Tell me what book, chapter and number contradicts what Christ said here...
Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Matthew 5:18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Here is the problem. Either nothing has changed - AT ALL, or we are in the New Heaven and New Earth. I had a problem with this verse for a long time.
Circumcision was part of the Law. And yet, Paul says, "Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you." (Gal 5:2)
As a matter a fact, the very fact that Gentiles have been offered the same promise as the Israelite is a change in itself. Under the Law, Gentiles were excluded from the promise, except through being a slave that had an awl driven through their ear.
Acts 15:13-29
[SUP]
13 [/SUP]After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. [SUP]
15 [/SUP]With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,[SUP]
16 [/SUP]‘
After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
[SUP]17 [/SUP]So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’
[SUP]18 [/SUP]Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.
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19 [/SUP]
Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, [SUP]
20 [/SUP]but
that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. [SUP]
21 [/SUP]For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
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22 [/SUP]Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, [SUP]
23 [/SUP]and they sent this letter by them,
“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.
[SUP]
24 [/SUP]“Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with
their words, unsettling your souls,
[SUP]25 [/SUP]it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, [SUP]
26 [/SUP]men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. [SUP]
27 [/SUP]“Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word
of mouth. [SUP]
28 [/SUP]“For
it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and
to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:[SUP]29 [/SUP]that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”
The New Heaven and New Earth are spiritual. This did not mean a literal New Earth, but a new system, if you will, where Israelites and Gentiles could have hope in Jesus Christ. I have heard people say that this removes hope, but on the contrary, it is our hope. Until Jesus Christ died and was resurrected, we could not be saved - None of us. And in my opinion, the doing away with the old system was finalized in the destruction, by God (whether He used Romans, or not), of the Temple and the bloodline of the Levites. That was God's way of putting a complete end to the sacrifice, which became sin because it was a rejection of Jesus Christ.
If one "letter" or "stroke" has passed from the Law, then we are in the New Heaven/New Earth.
Matthew 5:18
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
