Fulfilling The Law

14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galations 5:14 (NIV)

How do you know you are in a religious church? The most obvious sign is, the preacher constantly remind the church members to obey God’s law, especially the 10 Commandments. There are still people who think the Christian life is centered on the 10 Commandments. This is obviously a heresy. If the 10 Commandments can save us, Christ died for nothing.

If you bother to refer to my previous postings, you can read a lot of my articles showing that the Law of Moses is no longer valid for Christians today. We do not have to try not to murder anyone if we do not have this intention in the first place.

The above verse tells us that as long as we love our neighbor as ourselves, we don’t have to bother about the Law. It is fulfilled in our lifestyle. We do not fulfill the entire law by keeping the entire law. We fulfill the entire law by keeping just one command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Is this good or bad? The answer depends on what does the phrase “love your neighbor as yourself” mean.

What do you think of when you see the phrase? Are you looking for a list of things to do in order to qualify for it? Who are you going to ask for the list? Are you going to ask a church? Unfortunately, the Christian churches are so fragmented today that 100 churches will have 100 different lists on how to love our neighbors as ourselves.

In this article, I will give you a clear answer on what to do and it does not involve any to do list from somebody else. In fact, you are the one with the right to decide on the right actions to qualify. Let us begin.

The phrase, “love your neighbor as yourself” only has 2 principles:
1. You must love yourself.
2. Use this love as a measure to love others.

This first principle tells us that we must have a healthy respect for ourselves. God loves you so much that he gave his only begotten Son to redeem you. What right do you have to despise yourself or treat yourself with contempt? Always remember that if you hate yourself, you are insulting God. If you have been doing that, you should repent. Repentance means stop doing the bad things and move on to the good things. Stop hating and start loving yourself.

If you have been living a good and honorable life, that should not be too difficult. However, there are any people with a bad past. If you happen to be one of them, are you still able to love yourself regardless of the bad things you have done? Some people will find this an impossible task.

Let me make it simple for you. When Jesus died at the Cross, he took all our sins with him: past, present and future. As for the bad things you have done in the past, you have to tell yourself that you didn’t do them. Jesus did all those things and he was punished for it. God will never re-punish you for the sins that he had punished Jesus at the Cross. In the eyes of God, you are whiter than snow. You can face God as though you have never committed a single sin in your life.

Once, you are convinced of the above truth, you will have the freedom to love yourself. When that happens, you will find God’s blessings flowing freely into your life with increasing quality and quantity.

As a result, you will able to fulfill the second principle. Your love for yourself will be the foundation for loving others. Your love will be genuine. You will love others like Jesus loves you. This is what Jesus meant by doing to others what you want others to do to you.

How should you treat others? It depends on how do you want to be treated.

 Do you want others to help you when you are down? Start helping others when they are down.

 Do you want to receive a lot of money? Start giving others money.

 Do you want to live in your dream house? Start helping others to get their dream houses.

In short, whatever you want in your life, help others to get them. This is what Jesus mean by loving your neighbor as yourself. You write your own list. This is Christian living.

Wonderful Law

18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Psalm 119:18 (NIV)

The above verse describes one of the common desires of believers. I can identify with it myself. However, if I am just to show this verse and stop here, many people will get the wrong meaning. After all, we are living in a theology-infested world. Those who have been infected with the disease called theology will always read the Bible with the most negative attitude. I can understand because I was one of them.

The truth is, the above verse has nothing to do with theology. This verse is the prayer of a believer. Who do I know this is a believer? Read the verse again. The writer asked God to open his eyes in order for him to see the wonderful things in his law. This is the mentality of a scientist. Scientists love to understand how things work and think God’s thoughts.

Theologians are the opposite. If the writer was a theologian, his prayer will be, “Take away my individuality and thinking ability so that I can be a mindless drone who will obey all your laws without question.”

Since the above prayers are not found in the above verse or any other part of the Bible, we can confidently be assured that the Bible has nothing to do with theology.

Now that we have established the truth on this matter, we can proceed with the true meaning of the above verse based on the foundation of science and engineering. The writer’s intention was simple. He wanted to have the ability to understand God’s law. He refused to obey the law like the mindless theologians. He wanted to know the reasons on why God set those laws and their implications.

The fact that God is willing to record this prayer must mean that God wants all believers to have the same attitude. It is the will of God for us to have inquisitive minds. God wants us to use our brains to think and understand things. He does not want to obey him like zombies despite the fact that this is what the theologians have been promoting.

