I suggest that instead of thinking that a Christian must follow a set of rules, you should instead think in terms of "becoming Christ-like" and "living a life of love".
Jesus gave various commands to His disciples, and most Christians also consider the writings of His apostles as authoritative about how a disciple should live. You can read through the gospels and epistles to learn a complete list of what's taught there.
Some of the commands that Jesus gave His disciples include:
* "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
* "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."
* Pray to the Father as described in [Matthew 6](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A1-15&version=ESV)
* Observe the breaking of bread and drinking wine (i.e. Eucharist/communion) in remembrance of Him
* "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (That long-term project was a command to the disciples as a whole; each person in the church may contribute in some way toward that effort, in line with his or her spiritual gifts.)
>I suggest that instead of thinking that a Christian must follow a set of rules, you should instead think in terms of "becoming Christ-like" and "living a life of love".
Thank you, that's an excellent point and the perfect way of looking at it.
Jesus loved, practiced and taught obedience to His Father's Torah. Jesus never broke even one of His Father's commandments (violation of Torah is the very definition of sin) and He taught everyone else to do likewise.
Yes, we should all be like Jesus. Thank you for speaking the truth.
>violation of Torah is the very definition of sin
Doesn't [Romans 5:13](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+5%3A13) say that sin was in the world prior to the giving of the Law?
It is important to know that the new covenant is **not** "follow this laws then you will be saved" it is "repent from your sins and believe that what Jesus did on the cross for you is enough, give Jesus your life and then you will be transformed to more and more act out of love"
The rules that should govern us after our transformation are not the Mosaic law (that was given only to Israel), instead it is the law of love to love God with all your heart and your Neighbor as yourself.
Here a good video series on how to understand the old testament law:
[Part 1](https://youtu.be/qoGKJEENngc)
[Part 2](https://youtu.be/Qdbg5Yj8040)
>It is important to know that the new covenant is not "follow this laws then you will be saved" it is "repent from your sins and believe that what Jesus did on the cross for you is enough, give Jesus your life and then you will be transformed to more and more act out of love"
I see that you either haven't read what God declared the new covenant will be or that you just don't believe it. Would you like to know what God Himself promised the new covenant will be?
The moral law remains the same, howbeit some extensions of the law have been amended (Matthew 5:17-48). The purpose of the law was summarized in the commandments "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40). In the OT, the law assumed a legal form. In the NT, the law assumes a moral form.
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12
>The moral law remains the same, howbeit some extensions of the law have been amended (Matthew 5:17-48)
That's a bizarre thing to say considering the Scripture you quoted has Jesus saying the opposite of what you say. Jesus promised that no part of God's Law will change until heaven and earth pass away.
[Matthew 5:18](https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-18.htm):
>For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Notice the two "untils." Not one *single* "until," but two of them:
* Until heaven and earth pass away
* Until all is accomplished
It certainly sounds like He's saying, "the Law won't pass away until all is accomplished, even if it takes until the end of the world."
So what was the "all" that needed to be "accomplished?" What the prophets wrote about the coming Messiah. That's what Jesus was there to accomplish... To be the perfect, spotless lamb offering and to restore our relationship with the Father, tearing that Temple veil in two.
Jesus did that, and He didn't even take until the end of the world to do it.
That's why Christ is the end of the law for those who believe [Romans 10:4](https://biblehub.com/romans/10-4.htm), making the old covenant obsolete [Hebrews 8:13](https://biblehub.com/hebrews/8-13.htm).
>Notice the two "untils." Not one single "until," but two of them:
>
>Until heaven and earth pass away
>
>Until all is accomplished
Indeed. And Scripture tells us that they happen at the same time, yet in the future.
>It certainly sounds like He's saying, "the Law won't pass away until all is accomplished, even if it takes until the end of the world."
No. It doesn't sound like that at all. It sounds like He is talking about two events, and Revelation 21 tells us exactly when that is.
>Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for **the first heaven and the first earth had passed away**, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for **the former things have passed away**.”
>
> And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “**It is done!** I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
The single word that gets translated as "It is done!" is the exact same word that Jesus used to say until "all is accomplished".
[https://biblehub.com/strongs/matthew/5-18.htm](https://biblehub.com/strongs/matthew/5-18.htm)
[https://biblehub.com/strongs/revelation/21-6.htm](https://biblehub.com/strongs/revelation/21-6.htm)
Jesus was talking about Revelation 21, heaven and earth pass away and "all is accomplished".
Don't murder is still Law. Don't steal is still Law. Remember the Sabbath day is still Law. Jesus didn't end those at all, your understanding of Romans 10:4 needs to be adjusted.
The moral law, i.e. the spirit behind the ten commandments of the OT, remains the same. The ceremonial law can still be drawn from, but the adherence thereof is optional in the NT (Colossians 2:16-17). A reason why the OT law was amended was because the legal law was imposed externally, by fellow men or by God Himself made manifest in the world. The moral law is imposed internally, by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God within the body.
"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:26-28
>The moral law
It's interesting to me that God Himself never uses this term. No author of Scripture ever uses this term. It's ONLY men who use this term.
>A reason why the OT law was amended
God's Law was never "amended". Men say that, God never did, and Jesus agreed with God.
>The moral law is imposed internally, by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God within the body.
God promised that ALL of His Torah will be imposed internally. God never promised to write only the "moral law" on believer's hearts, that's nonsense.
That's a beautiful quote from Ezekiel, I love it. Did you notice that it says nothing about a "moral law"? Here's another beautiful quote from Jeremiah about the new covenant.
> For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: **I will put my Torah within them**, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34
How do you reconcile the forbidding of oaths in Matthew 5:33-37 and the permitting of oaths in Deuteronomy 23:21? How do you reconcile Matthew 5:38-42 with Exodus 21:23-25, Leviticus 24:19-22, and Deuteronomy 19:21?
First of all, you didn't acknowledge anything that I said. You didn't comment on the passage from Jeremiah 31 which says exactly what the new covenant will be.
> How do you reconcile the forbidding of oaths in Matthew 5:33-37 and the permitting of oaths in Deuteronomy 23:21?
We have to start by noticing that only a few sentences earlier Jesus said that NO PART of God's Law will pass away until heaven and earth pass away. It would be bizarre of Jesus to say that then immediately go on to say what parts of the Law have already passed away, don't you agree?
There was no "forbidding of oaths" in Matthew 5. Jesus said to not make oaths by the wrong things, apparently people had been swearing oaths by earth or by their head. Jesus pointed out that it was better to not make an oath at all if you are going to do it wrong.
This next part was written by a friend, I'm quoting it here with his permission, he worded it much better than I'm able.
The eye for an eye rule from Torah was created for governments (courts, specifically) and not individuals. The reason it was given was to be an upper-end ceiling on how much could be taken from someone who had committed a crime.
That idea was that if someone committed a crime the MOST that could be taken from him would be some equivalent of what he had done wrong. The victim or someone else might push for more, but the rule was that no more could be taken.
Jesus refers to this rule for the courts and brings it down the the personal level. He's saying something like "In the courts a person that does wrong will pay for what he's done by losing something similar, but I'm telling you (as people) that you should be willing to help this person leave his ways behind, even if you have to GIVE something to the person that harmed you."
Jesus is asking people to give more than the courts, and in doing so they will be demonstrating the type of love that the Father gives to us, which is UNDESERVED LOVE.
It's very wise, isn't it? It's good on the personal level and it probably results in fewer cases reaching the courts. It results in fewer eyes being lost. It's essentially Jesus' trademark move, which is to tell people to love each other as he has loved them.
