THE LAW, then and now Exodus 20
Jesus said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17 ACP/KJV
First of all, what is the Law? And then what was it for before Christ and what is it for since Christ? Let's start with what is the Law?
The Law is the Ten Commandments:
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2-6 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill. (The Hebrew word ?ratsach' to break or dash in pieces, to kill or slay in an unjust manner, cold blooded unjust murder of the defenseless, never used in the killing of animals. *1)
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. Exodus 20:1-17 ACP/KJV
So, what was the law for back in Old Testament times?
It was so that the Hebrews could and would know what was right and what was wrong. It was to cause the Hebrew to understand his or her need to make an atonement for his or her sin. Not long after God gave the Hebrews the Ten Commandments at the hands of Moses, He gave Moses the rules concerning atonement found in the book of Leviticus, as an example: And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: Leviticus 14:25 ACP/KJV
So, what is the Law for today? Remember Jesus did not come to destroy or eliminate the Law, so the law is thereby still around. It still has a use, but what is that use, since there is no more sacrificing of bulls, bullocks, lambs, goats etc.
The purpose of the Law today is much the same as it was 4,000 years ago. It is to convict man of sin ...
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