Our roles as believers are not just about reading the Bible and obeying everything in it. We have the right to question everything in it and use its contents for our prosperity. In fact, this is what I do now. I do not read the Bible out of obedience of religious ritual. I read the Bible with the intention of understanding God’s law so that I can use it for my prosperity. I suspect the writer of this verse had the same intention. How do I know? Let me give you a clue.

“wonderful things in your law”

The writer considered God’s law to have wonderful things. If you ask a theologian, he will tell you that the “wonderful things” here can mean God doing perverted things to you like giving you thorns in the flesh to show you his sufficient grace. Thank God, the writer was not a theologian. He thought like a scientist. Therefore the phase “wonderful things” must mean what it says, wonderful things.

So, it must be the writer’s intention to use the law to bring wonderful things to his life like a lot of money, good health, long life, successful career, wonderful family and other good stuff. In today’s context, the writer will be accused of preaching the “prosperity gospel”. It seems that even God is proud of it.

The lesson for us here is, we should not be ashamed of the Gospel. The Bible is filled with wonderful things. God wants us to read it so that we can have live prosperously in every area of our lives. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are The 10 Commandments Still Relevant For Christians Today?

8 We know that the law is good when used correctly.
9 For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders.
10 The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching
11 that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.
1 Timothy 1:8-11(NLT)

Let me begin by specifying that the term “law” in the above passage refers to the Moses’ Law in which the famous 10 Commandments are a part of it. The above passage answers the question on whether Christians are still compelled to obey Moses’ Law like the 10 Commandments. If you are to ask any theologian whether Christians are supposed to obey the 10 Commandments, their theological answer is an absolute yes. According to the theologians, the 10 Commandments are relevant and applicable for Christians today.

Are they correct? The Bible tells us otherwise. The above passage tells us that the law is not for Christians today. Let us begin analyzing from Verse 8 to get the full message from it.

Verse 8 tells us that the law is basically good. We can say that everything from God is good. However that is not enough. Having a good thing is not enough. We need to learn how to use them correctly. A knife is a good tool but it can also be used to kill. Likewise, for the law. The law is not meant for everyone. Verse 9 tells us more about this.

The first part of Verse 9 tells us that the law was not intended for people who do what is right. Do you know what is right? I do and so do all the Christians who truly read the Bible. So, if you consider yourself as one of the Christians who read the Bible, you are one of us who know what is right. As such, the law is not intended for you. However, if you still insist on obeying it, you have committed blasphemy. Blasphemy is a sin.

Whom was the law intended for? The answer is recorded from the second part of Verse 9 to Verse 11. Let me list down the rightful recipients for the law. Here is the checklist:

1. lawless
2. rebellious.
3. ungodly
4. sinful
5. those who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy
6. who kill their father or mother or commit other murders.
7. sexually immoral
8. who practise homosexuality
9. slave traders
10. liars
11. promise breakers
12. who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.

If you are still wondering whether you should obey the law, go through the above checklist and see if you fit in any of them. If you find an item that fits you, then the law is for you. Otherwise, you are not allowed to obey the law.

Why is that so? To put it simply, the law like the 10 Commandments was never meant to a part of God’s plan for us. I don’t think you can find the law in heaven. I do not think there is any law in heaven that forbids the angels from killing each other. Why is that so? I am sure it is not a common practice for angels to kill one another. So, the law that forbids killing is irrelevant for angels because it is not their nature to kill. Having a law that forbids angels from killing each other is like having a law that forbids cats from barking.

Wherever you are right now, I am sure there is a national law that forbids murder and I choose to believe that you are not planning to murder anyone right now. My question to you is why not? Does your intention in not murdering comes from your fear of the law or is it due to the fact that you have no intention to murder in the first place?

The law that forbids murder is useless to those who have no intention to commit murder. It is only applicable to those who have the desire to commit murder. So, if you do not have the intention to kill anyone, you do not have to obey the law that says “no murder”. This law is irrelevant to you.

The same goes to God’s law. This is why God has list down the rightful recipients for his law. Only those who fit at least one item in that list are qualified to obey the law. So, when the theologians say they are obliged to obey the 10 Commandments, they must be right because they must have met the requirements in the list.

As for us Christians, the law is definitely not for us because we do not fit the requirements in the list. However, if you are a Christians and insist on obeying the law, you will have to do something to fit into at least one item in the list.

What is your choice?

