The Hard Sayings of Paul - Part 3

The "New" Testament and the Law

I'd like to make a suggestion that as you read through this article, note any and all passages and/or comments that might cause you to think more seriously concerning the Heavenly Father's Law.  My prayer is that you will come to see that the Savior died to save us from "sin" and not from the Law itself (sin is a violation of Yahuweh's Law, 1 John 3:4).

Imagine if you would, the apostle Paul going into a synagogue and opening up "the Scriptures" and, instead of reading from one of the books from Genesis to Malachi, Paul takes a letter out that he wrote to Timothy or to the Romans or Corinthians and tells the Jews in the Synagogue that this letter he wrote last week, or last month, is now the "new" scriptures? Or, how about the apostles Peter, James or John: Could you imagine them doing the same thing, teaching in the synagogues using letters that they themselves wrote and telling the Jews that the "scriptures" they have been following for the last 1,500 years weren't important any longer.

"Oh, sure" they might say, "there might be some good stories in those 'Old' Testament books, like David fighting Goliath, or Jonah getting swallowed by a big fish, but as far as the Law that the Almighty gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, the same Law that He sent prophet after prophet to tell Israel to turn back to, that no longer matters. It doesn't have to be obeyed any longer, it's been done away with!"

As unbelievable as I think that sounds, and hopefully you do as well, I'm afraid that's exactly what most of Christianity and the Messianic Jews of today believe. They might not phrase it the way I did, but if you think about it for a moment, that's exactly what they believe happened. They think that Paul and the other apostles were telling the Jews that the Law the Almighty gave to Moses did not have to be obeyed any longer, and the apostles used letters they wrote to prove it!

Even if such a scenario were possible, which of course it wasn't, never did the apostles or anyone else ever tell anyone that the Law no longer had to be obeyed. There are a handful of passages that Paul wrote, such as we're not under the Law and no man can be saved by the works of the Law, that we discussed in part 2, that so many people today misunderstand in thinking Paul spoke against the Law. Because of their "misunderstanding," these people DO NOT obey the Heavenly Father's Law!  And for that reason they will die in their sins, and they will die lost (Matthew 7:23).

If you have not read the Introduction, Part 1 and Part 2, please do so before continuing.

The "New" Testament - What is it, and What it is not? 

The first letter of what is commonly called the "New Testament" today was written approximately 20 to 25 years "after" the Messiah rose from the dead and took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3-4).  Many of the other 27 letters contained in the "New Testament" were written many years later.  The book of Revelation, for instance, is believed by most scholars to have been written in the year 97 A.D. while John was on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9). And the gospel of John was written after John left the island of Patmos and settled in the town of Ephesus, where he lived out his days. The gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, were written in the years 65, 67, 68 A.D. respectively. The following is a list indicating approximate dates, however, based on the writings of the early church historians, they’re very close to being accurate:

• Book of Acts, 63 A.D
• Letter to the Romans, 56 A.D.
• 1 Corinthians, 52 A.D.
• 2 Corinthians, 55 A.D.
• Colossians, 62 A.D.  
• Galatians, 53 A.D.
• Ephesians, 60 A.D.  
• Phillipians, 61 A.D.  
• 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 51 A.D.  
• 1 and 2nd Timothy, 62 and 64 A.D.  
• Titus, 62 A.D.  
• Philemon, 61 A.D.
• Hebrews, 60-67 A.D.
• James, 62 A.D.  
• 1st and 2nd Peter, 66 and 67 A.D.
• 1 John, 85 to 95 A.D.
• 2 John, 90 A.D.  
• 3 John ??

So, it is important for us to remember when reading the books of what is commonly called the “New” Testament today, that is from Matthew to Revelation, that none of these letters would have even been written for another twenty-some years after the resurrection of the Messiah Yahoshua. In other words, the books we call the ‘New” Testament didn’t exist, not even one letter, for the first twenty- some years of the preaching of the Good News. We will discuss some of the ramifications of that in a moment. The fact remains that the apostles never used anything they wrote (in preaching the good news, that is) at least for the first twenty-some years.