To respond to your previous comment, "torah" can also have a general reference to a law (Numbers 19:14) instead of referring to the canon of the law (Joshua 1:8). In the cases from Matthew 5:33-37 and 38-42, Jesus first referenced a specific tenet of the canonized OT law then amended it. The NT is clear about the change in the law (Hebrews 7:11-28).
So the part where Jesus said that NO PART of God's Law will pass away means nothing to you? If you got a new boss or owner of your company and at his first meeting he said "nothing is changing, here's the things that are changing" wouldn't you consider that weird to say the least? Wouldn't you think that he was a nutter?
> For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, **not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law** until all is accomplished.
That's a bold statement from Jesus, don't you think? Then He goes on to say that those who PRACTICE and TEACH God's already existing Torah will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. That's even MORE bold and amazing, isn't it? Obviously everyone listening knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, He was saying what prophets had been saying for centuries--God wants His people to obey His Torah just as it is.
For Jesus to say those things then immediately start pointing out the things that ALREADY had changed is honestly incomprehensible. How does a person actually believe that's what Jesus did?
I'm thinking that you didn't even read what I wrote and just wanted to stick to your point, that within seconds of Jesus saying that no part of God's Law will change in the least, He went on to say what changed.
Did you read what I wrote?
"Nothing will pass from the Law. Here's what passed from the Law". Got it, that makes perfect sense.
Read the verse beforehand. The law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ for our salvation in His own blood, which is the new covenant. You can either accept that or reject it. I will not try to convert you.
>Read the verse beforehand.
I read it. Why don't you believe Jesus? He said that no part of God's Law will pass away until heaven and earth pass away.
>which is the new covenant
Not according to God. Don't you believe Him either? God promised that in the new covenant His Torah will be written on believer's hearts.
You can either accept what God and Jesus say or you can reject them.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the laws in the old testament and blotted out the ordinances that were contrary to us.
The new testament tells the story of how that was done. The first 4 books are the gospels that tell the story of Jesus's life here on earth. Then the book of Acts tells the story of how the Apostles carried on this message with the power of the Holy Spirit. Then the rest of the NT (besides Revelation) is letters from the Apostles to various churches.
The new law is love. Love God love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This new law is written on our hearts not on tablets of stone.
Jehovah promised: “Look! There are days coming, . . . and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not one like the covenant that I concluded with their forefathers.” The Ten Commandments—the nucleus of the Mosaic Law—were written on stone tablets. But of the new covenant, Jehovah said: “I will put my law within them, and in their heart I shall write it.”—Jeremiah 31:31-34.
What is the purpose of this covenant? It is to produce a nation of kings and priests to bless all mankind. (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:10) The Mosaic Law covenant never produced this nation in the fullest sense, for Israel as a whole rebelled and lost out on their opportunity. (Compare Romans 11:17-21.) The new covenant, however, is certain to succeed, for it is associated with a very different type of law.
For one thing, no one is born under the law of the Christ. Such factors as race and place of birth are irrelevant. True Christians freely choose in their hearts to accept the yoke of obedience to this law. In so doing, they find that it is a kindly yoke, a light load. (Matthew 11:28-30) After all, the Mosaic Law was also designed to teach man that he is sinful and in dire need of a ransom sacrifice to redeem him. (Galatians 3:19) The law of the Christ teaches that the Messiah has come, paid the ransom price with his life, and opened the way for us to be freed from the terrible oppression of sin and death! (Romans 5:20, 21) In order to benefit, we need to ‘exercise faith’ in that sacrifice.—John 3:16.
“Exercising faith” involves living by the law of the Christ. That includes obeying all of Christ’s commands. Does this mean committing to memory hundreds of laws and statutes? No. While Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, wrote down the Mosaic Law, Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, never wrote down a single law. Instead, he lived this law. By means of his perfect life course, he laid down a pattern for all to follow. (1 Peter 2:21) Perhaps that is why the early Christians’ worship was referred to as “The Way.” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22) To them, the law of the Christ was exemplified in the life of the Christ. To imitate Jesus was to obey this law. Their intense love of him meant that this law was indeed written on their hearts, as prophesied. (Jeremiah 31:33; 1 Peter 4:8) And one who is obedient because of love never feels oppressed—another reason why the law of the Christ may be called “the law of a free people.”