Jesus Had Accomplished The Purpose Of The Law

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
Matthew 5:17 (NLT)

This is one of the verses that theologians are afraid of. If you have been to any of the religious churches long enough, you will find that they have at least two separate versions of the Gospel. When they are in the “evangelistic” mode, they will present the Gospel that says Jesus loves you and died for your sins. All you need to do is to believe in him and ask him to come into your life. You will then be saved and become a Christian.

However, once you become a Christian, you will hear a different “gospel”. You have to obey their laws, in particular the law of Moses like the 10 Commandments. If you don’t, God will no be happy with you and there is no limit on how much evil he can do to you. You will be presented to a God who is a sadist. He loves to do sadistic things on you. As a faithful Christian, you are to receive them with joy like a true masochist. After all, God is giving you the grace and mercy to share in the suffering of Jesus. If God can be so evil that he sent Jesus to die at the Cross, how much more evil can he do to you?

That is not all. If you still do not obey the law, you can even lose your salvation. God will cancel your salvation and you will go to hell.

Recently, someone introduced me to a crackpot preacher who had even invented a special twist to theology. It seems that, after you become a Christian and you do not behave in a specific way (which undoubtedly includes obeying the 10 Commandments), you have never believed in the first place. In other words, you have never been saved in the first place. The introducer even told me that believing in Jesus is not enough. You have to prove that you believed. If you cannot prove you believed, you have not believed. Of course, such a “profound truth” is conveniently left out in all evangelistic messages because the audience is “not ready for the truth.”

So, according to theology, if you are not breathing you are not dead. You had never been alive in the first place. If you are married and you do not behave like a married person, your marriage never existed.

The above illustrations show us that theologians can never accept the truth that we Christians are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. They must add more requirements to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They cannot understand the truth that the law (of Moses) is no longer applicable for Christians. They will tell us that Jesus had never abolished the law. That is true but they ignored the part, which says Jesus accomplished their purpose through his death at the Cross.

What does that mean? We shall find out in this article. In order to know how Jesus had accomplished the purpose of the law, let us look at the purpose of it.

19 Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.
Galatians 3:19 (NLT)

The law was never designed to make us holy. It was designed to show us sins. Its purpose was to show us how much we need Jesus. The law will last only until the coming of the child who was promised. Jesus was the child who was promised. In other words, the law of Moses which include the 10 Commandments should no longer exists in the hearts of believers after Jesus died at the Cross. Any believer, who defies this rule has committed blasphemy. This includes the theologians.

Christians should live our lives based on the truths in Matthew 5:17 and Galatians 3:19. We should no longer focus on trying to obey the law. If we do that, we are behaving as though Jesus had never died at the Cross. That is blasphemy. Instead, our lives should be forward-looking. We are to live our lives with positive expectations of good things happening to us.

We live holy lives because we are holy. We are holy because God made us holy the moment we believed in Jesus (and we don’t have to prove our beliefs by pretending to live holy.)

So, do not allow yourself to fall into the lies of theology that tells you that you have to do certain things, obey certain laws or live certain ways to prove that you have believed in Jesus and are saved. It is your decision that you have believed. Once you have believed and received Jesus into your life, you are saved. Your salvation is final. No one can change that. Never allow the lies of theology to cause you to doubt the faithfulness of God.

Mercy Above Law

19 But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done.
1 Samuel 6:19 (NLT)

We shall continue with the story from the previous article. After realizing that keeping the Ark was more trouble than good, the Philistines decided to send it back to the Israelites. Not only that they had even put in some gold offerings in hope that the plague of tumors would stop.

3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”
4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.
5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land.
6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.
1 Samuel 6:3-6 (NLT)

So, the Israelites not only got back the Ark, they had some gold as compensation. The Philistines put the Ark in a cart driven by cows. The cows pulled the cart to the nearest Israelites settlement, which happened to be a border town called Beth-shemesh.

When the people of Beth-shemesh, they rejoiced and had a party. They sacrificed the cows that pulled the cart for the Lord and took the gold. Meanwhile, the Philistine rulers were watching the entire process and were satisfied that the Ark had arrived safely to the Israelites. They learnt a valuable lesson on that day. Never mess with the God of Israel.

When the people of Beth-shemesh were still celebrating, they did something unthinkable. They opened the Ark to see what was inside. The result was disastrous.

19 But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done.
1 Samuel 6:19 (NLT)

The disaster was even worst than what happened to the Philistines. The Philistines got tumor as the result of their abuse of the Ark but there was still hope for recovery. They were still around the neighborhood for quite a long time after the event. However for the 70 folks, they got an immediate death sentence. The question is, what is so bad about seeing what is inside the Ark?