In the year 150 A.D., there is an account of a man named Justin Martyr, a very well know Christian apologist. "Apologist" doesn't mean he "apologized" for anything. The word in the Greek means "to defend"--he was a "defender" of the Christian faith at that time. Justin Martyr had a debate with a Jew named Trypho. In the debate Justin Martyr said this: “All who live in the cities or in the country gather together in one place and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. When the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs and exhorts to the memories of these good things,” (Justin Martyrs First Apology, 67, 155 A.D.). Justin Martyr refers to the writings of the apostles as the "memoirs of the apostles" and not as the "New Testament."  It would not be until the year 200 A.D., that a historian named Tertullian (who was the first ever that we know of) referred to the writings of the apostles as the "New Testament." That is, the writings that were available to him. Up until that time, there is no historical record of all of the 27 letters being compiled into the book form we have today.  

In the year 322 A.D., Constantine, the Roman emperor at the time who went on to become the first "Roman Catholic Pope," commissioned a 4th century historian named Eusibius to gather all the known writings of the apostles and early followers of the Messiah.

Eusibius was to decide which letters were "credible" and which ones were not, for at that time there were a number of pseudepigrapha letters being circulated. It was Eusibius' job to compile those letters that he deemed credible into a book form, after which fifty copies were to made up and sent to the Emperor. Whether Eusibius ever accomplished his task is uncertain. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't, we have no record of him doing so. But, if he did manage to decide which letters he deemed credible, and then put into book form, that would mean sometime around the year 322 A.D. would have been the first time that a collection of the 27 letters that make up what is commonly called the "New" Testament today would have been compiled (canonized) and put into book form.

What we do know for certain is that the first person to ever identify the same 27 books of the "New Testament" that are in use today was a man named Athanasius, a bishop of Alexandria Egypt. In the year 367 A.D., Athanasius wrote a letter in which he identified the same 27 books which are contained in the "canon" of what is commonly called the "New Testament" today.

Since none of the letters of the apostles would have even been written for the first tweny-some years of their preaching the Good News, and since the book commonly called the "New" Testament today would not have been "canonized" (put into book form) for well over 200 additional years after Messiah's resurrection, I think we can safely set aside the idea suggested above about Peter, Paul or John, going into the synagogues and reading one of their letters and telling the Jews that their letters are now the "new" Scriptures.

If the writings of the apostles and disciples were not considered to be the "New" Scriptures at the time of their preaching, then "what Scriptures" were they using to preach and teach from in the synagogues?

We will begin to answer that question by reading the account of the two disciples who met the Master on the road to Emmaus, after He rose from the dead (Luke 24:19-21).

The Road to Emmaus

Three  days after Yahoshua, the Messiah, rose from the died He met two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. As they walked together down the road, Yahoshua asked them why they looked so sad and what it was they were speaking to one another about. As we listen to their answer keep, in mind that these weren't men that simply "heard of" Yahoshua--these were two of His disciples, who in all probability ate, slept, and lived with the Messiah for much of His ministry on earth.  Listen to what it is they believed concerning the Messiah and what it was they hoped he was going to do:

Luke 24:18-21: and one of them, Cleopas answering said to him,…"Yahoshua the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of Elohim [G-d] and all the people,"…. we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.

Eventually, as they traveled, the Messiah somewhat rebuked them for their unbelief and beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures, Luke 24:27.

We are told that Yahoshua used "all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27) in explaining to them the things concerning Himself. What "Scriptures" did the Messiah use? Yahoshua tells us further on in the chapter exactly what "all the Scriptures" were.

Luke 24:44-45: Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses [Torah] and the Prophets [Nevieem] and the Psalms [Ketuvim] must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

"All the Scriptures" used by Yahoshua to demonstrate that He was the Messiah were what is called the "Tanak," or that which is commonly called the "Old Testament" today. As explained in the footnote in Part 1 of this series, the word "Tanak" is an acronym for "Torah" (the Hebrew word usually translated "Law," representing the first five books of the Bible attributed to Moses);"Nevieem" (translated "Prophets") and "Ketuvim" (translated "Writings," meaning the Psalms, Proverbs, and so forth). The three portions of the Scriptures mentioned above by the Savior, make up "all" the Scriptures that the Messiah and Apostles used.