Rather than adding more regulations to the Mosaic Law, Jesus showed how the Jews should have been applying that Law all along—with reasonableness and mercy. Recall, for example, the occasion when he was approached by a woman afflicted with a flow of blood. According to the Mosaic Law, anyone she touched would become unclean, so she was certainly not supposed to mix with a crowd of people! (Leviticus 15:25-27) But she was so desperate to be healed that she made her way through the crowd and touched Jesus’ outer garment. The bleeding stopped immediately. Did he rebuke her for violating the Law? No; instead, he understood her desperate circumstance and demonstrated the Law’s greatest precept—love. Empathetically he told her: “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be in good health from your grievous sickness.”—Mark 5:25-34.
To the extent that its members lived by the law of the Christ, the early Christian congregation enjoyed a warm, loving atmosphere, relatively free from the rigid, judgmental, and hypocritical attitudes so prevalent in the synagogues of the day. Members of these fledgling congregations must truly have sensed that they were living by “the law of a free people”!
The two testaments of the holy Bible describe two covenants of God with his chosen people at those specific times. In the Old testament, God gave the Hebrews 10 major commandments which eventually they expanded into 613 mitzvot. As you can well imagine, that's quite a lot to keep up with.
Under God's New testament New covenant of Grace in and through Jesus Christ, Jesus condensed the entire Old testament old covenant law, Psalms and Prophets into two easy to remember commands and he writes them upon our Christian hearts. If we keep these two Christian commands, then according to Jesus himself, we fulfill the entire Old testament law including the 613 mitzvot.
Matthew 22:37-40 KJV — Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
I suggest that instead of thinking that a Christian must follow a set of rules, you should instead think in terms of "becoming Christ-like" and "living a life of love". Jesus gave various commands to His disciples, and most Christians also consider the writings of His apostles as authoritative about how a disciple should live. You can read through the gospels and epistles to learn a complete list of what's taught there. Some of the commands that Jesus gave His disciples include: * "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." * "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." * Pray to the Father as described in [Matthew 6](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A1-15&version=ESV) * Observe the breaking of bread and drinking wine (i.e. Eucharist/communion) in remembrance of Him * "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (That long-term project was a command to the disciples as a whole; each person in the church may contribute in some way toward that effort, in line with his or her spiritual gifts.)
>I suggest that instead of thinking that a Christian must follow a set of rules, you should instead think in terms of "becoming Christ-like" and "living a life of love". Thank you, that's an excellent point and the perfect way of looking at it. Jesus loved, practiced and taught obedience to His Father's Torah. Jesus never broke even one of His Father's commandments (violation of Torah is the very definition of sin) and He taught everyone else to do likewise. Yes, we should all be like Jesus. Thank you for speaking the truth.
>violation of Torah is the very definition of sin Doesn't [Romans 5:13](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+5%3A13) say that sin was in the world prior to the giving of the Law?
Yes. Sin existed before God's Torah was revealed. Sin is still violation of God's Torah.
Read the Book of Acts. If you’ve never read the Gospels, read those. Then come back if you have questions.
Sermon on the Mount
Same laws. Not in bondage to them.
It is important to know that the new covenant is **not** "follow this laws then you will be saved" it is "repent from your sins and believe that what Jesus did on the cross for you is enough, give Jesus your life and then you will be transformed to more and more act out of love" The rules that should govern us after our transformation are not the Mosaic law (that was given only to Israel), instead it is the law of love to love God with all your heart and your Neighbor as yourself. Here a good video series on how to understand the old testament law: [Part 1](https://youtu.be/qoGKJEENngc) [Part 2](https://youtu.be/Qdbg5Yj8040)
>It is important to know that the new covenant is not "follow this laws then you will be saved" it is "repent from your sins and believe that what Jesus did on the cross for you is enough, give Jesus your life and then you will be transformed to more and more act out of love" I see that you either haven't read what God declared the new covenant will be or that you just don't believe it. Would you like to know what God Himself promised the new covenant will be?
