op: The Torah is still binding & we MUST obey it?
"What Saith The Scripture?":
A) knowing "the purpose" of the law:
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,
but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for
sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers, for manslayers" (1 Timothy 1:9)
In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, in 1 Kings 2:1-3, God taught how to walk in His way through His law, in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so the purpose of the law is to teach the lawless how to know God and Jesus, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which is also why Jesus said that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying it (Luke 10:25-28, Matthew 19:17).
B) knowing
why it "is still binding"
for the
unrighteous man (who will
Never 'obey it' all, Christ Being The Only "Perfect Obeyer" of law):
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith
is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
(Galatians 3:24 AV)
In Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is God's law. It is absurd for someone to interpret 1 Timothy 1:9 as saying that the righteous are free to live unrighteously because the law is binding only on the unrighteous.
Someone who disregarded everything that their schoolmaster taught them after they graduated would be missing the whole point of a schoolmaster. God's word lead us to God's word made flesh because it is God's instructions for how to know him, but it does not lead us to Christ so that we can then be free to do the things that God has revealed to be sin through His word.
In Galatians 3:16-19, a. new covenant does not nullify the promise of a covenant that has already been ratified, so it is also true that the New Covenant does not nullify our need to obey God's law in connection with the promise that God made to Abraham (Genesis 18:19, Genesis 26:4-5, Deuteronomy 30:16). Furthermore, in Galatians 3:26-29, every aspect of being children of God (1), through faith (2), in Christ (3), and children of Abraham and heirs to the promise (4) is directly connected with living in obedience to God's law. In 1 John 3:4-10, those who do not practice righteousness in obedience to God's law are not children of God (1). In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is one of the weightier matters of God's law (2). In 1 John 2:6, those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (3). In John 8:39, Jesus said that if they were children of Abraham, then they would be doing the same works as him (4).
C) knowing
what happens to "those who
insist they are 'of the law,' and
think they are obeying all of it for their salvation"?:
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it
is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them." (Galatians 3:10 AV)
In Acts 5:32, the Spirit has been given to those who obey God, so obedience to God is part of the way to receive the Spirit, however, Galatians 3:1-2 denies that "works of the law" are part of the way to receive the Spirit, therefore that phrase does not refer to obedience to the Book of the Law. According to Deuteronomy 27-28, relying on the Book of the Law is the way to be blessed while not relying on it is the way to be cursed, so Galatians 3:10 should not be interpreted as Paul quoting from that passage in order to support a point that is arguing against that passage by saying that relying on the Book of the Law is the way to be cursed and not relying on it is the way to avoid being cursed. Rather, everyone who does not rely on the Book of the Law comes under its curse, which is why all those who rely on works of the law instead come under that curse.
In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 saying that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys God's law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to God's law. The context of Habakkuk 2 contrasts the righteous who are living by faith with those who are not living in obedience to God's law, and in Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is God's law, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it. God is trustworthy, therefore His law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust God is by obediently trusting in His law, it is contradictory to think that we should trust God, but not His law, and to interpret this as saying that God's law is not of faith rather than works of the law is to deny the faithfulness of God.
Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4), so living in obedience to it through faith in Jesus is intrinsically the content of his gift of saving us from not living in obedience to it.
D) knowing
.... The Final Judgment .... of
those who think they are
obeying,
and calling The Righteous Judge "Lord, Lord" and Also boasting of ↑ ↑ ↑?:
"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth The Will of My Father Which
is in heaven.
Many will say to Me In That Day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy
Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I Never Knew you: Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. "
(Matthew 7:21-23 AV)
The Father has straightforwardly made his will known through His law (Psalms 40:8) and Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to deport from him, not those who are workers of the law.