Did you notice also what it was that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were expecting the Messiah to do?  Did they think He was going to put an end to the Almighty's Law? No, of course not! The Messiah was sent to redeem Israel (Luke 24:21). The word "redeem" means to "buy back." It was going to be His sacrifice for our sins that would "redeem" us back to the Heavenly Father (Isaiah 62:11-13; Isaiah 52:1-3, 8-10; Isaiah 35:9-10; Isaiah 44:21-23).

If it were not for the misunderstandings so many have today concerning some of the things Paul said, the "Good News" would be understood today. The "Good News" is the fact that the Messiah died to save us from ouir "sins" and not from the Heavenly Father's Law. The Father, Yahuweh,  sent His only begotten Son into the world to suffer and die--to put an end to sin, Matthew 1:21.

What is "sin"? "… sin is the transgression of the law," 1John 3:4.

The Messiah died to save us from our "sins"  -  not "from the Law."    

As we read through the following accounts of the apostles preaching and teaching from the "Scriptures," the fact is that "no one" in their day, nor for another approximately 150 years afterwards, ever referred to the gospels and evangels as the "New Testament." In all the examples we will be looking at, the word "Scriptures" being spoken of is clearly always talking about the Tanak.

The New Testament (or Covenant)

Please don't misunderstand what it is I'm saying here, I believe every word contained in the Gospels and evangels, except for maybe two or three passages that most scholars agree do not belong there. I am NOT minimizing the importance of the apostles' writings, for without them we would have almost no record of the Messiah and the things He said and did. I firmly believe every word they wrote (except for the few I mentioned that were added centuries later). What I am saying is this: NEVER did Almighty Yahuweh, the Messiah, the prophets, or apostles ever say that the "New Testament" was going to be a collection of 27 letters.  Yahuweh Himself tells us what the New Testament or Covenant is.

Jeremiah 31:31-34: 'Behold, days are coming,' declares Yahuweh, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,' declares Yahuweh. 'But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares Yahuweh, 'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people. ....for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares Yahuweh, 'for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.' (See also Hebrews 8:7-13, especially Verse 13.)

The "New" Covenant is "the Law written on our hearts." What "law" do you suppose the Almighty was speaking of in Jeremiah, roughly 600 years before the Messiah walked the earth? As we've discussed earlier, there is only one Law, and one Lawgiver, in the entire Bible, not two (James 4:12; Numbers 15:16,29; John 6:44-45; John 7:17); and that is the Law that Yahuweh gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. A Law which He tells us:

• is perfect, (Psalm 19:7);
• will endure forever (Deuteronomy 7:9; Malachi 4:1-6; Matthew 5:18; 2 Kings 17:37);
• not to add to or take away from (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32).

The "New" Covenant or Testament, is not a physical thing, it is not a collection of  letters--it is spiritual. It is the Heavenly Father's Law written on the hearts of His People. The very Law that Satan, through his ministers, has deceived so many today into believing they no longer have to obey.

As important as the books from Matthew to Revelation are in helping us to know and understand what it means to be "saved," they are not the New Covenant--no more than the books from Genesis to Malachi are the "Old Covenant." The so-called Old Covenant is recorded "in" the books from Genesis to Malachi, just as the New Covenant is recorded "in" the books of Matthew to Revelation, but the books themselves are not the Covenants. Again, as Yahuweh Himself tells us, the "New" Covenant is the Law written on our hearts.

What does it mean to have the Law on our hearts?  