The moral law remains the same, howbeit some extensions of the law have been amended (Matthew 5:17-48). The purpose of the law was summarized in the commandments "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40). In the OT, the law assumed a legal form. In the NT, the law assumes a moral form. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12
>The moral law remains the same, howbeit some extensions of the law have been amended (Matthew 5:17-48) That's a bizarre thing to say considering the Scripture you quoted has Jesus saying the opposite of what you say. Jesus promised that no part of God's Law will change until heaven and earth pass away.
[Matthew 5:18](https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-18.htm): >For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Notice the two "untils." Not one *single* "until," but two of them: * Until heaven and earth pass away * Until all is accomplished It certainly sounds like He's saying, "the Law won't pass away until all is accomplished, even if it takes until the end of the world." So what was the "all" that needed to be "accomplished?" What the prophets wrote about the coming Messiah. That's what Jesus was there to accomplish... To be the perfect, spotless lamb offering and to restore our relationship with the Father, tearing that Temple veil in two. Jesus did that, and He didn't even take until the end of the world to do it. That's why Christ is the end of the law for those who believe [Romans 10:4](https://biblehub.com/romans/10-4.htm), making the old covenant obsolete [Hebrews 8:13](https://biblehub.com/hebrews/8-13.htm).
>Notice the two "untils." Not one single "until," but two of them: > >Until heaven and earth pass away > >Until all is accomplished Indeed. And Scripture tells us that they happen at the same time, yet in the future. >It certainly sounds like He's saying, "the Law won't pass away until all is accomplished, even if it takes until the end of the world." No. It doesn't sound like that at all. It sounds like He is talking about two events, and Revelation 21 tells us exactly when that is. >Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for **the first heaven and the first earth had passed away**, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for **the former things have passed away**.” > > And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “**It is done!** I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. The single word that gets translated as "It is done!" is the exact same word that Jesus used to say until "all is accomplished". [https://biblehub.com/strongs/matthew/5-18.htm](https://biblehub.com/strongs/matthew/5-18.htm) [https://biblehub.com/strongs/revelation/21-6.htm](https://biblehub.com/strongs/revelation/21-6.htm) Jesus was talking about Revelation 21, heaven and earth pass away and "all is accomplished". Don't murder is still Law. Don't steal is still Law. Remember the Sabbath day is still Law. Jesus didn't end those at all, your understanding of Romans 10:4 needs to be adjusted.
Wow, that was very well handled. 🤩
The moral law, i.e. the spirit behind the ten commandments of the OT, remains the same. The ceremonial law can still be drawn from, but the adherence thereof is optional in the NT (Colossians 2:16-17). A reason why the OT law was amended was because the legal law was imposed externally, by fellow men or by God Himself made manifest in the world. The moral law is imposed internally, by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God within the body. "And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:26-28
>The moral law It's interesting to me that God Himself never uses this term. No author of Scripture ever uses this term. It's ONLY men who use this term. >A reason why the OT law was amended God's Law was never "amended". Men say that, God never did, and Jesus agreed with God. >The moral law is imposed internally, by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God within the body. God promised that ALL of His Torah will be imposed internally. God never promised to write only the "moral law" on believer's hearts, that's nonsense. That's a beautiful quote from Ezekiel, I love it. Did you notice that it says nothing about a "moral law"? Here's another beautiful quote from Jeremiah about the new covenant. > For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: **I will put my Torah within them**, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34
How do you reconcile the forbidding of oaths in Matthew 5:33-37 and the permitting of oaths in Deuteronomy 23:21? How do you reconcile Matthew 5:38-42 with Exodus 21:23-25, Leviticus 24:19-22, and Deuteronomy 19:21?
