it seems to me there are some misunderstandings happening, and I'm sure that I do not have the answers, but what I can I will do, and that is to point out some bones we seem to contend with...
first, when we're talking about the law, we have to remember that legal things use legal terms which may have differing usages dependent upon application....example: contempt. The word 'contempt', for those of us who don't spend a lot of time in court or watching television (court tv etc), is something akin to holding a grudge, but in terms of law it has a more specific meaning (ie, being held in contempt, basically meaning you're so against the law that you can't even respect it long enough to be tried in court right now).
ok so second, the words "law", and "commandments", are speaking of people who are bound to follow those laws (either by birth[such as civil laws] or by pledge or oath [such as a covenant or marriage, either to God or to a person])
When Moses went up the mountain, he was representing a people who were already under a covenant relationship with God, these were the people to whom the 10 commandments were given, but the people proved repeatedly they couldn't handle it. These idiots wanted more laws. They didn't even want to see God, they said they'd really rather not. So Moses gave them more laws. They were given a system where to be reconciled to God, they had to kill something, but God didn't give that to them because he desired sacrifice, God wanted a relationship. Because they didn't want a relationship with God, and would rather use death for reconciliation, they clung to the commands, even twisting them to be on the safe side. So Jesus, who repeatedly healed on the Sabbath, was accused of breaking the law, but we know Jesus never sinned. God asks us not to go our own way on the Sabbath, it's a day of rest, but if we lose the SPIRIT of the law, we can sin while still following the law.
So before Christ came, during the time of the covenant God had with his chosen people, had a lot of things that were just for them, such as the system of sacrifices. We can learn from reading those passages, and we cannot throw them out, because that would be to say we didn't need Christ. That doesn't mean you have to sacrifice things. That part was for those (in Israel) who would die before Christ, who followed the law the best they could, repented when they could not, and hoped on the promise of a Messiah.
So we can stop saying, "are you saying we have to follow the whole law of moses?", because that's not what I see the "lawkeepers" suggesting. They seem to me to be talking about the Law of Yahweh, which is a different thing.
So now that Christ has fulfilled the covenant/law given for the good olive tree- WOAH ok, lets not get info overload. Christ fulfilled the law by fulfilling the covenant. A covenant is also called a promise, or a contract. The word contract is a legal term, and since Israel had it's own legal system, they would have understood that the obligations, and corresponding promises, refer to a contract. If I have a contract that you will put a roof on my house, the roof goes up, the money is paid, the contract is now finished. Not that it didn't exist or have significance. So now, anyone who wants to go back to the contract between Israel and God, are rejecting Christ, and they are choosing to be judged according to the laws they want instead of the Spirit being offered. They want to plow last winters snow.
Anyway, Christ is our high priest, in the order of Melchisedek (a priesthood that existed before Israel, and therefor before Aaron)....the high priest has the power to agree on our behalf to a new covenant. In the new covenant, we are yoked to Christ....ok pause...
If we are free indeed why are we still being yoked? wouldn't that be bondage like the old law was? no, Jesus said, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30
What is a yoke, and how it relates to freedom or bondage, seems also to be a bone of contention here, although nobody seems to want to say it out loud, you can hear it in the spirit of people saying "which laws do you follow", "do you follow them perfectly?", so lets think for a second about yokes.
A yoke is a device of wood and rope, it bound 2 creatures together so that they worked as one unit. This is why we should not, to the extent we can help it, be "yoked unevenly" with a non-believer. Neither would go anywhere. If Jesus is on a mission to preach the Gospel, then we are on that mission too. We walk with Christ as we do what he does, as he saw the Father and did as he did, we should be seeing Christ and doing as he does. Since we can only see him by faith, we have to look at things and be observant (as a servant who knows not the hour when his master comes), and we have to do as we're told. Just as in any partnership, one must lead, such as a marriage, where like it or not, the man is the head; so in the church Christ is the head, and he told us what his commands are, and how to keep them, and even tells us that his spirit will dwell within us to help us. We need only accept the gift of salvation. If after we are married to Christ, we choose not to keep the commandments he gives us, we can be sure we are not going to accomplish anything in life. I'm not saying you go to hell. I'm saying Christians still have to obey they commandments given by Christ in order to walk with him, because of the yoke. So if you say you are running the race, and you are not in obedience and repentance, you deceive yourself.
If we consider that we need both the law, and the grace to fulfill the law, and that it needs to be the law of YHWH (the 10 commandments, and seek God/love your neighbor), not of Moses, I think some may see with more light.