The Law on the hearts of Yahuweh's people is not something that is going to happen at some future date. It is true that in the Kingdom, at the fulfillment of the "New Covenant," the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahuweh, as the waters over the sea (Isaiah 11:9). The Father's Law, at that time, will be on every man's heart (Jeremiah 31:34). But, the fact is that there has always been a people (a remnant to be sure) that had, and have, the Father's Law on their hearts. He is speaking to us today:

Isaiah 51:5-8: My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arm will judge the peoples [Acts 17:30-31]; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly [Isaiah 53:1, 2-12]. Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath; for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not wane. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness [Deuteronomy 6:25; 1 John 3:4-10], a people in whose heart is My law; do not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their reviling. For the moth will eat them like a garment, and the grub will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation to all generations.

Psalm 37:30-31, 34: The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his Elohim is in his heart; his steps do not slip. [34] Wait for Yahuweh and keep His way [His Law], and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it [Psalm 37:11; Matthew 5:5].

To have the "law on our hearts" simply means we don't have to turn to the written Word, the Torah, to find out what the Almighty expects of us.

For instance:

• We don't have to turn to the written Torah to find out how to obey His Sabbath Day, we already know. We have read it and practiced it enough times where now it's "on our hearts" and in our minds.
• We don't have to turn to the written Torah to find out about how to observe the Feast Days. Through the studying of His Word, His Torah, we know how--it's "on our hearts" and in our minds.
• We don't have to read the written Word to find out what animals Yahuweh considers food, and what animals He considers an abomination when eaten. Through the studying of His Word, His Torah, we already know, it's on our hearts, in our minds.

Someday real soon that Law will be on the hearts and minds of all His People. Why not become one of those people now, today? For it is written, Today, if you hear his voice, please, do not harden your hearts, Hebrews 3:7-8, 13. Don't wait for tomorrow. We are never promised a tomorrow; tomorrow may never come (Matthew 7:23).

Let me remind you the reader of something the Messiah said concerning our need to know the Tanak. In John 6:44, Yahoshua tells us that, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. How is it that the Father "draws" people to the Messiah? The Savior answers that question for us in the very next verse. John 6:45, "It is written in the prophets, 'and they shall all be taught of Yahuweh.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me,"

At the time the Messiah made this statement, what was the "only" way that someone could have been "taught of Yahuweh" and "heard and learned of the Father"? It was through the reading and studying of the Tanak, the "only" Scriptures that Yahoshua and the apostles used in their life times; the same Scriptures that so many people today think of as being irrelevant! 

There is so much more I could say about the "covenants" and the "canonizing" of the letters of the "New Testament," but the thing that is important for us to realize now is that in the "New Covenant," it is not that the Law was going to be done away with, but rather just the opposite--that the Law would be written upon our hearts. It is:

• The same Law that the Messiah followed.
• The same Law we are commanded to obey as we walk even as He walked, John 2:6;
• The same Law we would be forced to follow if we joined ourselves to the Messiah's yoke... (Matthew 11:28-30); and
• The same Law Paul tells us we will perish if we don't obey it (Romans 2:11-13).

For the remainder of this part, we are going to look at some of the various accounts of the apostles preaching and teaching. In the process hopefully you will see, if you haven't already, that never did they tell anyone that the Law had been done away with! They did just the opposite. They constantly told the people to "repent"  ("turn from their sins"), and turn back to the Law (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30).

Keep in mind as we read all the following passages that sin is a violation of Yahuweh's Law, the same Law that Satan has so many today believing they no longer have to obey.

• We are told in John 8:11 that a woman who was caught in the act of adultery was brought to Yahoshua. The Pharisees, wanting to test him, asked the Messiah what should be done with her? According to the Law she should've been stoned, on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). But, by the time Yahoshua finished writing on the ground, there wasn't even one witness to be found. So, consequently, Yahoshua didn't condemn her either, but as it's recorded, He did tell her to, Go and from now on sin no more, John 8:11.
• On another occasion, some people came to Yahoshua and told him of certain Galilaeans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Yahoshua said to them, do you think that was bad, I'm going to tell you what, unless you repent and quit sinning, you are all likewise going to perish. And He went on to say to them, "and what about the eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, do you think they were somehow bigger sinners than everyone else in Jerusalem? Again, I'm telling you no, but except you repent and stop sinning you are all going to likewise perish," Luke 13:1-5 (paraphrased).
• Yahoshua,  …didn't  come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, Luke 5:32.