A theologian will probably give a simplistic answer: It is the will of God. It was a punishment for disobeying God’s decree on not opening the Ark.

Does that help? Do you think God will kill anyone who disobeys him? If that were the case, the human race would have been extinct a long time ago. Let me make this clear. God did not design the Ark as a weapon of mass destruction nor was it meant to deliver biological weapons that caused tumors. The death and the tumors were the result of the abuse or misuse of the Ark. Another example for this is road accident. The roads and the cars were not designed to kill people. They were meant for transport. Yet, those who abuse it like driving recklessly can cause accidents.

So, what exactly killed the 70 people? Imagine yourself as the paranormal investigator from the X-Files sent to investigate this incident. What will you do? I hope you will not try to open the Ark yourself or you too will be killed. The first thing you should do is to search the historical records on the construction of the Ark to find out what were the contents. Let us do that now.

16 When the Ark is finished, place inside it the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, which I will give to you.
17 “Then make the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—from pure gold. It must be 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.
18 Then make two cherubim from hammered gold, and place them on the two ends of the atonement cover. 19 Mold the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold.
20 The cherubim will face each other and look down on the atonement cover. With their wings spread above it, they will protect it.
21 Place inside the Ark the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, which I will give to you. Then put the atonement cover on top of the Ark.
22 I will meet with you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the Ark of the Covenant. From there I will give you my commands for the people of Israel.
Exodus 25:16-22 (NLT)

We got the answer. The stone tablets containing the Law. In other words, the 10 Commandments were inside the Ark. On those days, they did not display the 10 Commandments like the way we display paintings and framed family photographs. They kept it inside the Ark. No one had ever seen the 10 Commandments after the Ark was constructed. What I mean is, no one alive. The 70 people in Beth-shemesh saw it and were killed immediately.

Unfortunately, there are Christians who had unashamedly display the 10 Commandments openly as though it is something to be proud of. There are Christian bookshops that sell them openly. There are even churches that arrogantly display the 10 Commandments at their pulpit. Don’t they know that they are committing blasphemy? When God gave the Law, he expected his people to put it in the Ark, cover it and never open it again. The 70 people disobeyed and were instantly killed.

The Law kills. Plain and simple. Why is that so? The Law represents the perfection of God. Human beings are imperfect. We are in no position to face the Law, not because the Law is evil but our imperfection is incompatible with the perfection of the Law. The 70 people tried that by looking directly at the Law and died.

This was the reason, God told his people to construct the Ark. The Ark is a box that kept the Law away form the people. The Ark was to be covered at all times. What is that cover?

17 “Then make the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—from pure gold. It must be 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.
Exodus 25:17 (NLT)

The cover is called the place of atonement. Other translations called it “mercy seat”. It represents mercy. The Law was covered by mercy. Even in those days where the Israelites were under the Covenant of Law, they did not face the Law directly. When they looked at the Ark, which represents the presence of God, they did not see the Law. They could only see the top cover, the Mercy Seat. They saw mercy.

This is how God wants us to see him. He wants us to see him as someone who is full of mercy. There is always a second, third and fourth chance. It does not matter how many mistakes you have made or the sins you have committed. God still loves you. God is for us against our sins. He is not against us for our sins.

How I wish I knew this truth when I first became a Christian. Unfortunately I was in a religious church. I never knew on how much God loves me. The only things I learned from that church were rules and regulations like going for missions, getting confirmed and giving money for the church building fund. Finally, God had opened my eyes to see his truth. He delights in his mercy, not the Law. It is the will of God to place the Law in the Ark and cover it with mercy forever.

If you happen to have any form of decorations with the 10 Commandments in them, I suggest you take them down, put them in a box, sealed the box completely and write the word “mercy” on it. Don’t ever allow the Law to see the light of the day ever again.

If Righteousness Could Be Gained Through The Law Christ Died For Nothing

21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Galatians 2:21 (NIV)

This is a powerful verse from the Bible. It basically separates true Christianity from the religious counterfeits. Let us begin with the background. The book of Galatians has recorded the harshest words from Paul. Paul was extremely angry with them. At that time, the church in Galatia was not the only one with the problem of sin. The other one in the Bible was the Corinthians. Yet, Paul’s words in the book of Corinthians were not that harsh. What was the difference between them?

The Corinthians committed outward sins. They committed adultery, they were arrogant and very political. These are sins but not as serious as those committed by the Galatians. The sins of the Galatians were inward. The Galatians committed the sin of being religious. Paul must have considered the sin of being religious to be the worst sin for him to use such drastic words. What exactly happened to the Galatians?