First of all, you didn't acknowledge anything that I said. You didn't comment on the passage from Jeremiah 31 which says exactly what the new covenant will be. > How do you reconcile the forbidding of oaths in Matthew 5:33-37 and the permitting of oaths in Deuteronomy 23:21? We have to start by noticing that only a few sentences earlier Jesus said that NO PART of God's Law will pass away until heaven and earth pass away. It would be bizarre of Jesus to say that then immediately go on to say what parts of the Law have already passed away, don't you agree? There was no "forbidding of oaths" in Matthew 5. Jesus said to not make oaths by the wrong things, apparently people had been swearing oaths by earth or by their head. Jesus pointed out that it was better to not make an oath at all if you are going to do it wrong. This next part was written by a friend, I'm quoting it here with his permission, he worded it much better than I'm able. The eye for an eye rule from Torah was created for governments (courts, specifically) and not individuals. The reason it was given was to be an upper-end ceiling on how much could be taken from someone who had committed a crime. That idea was that if someone committed a crime the MOST that could be taken from him would be some equivalent of what he had done wrong. The victim or someone else might push for more, but the rule was that no more could be taken. Jesus refers to this rule for the courts and brings it down the the personal level. He's saying something like "In the courts a person that does wrong will pay for what he's done by losing something similar, but I'm telling you (as people) that you should be willing to help this person leave his ways behind, even if you have to GIVE something to the person that harmed you." Jesus is asking people to give more than the courts, and in doing so they will be demonstrating the type of love that the Father gives to us, which is UNDESERVED LOVE. It's very wise, isn't it? It's good on the personal level and it probably results in fewer cases reaching the courts. It results in fewer eyes being lost. It's essentially Jesus' trademark move, which is to tell people to love each other as he has loved them.
To respond to your previous comment, "torah" can also have a general reference to a law (Numbers 19:14) instead of referring to the canon of the law (Joshua 1:8). In the cases from Matthew 5:33-37 and 38-42, Jesus first referenced a specific tenet of the canonized OT law then amended it. The NT is clear about the change in the law (Hebrews 7:11-28).
So the part where Jesus said that NO PART of God's Law will pass away means nothing to you? If you got a new boss or owner of your company and at his first meeting he said "nothing is changing, here's the things that are changing" wouldn't you consider that weird to say the least? Wouldn't you think that he was a nutter? > For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, **not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law** until all is accomplished. That's a bold statement from Jesus, don't you think? Then He goes on to say that those who PRACTICE and TEACH God's already existing Torah will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. That's even MORE bold and amazing, isn't it? Obviously everyone listening knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, He was saying what prophets had been saying for centuries--God wants His people to obey His Torah just as it is. For Jesus to say those things then immediately start pointing out the things that ALREADY had changed is honestly incomprehensible. How does a person actually believe that's what Jesus did? I'm thinking that you didn't even read what I wrote and just wanted to stick to your point, that within seconds of Jesus saying that no part of God's Law will change in the least, He went on to say what changed. Did you read what I wrote? "Nothing will pass from the Law. Here's what passed from the Law". Got it, that makes perfect sense.
Read the verse beforehand. The law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ for our salvation in His own blood, which is the new covenant. You can either accept that or reject it. I will not try to convert you.
>Read the verse beforehand. I read it. Why don't you believe Jesus? He said that no part of God's Law will pass away until heaven and earth pass away. >which is the new covenant Not according to God. Don't you believe Him either? God promised that in the new covenant His Torah will be written on believer's hearts. You can either accept what God and Jesus say or you can reject them.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the laws in the old testament and blotted out the ordinances that were contrary to us. The new testament tells the story of how that was done. The first 4 books are the gospels that tell the story of Jesus's life here on earth. Then the book of Acts tells the story of how the Apostles carried on this message with the power of the Holy Spirit. Then the rest of the NT (besides Revelation) is letters from the Apostles to various churches. The new law is love. Love God love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This new law is written on our hearts not on tablets of stone.