Contrary to the misunderstanding that so many have today, there were and are "righteous" people in the world, as we saw above (Isaiah 51:7; Psalm 37:31). But since a few have been given honorable mention in the scriptures, we will mention some of them here also:

• There's Zechariah and Elizabeth who were "blameless" keeping all the commandments of Yahuweh perfectly (Luke 1:6);
• Righteous Abel and Zechariah (Matthew 23:35);
• John the Baptist, was a righteous and holy man (Mark 6:20);
• Simeon, a righteous and devout man (Luke 2:25);
• Joseph, of Arimathea, a righteous man (Luke 23:50);
• Cornelius, the first gentle convert was considered "righteous" even before he converted, meaning he was keeping the commandments before he was baptized (Acts 10:22; 10:34-35; Deuteronomy 6:25); and
• Yahoshua talks about "many" prophets and righteous men (Matthew 13:17).

And it will be the "righteous" that will be left when the wicked are "raptured" out (Matthew 13:49; Matthew 13:43). I'm sorry to say that the "rapture" is one doctrine that Christianity has right. Because of their disobedience to the Law in thinking they don't have to obey it, they will be "raptured" in the end, but it won't be a good thing (Matthew 13:41-43; 13:49-50). 

Before we go through the book of Acts and take a look at the accounts of what it is that the apostles were preaching and teaching, it is important that we first recognize two facts that are oftentimes overlooked.

All or Nothing

Even those that believe the Law has been done away with are careful not to say it was done away with "immediately." Most people would agree that it is obvious in reading the Book of Acts that the apostles never told anyone that the Law didn't have to be obeyed, at least as some say today, right away. So what they say is, "Well, the apostles didn't realize right away that the Law was done away with. It was something they learned gradually." And then these same people might try to use something like the vision Peter had on the roof in Acts chapter 10, to say that "at that point in time" the food laws were done away with. Of course, that vision was to show Peter, and the Jews, that the "gentiles" were now accepted into the faith (Acts 10:17, 28, 34-35). It wasn't to show Peter that Yahuweh had now sanctified pigs, snakes, rats and cats as food (Leviticus 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41-42).

Then these same people will go on to say that it was in Acts 15, which occurred some twenty years "after" the apostles had already been preaching the Good News of the Kingdom for twenty-some years, that they came together for the first time, at the council in Jerusalem, to "decide" whether the Law had to be obeyed or not. But you see that could not have possibly been the reason for their coming together, for Paul tells us in Galatians: Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it, Galatians 3:15.

You see once a covenant has been ratified, or sealed, it can no longer be changed in any way whatsoever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. So contrary to what a number of ministers teach or believe, once the Messiah died, nothing could be taken away from or added to His covenant. His covenant began the moment He died.

Hebrews 9:16-17: For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

So it wasn't, as I've heard people say in the past, "a progressive thing" in the Law being done away with. That is not possible. Either "all" of the Law was done away with the very second that the Savior took His last breath, or it wasn't done away with at all. The fact is "it wasn’t done away with at all."

The apostles knew exactly what it was they were preaching and teaching on that very "first day," the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:22-40). It wasn't something they "gradually" learned as they went along, as I've heard people in the past imply. It has always amazed me the arrogance that some people have in thinking they know more then the apostles did--the apostles who traveled with the Messiah, ate their meals with Him, and slept next to Him at night. Yet, some people today think they know more of what Yahoshua meant in the things He said, then the apostles did!

The fact is, if someone wants to believe that Yahoshua died to set them free from the Almighty's Law, rather then their sins, then they have to believe that "all" of the Law ceased the moment the Messiah took His last breath.  As we read through the book of Acts, it is going to be very obvious that no one thought that to be the case.

