessed state (see chapter 1 of this book to fully understand this). Full realization of the Law will come after the Judgment, when the impure-turned-pure shall have received his reward of restoration.
If everything that must happen had happened, then the early Christians would have stopped in observing the Sabbaths. But that was not the case. Luke 23:56 says Y’shua’s disciples “rested on the Sabbath” while preparing His body for burial. The Acts of the Apostles made eight references to early Christians holding sacred assembly on Sabbath: Acts 1:18, 13:14, 13:27, 13:42-44, 15:21, 16:13, 17:2 and 18:4. Historically speaking, the early Christians observed the Sabbaths for at least 320 years, that is, until 356 ad.
In reference to the future destruction of Jerusalem, Y’shua said, “And pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20). This indicates that He expected the Sabbaths to be kept subsequent His death. 9 There is a full complete rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 The Messiah has already entered there. He is resting from His work, just as God did after the creation. 11 Let us do our best to go into that place of rest, too, being careful not to disobey God.[1] HEBREWS 4 tlb
[1] The literal translation of Hebrews 4:9 is “Therefore a Sabbath observance has been left behind for the people of God.” (Wikipedia)
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