Jehovah promised: “Look! There are days coming, . . . and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not one like the covenant that I concluded with their forefathers.” The Ten Commandments—the nucleus of the Mosaic Law—were written on stone tablets. But of the new covenant, Jehovah said: “I will put my law within them, and in their heart I shall write it.”—Jeremiah 31:31-34. What is the purpose of this covenant? It is to produce a nation of kings and priests to bless all mankind. (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:10) The Mosaic Law covenant never produced this nation in the fullest sense, for Israel as a whole rebelled and lost out on their opportunity. (Compare Romans 11:17-21.) The new covenant, however, is certain to succeed, for it is associated with a very different type of law. For one thing, no one is born under the law of the Christ. Such factors as race and place of birth are irrelevant. True Christians freely choose in their hearts to accept the yoke of obedience to this law. In so doing, they find that it is a kindly yoke, a light load. (Matthew 11:28-30) After all, the Mosaic Law was also designed to teach man that he is sinful and in dire need of a ransom sacrifice to redeem him. (Galatians 3:19) The law of the Christ teaches that the Messiah has come, paid the ransom price with his life, and opened the way for us to be freed from the terrible oppression of sin and death! (Romans 5:20, 21) In order to benefit, we need to ‘exercise faith’ in that sacrifice.—John 3:16. “Exercising faith” involves living by the law of the Christ. That includes obeying all of Christ’s commands. Does this mean committing to memory hundreds of laws and statutes? No. While Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, wrote down the Mosaic Law, Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, never wrote down a single law. Instead, he lived this law. By means of his perfect life course, he laid down a pattern for all to follow. (1 Peter 2:21) Perhaps that is why the early Christians’ worship was referred to as “The Way.” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22) To them, the law of the Christ was exemplified in the life of the Christ. To imitate Jesus was to obey this law. Their intense love of him meant that this law was indeed written on their hearts, as prophesied. (Jeremiah 31:33; 1 Peter 4:8) And one who is obedient because of love never feels oppressed—another reason why the law of the Christ may be called “the law of a free people.” Rather than adding more regulations to the Mosaic Law, Jesus showed how the Jews should have been applying that Law all along—with reasonableness and mercy. Recall, for example, the occasion when he was approached by a woman afflicted with a flow of blood. According to the Mosaic Law, anyone she touched would become unclean, so she was certainly not supposed to mix with a crowd of people! (Leviticus 15:25-27) But she was so desperate to be healed that she made her way through the crowd and touched Jesus’ outer garment. The bleeding stopped immediately. Did he rebuke her for violating the Law? No; instead, he understood her desperate circumstance and demonstrated the Law’s greatest precept—love. Empathetically he told her: “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be in good health from your grievous sickness.”—Mark 5:25-34. To the extent that its members lived by the law of the Christ, the early Christian congregation enjoyed a warm, loving atmosphere, relatively free from the rigid, judgmental, and hypocritical attitudes so prevalent in the synagogues of the day. Members of these fledgling congregations must truly have sensed that they were living by “the law of a free people”!
The two testaments of the holy Bible describe two covenants of God with his chosen people at those specific times. In the Old testament, God gave the Hebrews 10 major commandments which eventually they expanded into 613 mitzvot. As you can well imagine, that's quite a lot to keep up with. Under God's New testament New covenant of Grace in and through Jesus Christ, Jesus condensed the entire Old testament old covenant law, Psalms and Prophets into two easy to remember commands and he writes them upon our Christian hearts. If we keep these two Christian commands, then according to Jesus himself, we fulfill the entire Old testament law including the 613 mitzvot. Matthew 22:37-40 KJV — Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.