Not all of the Law

What I'm about to say may shock some of you at first but you will see that it is absolutely true. The Messiah, Yahoshua, told us that until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke will pass from the Law, Matthew 5:18. Sadly just about all of Christianity refuses to believe that. They fail to see it was "sin" that the Savior died to set us free from--NOT THE LAW. Allow me to state it another way: It was never Yahoshua's intent to change or do away with His Father's Law. The fact is, He could not have changed it or done away with it, "even if he wanted to," (John 7:16-17). Why is it that it could not have been changed? Well, as we just read above, Paul tells us in Galatians 3:15 that once a covenant has been ratified, "no one has the right to add anything to it or take anything away from it."

When the Almighty made the covenant with the nation of Israel, and the people agreed to obey all that Yahuweh had commanded (Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 7), Moses "sealed" that covenant with the blood of a bull (Exodus 24:8) and at that point it could not be changed, which is why we are told not once, but twice, that nothing is to be added to it or taken away from it, EVER!

Deuteronomy 4:2: You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahuweh your Elohim which I command you.

Deuteronomy 12:32: Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Does anyone find it somewhat amazing that after reading that no one is to add to or take away from the Law that Satan has deceived so many people into believing that the "ENTIRE" Law has been done away with? I know I do!

But someone might ask, "Didn't the fact that the Messiah died to save us from sin, mean the Law somehow changed?" To that person I say, "Good question, but the answer is still no."

What did we just read in Jeremiah 31 about the New Covenant? Did it say that the Law was going to be changed or done away with? No, it said that same Law was going to be put on the hearts of all of Yahuweh's people. Then why did Yahoshua have to die? Yahoshua died as a sacrifice, a vicarious atonement, for the sins of those that would surrender their lives to Him, and let Him live His life in us and through us (Galatians 2:20). Well then, someone might say again, "then He changed the Law."  No, not at all.  As Paul explains it:

Acts 13:38-39: Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and through Him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified through the Law of Moses.

What was it that "we could not be justified for through the Law"?  (I know I mentioned this in Part 2 but it bears repeating.)

You have to understand that there were basically two types of sin mentioned in the Torah, "unintentional" sin and "intentional" sin. (I'm simplifying that somewhat to make the point here.)  All the sin sacrifices in the Torah were specifically for one type of sin, and that was "unintentional" sin. "Unintentional" meaning times we violated the Law unknowingly or in ignorance. For that type of sin, a sacrifice could be made and the sin would be forgiven (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; Numbers 15:28). But, what if someone was aware that what they were about to do was a direct violation of the Law, and they decided to it anyway, let's say like working on the Sabbath day? What could that person do to make it right with the Almighty? Listen carefully! The answer is "NOTHING." The penalty for that sin is death! That person was totally cut off from being part of Yahuweh's people, and there was not any way, according to the Law, they (or us) could be justified!

Numbers 15:30-31: But the person who does anything defiantly [knowingly], whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming Yahuweh; and that person shall be cut off from among His people. Because he has despised the word of Yahuweh and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him. (You might want to go back and re-read Part 2, By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be Justified..., Romans 3:20.)

I don't think it was a coincidence that right after telling us we would be completely and utterly cut off, that in the very next verse we are given an example of a man that did exactly that, violated the Sabbath. You might want to read the account in Numbers 15:32-36.

So, again, there were no provisions in the Law by which a person could justified back to Yahuweh for the intentional sins he committed, sins that were punishable by death, such as working on the Sabbath Day. So for us to reconciled back to our Father, Yahuweh had to make a way "outside" the Law and that is exactly what He did. He sent His only begotten Son, to suffer a cruel and agonizing death because of the times YOU and I violated His Law! Yahoshua did not die to change anything about the Law, He died to "fulfill" that which the Law required--the penalty for "intentional" sin, which was "death."

Romans 8:3-4: For what the Law could not do, Yahuweh did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The Law required the death sentence for the transgressor, and the death sentence was carried out. "Thank you," Yahoshua!

Click to continue to Part 4