God judges us by our faith in Him. Our faith is measured in term of our works. I tell you that if that were not so, we would have no need of the Bible, which from the Old Testament to the New Testament instructs us on the things we should do. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”
Does 2 Timothy 3:16 imply that the things the Bible tells us to do are merely to confirm to eachother our faith in God, while, as it says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “…For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart?” It is God who judges us on whether we have been righteous enough for entry into His Kingdom; man does not decide that.
But from what man has conveyed to us, which comes from God, there appear to be two paths to righteousness. In most Christian Bibles there is both the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament defines what is know as Mosaic Law, that is, the Law of God conveyed by Moses, and the New Testament defines God’s Law as conveyed by Jesus.
Suppose Moses and Jesus stood side by side, with Moses speaking first. Moses says, as per Deuteronomy 28:1, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.”
Then Jesus says, as per Matthew 5: 17-19, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus goes on to say, as per Matthew 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Well…Moses infers that we will be blessed if we were to abide by the 450 some-odd Laws that are in the Old Testament, and Jesus infers that God would judge us to be righteous if we merely abide by the two commandments Jesus has given us. At first glance, from what Jesus says, the two commandments encompass Mosaic Law, which includes things like not doing certain things on the Sabbath, and not to eat pork. But Jesus also says, in Matthew 15:11, “…it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” He also says, in Matthew 15:17-20, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person…”
But did not Jesus say that whoever relaxes one of the least Mosaic Laws will be called least into Heaven, if laws like not keeping Kosher are one of the least of the Mosaic Laws? And did Jesus not say he came not to relax the least of the Mosaic Laws? Is there a contradiction? It may seem so at first glance, but in a divine sense there is no contradiction at all if we consider that God wants, as is said in John 3:16-17, that we should all be saved.
Consider that man is not perfect, and that God in Genesis saw that the intention of man’s heart is evil beginning with his youth. That is, man is not perfect, so no man can abide by all the Laws in the Old Testament, at least at once. If God determined that man has to abide by every such Laws to be admitted in His Kingdom, then none of us have a chance of being there! When Jesus said that those who don’t abide by the least of the Mosaic Law will be called least into Heaven, I tell you he merely inferred that there is less of a likelihood that such of us would be admitted to Heaven, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t be admitted to Heaven at all.
If it is a sin to eat pork, we can ask God to forgive us of this sin and be cleansed from it. Psalm 51:1-3 says, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. WASH ME THOROUGHLY FROM MY INIQUITY, AND CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Now along comes James who says, in 2:10, “…whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” This seems to be a rebuke to those who are intent in following Mosaic Law to the letter. After all, why would God deny us entry into Heaven if we abided by all of the Mosaic Law? But as James has mildly inferred, to do so is a challenge, for if we don’t abide by even one of the laws, it’s like we’ve pulled away a link in a chain, causing the whole chain to collapse. So, we would be better off in aiming to abide by the two commandments of Jesus, mentioned above. In setting our sights as such, God may judge us to be righteous on the whole, disregarding some of our imperfections.
So, are there two paths to God? The answer has to be that there are. One such path is inferred by James, and the other path is given by Jesus.
Does 2 Timothy 3:16 imply that the things the Bible tells us to do are merely to confirm to eachother our faith in God, while, as it says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “…For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart?” It is God who judges us on whether we have been righteous enough for entry into His Kingdom; man does not decide that.
But from what man has conveyed to us, which comes from God, there appear to be two paths to righteousness. In most Christian Bibles there is both the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament defines what is know as Mosaic Law, that is, the Law of God conveyed by Moses, and the New Testament defines God’s Law as conveyed by Jesus.
Suppose Moses and Jesus stood side by side, with Moses speaking first. Moses says, as per Deuteronomy 28:1, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.”
Then Jesus says, as per Matthew 5: 17-19, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus goes on to say, as per Matthew 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Well…Moses infers that we will be blessed if we were to abide by the 450 some-odd Laws that are in the Old Testament, and Jesus infers that God would judge us to be righteous if we merely abide by the two commandments Jesus has given us. At first glance, from what Jesus says, the two commandments encompass Mosaic Law, which includes things like not doing certain things on the Sabbath, and not to eat pork. But Jesus also says, in Matthew 15:11, “…it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” He also says, in Matthew 15:17-20, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person…”
But did not Jesus say that whoever relaxes one of the least Mosaic Laws will be called least into Heaven, if laws like not keeping Kosher are one of the least of the Mosaic Laws? And did Jesus not say he came not to relax the least of the Mosaic Laws? Is there a contradiction? It may seem so at first glance, but in a divine sense there is no contradiction at all if we consider that God wants, as is said in John 3:16-17, that we should all be saved.
Consider that man is not perfect, and that God in Genesis saw that the intention of man’s heart is evil beginning with his youth. That is, man is not perfect, so no man can abide by all the Laws in the Old Testament, at least at once. If God determined that man has to abide by every such Laws to be admitted in His Kingdom, then none of us have a chance of being there! When Jesus said that those who don’t abide by the least of the Mosaic Law will be called least into Heaven, I tell you he merely inferred that there is less of a likelihood that such of us would be admitted to Heaven, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t be admitted to Heaven at all.
If it is a sin to eat pork, we can ask God to forgive us of this sin and be cleansed from it. Psalm 51:1-3 says, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. WASH ME THOROUGHLY FROM MY INIQUITY, AND CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Now along comes James who says, in 2:10, “…whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” This seems to be a rebuke to those who are intent in following Mosaic Law to the letter. After all, why would God deny us entry into Heaven if we abided by all of the Mosaic Law? But as James has mildly inferred, to do so is a challenge, for if we don’t abide by even one of the laws, it’s like we’ve pulled away a link in a chain, causing the whole chain to collapse. So, we would be better off in aiming to abide by the two commandments of Jesus, mentioned above. In setting our sights as such, God may judge us to be righteous on the whole, disregarding some of our imperfections.
So, are there two paths to God? The answer has to be that there are. One such path is inferred by James, and the other path is given by Jesus.
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