Somewhere along the timeline, they were infiltrated by the theologians. Those theologians had introduced religion into the church. They told the church that believing in Jesus alone is not enough. They must obey the Moses Law like circumcision and the 10 Commandments. As a result, the entire church fell into bondage. Their joy was gone. Their relationship with God was no longer based on love but on their obedience to the Law. Their church service must be on how to obey the Law instead of God’s love.

Does this sound familiar to you today? There are many churches today that operate the same way. They will tell you that being a Christian is not just about believing in Jesus. You must also obey the 10 Commandments. Not obeying the 10 Commandments is a sin and that makes you not right with God. This implies that obeying the Commandments will make you right with God.

Yet the above verse says the opposite. According to the above verse, if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! The message is, righteousness can not be gained through the Law. The Law can never make you right with God. Not only that, if you attempt to obey the Law as if it can make you right with God, you are making a statement saying that Jesus died for nothing. This is why religious churches are an insult to what Jesus had done at the Cross.

The first part of the verse says Paul did not set aside the grace of God. This means that obeying the Law is setting aside the grace of God. It is the rejection of God. No wonder Paul was so angry. While the Corinthians had committed many outward sins, they still believed in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In contrast, while the Galatians were relatively free from outward sins, they had committed the sin of rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the obedience to the Law. Their obedience to the Law was the equivalent of setting aside the grace of God and accusing Jesus for dying for nothing. Such is the worst sin to be committed by Christians and at the same time propagated by many religious churches.

In conclusion, the worst possible sin that can be committed by a Christian is to obey the Law Of Moses. Each time Satan tempted you to obey the Law, ask yourself the following questions:

• Who died for your sins, Jesus or the Law?
• Who died poor for you to live rich, Jesus or the Law?
• Who took away all your diseases at the Cross, Jesus or the Law?
• Who delivers you from all your troubles, Jesus or the Law?
• Who comforts you when you are in distress, Jesus or the Law?
• Who made you right before God, Jesus or the Law?

The answer to the above question is the focus to your life.

Jesus Did What The Law Of Moses Could Not Do

3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
Romans 8:3 (NLT)

This verse tells us the ultimate failure of the Law of Moses. The only thing this law could do is to show us what is right and wrong. However, it stopped short of helping us to do what is right and to avoid doing what is wrong. Why is that so? God attributed it to the weakness of our sinful nature. This weakness prevents us from doing what is right. No matter how much we tried by our own effort to get right with God, we will fail because the weakness of our sinful nature is there to stop us. Therefore, attempts to obey the Law of Moses will only result in failure.

God knew about it and did what the law could not do. He sent his Son, Jesus to die for us. As a result, sin’s control over us has ended. We are made right with God through our faith in him and not through the obedience of the Law of Moses. As a Christian, all these may sound like an established truth but it can affect our victorious lives if we are not aware of it.

Today, we live holy lives not because we are obeying the Law. We live holy lives because sin’s control over us has ended through the sacrifice of Jesus at the Cross. In other words, we don’t sin because we don’t want to sin, not because we are threatened not to. This sets us apart from religious people around us, including religious people who called themselves “Christians”.

Unfortunately, there are still religious churches today that demand their members to obey the Law of Moses like the 10 Commandments as though God will punish them if they don’t. They think the Law of Moses can save them. They have total disregard for Romans 8:3 that says the Law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. That is sheer arrogance. It is a blasphemy to think that we can save ourselves through the obedience of the Law. If salvation can be achieved through the obedience of the Law, Christ died for nothing. Reliance to the Law is a blatant insult to what Jesus did at the Cross.

Some religious people may ask, “Does this mean I can commit any sin I want since I don’t have to obey the Law?”

The answer is at the end of Romans 8:3. Sin’s control over us has ended. We don’t sin because we don’t want to. Sin is no longer our nature. While technically we are free to sin and still go to heaven, we will not do it because we don’t want to. We do not need anyone out there to force us not to sin. Not obeying the Law does not mean we must do the exact opposite what the law says.

Furthermore, laws are for law-breaker. For example, the law that says do not murder is for people who have the intentions to murder. If you have been living a life of love and never have any intention to kill anyone, this law is irrelevant to you. You will never commit murder regardless of whether this law is still in force. In other words, as long as we live in faith through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the entire Moses Law including the 10 Commandments is irrelevant to us. We are holy from inside out. This is true holiness. True holiness comes from within and not imposed from the outside.

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.