The Commandments of God (according to scripture)

God's law is spiritual (Romans 7:14), so it has always been intended to teach us deeper spiritual principles that are aspects of His nature and the way to know Him. God's nature is eternal, so all of His laws for how to testify about His nature are there also eternal, which is why Psalms 119:160 says that all of God's righteous laws are eternal, so none of them will ever become obsolete. In Deuteronomy 4:2, it is sin to add to or subtract from God's law, so while Jesus expounded upon God's law, he did not expand it.

The Bible never lists which laws are moral, ethical, hygienic, ceremonial, or civil, and never even refers to those as being categories of law. People are free to categorize God's laws however we want, such as I could categorize them based on which part of the body is most commonly used to obey/disobey them, such as with the law against theft being a hand law, but just because I can categorize them in that manner does not establish that any of the authors of the Bible categorizes them in the same manner, so I would quickly run into error if I interpreted them as referring to a category that I just created.

Morality is in regard to what we ought to do and we ought to obey God, so all of God's laws are inherently moral laws. While some of God's laws have aspects that are hygienic, the point is not to have good hygiene. For example, many people will wash themselves clean from dirt before ritually immersing. In 1 Peter 1:16, we are told to be holy for God is holy, which is a quote from Leviticus where God was giving instructions for how to do that, which includes refraining form eating unclean animals (Leviticus 11:44-45), so while there are night and day differences between how healthy it is to eat clean or unclean animals and there are a tremendous number of parasites and diseases that have been transferred to humans through eating unclean animals, the purpose is to testify about God's holiness, which is about much more than hygiene.

You know, the general sentiment that i've seen in a lot of Christian forums in regards to Revelations or the Apocalypse is a sense of fear and anxiety which i personally find very strange.
Because if the Heavens opens up right now and we enter in the final days, that would be a sign of joy or relief for me. Relief because finally God is here to redeem this fallen world, begin the eternal kingdom and the New Jerusalem and we go back to how we were supposed to be in The Garden but with more appreciation for our God.
It's a sign of relief and joy when it happens not fear, but that's just me i guess.

I never knew you

salvation is by grace through faith.

believe

I agree with most of what you say but you have not answered the question it is important ;

Now what do you do with all of the ceremonial laws, civil laws, are you saying these are forever? Jesus paid the price of our sins forever, will sacrifices resume in the Kingdom of heaven? I would like to hear from you on these obsolete laws that can no longer be followed.
Blessings,

He doesn't forget His own

laws for how to testify about God's nature

All of God's righteous laws are forever (Psalms 119:160) and God's nature is forever, so all of all of His laws for how to testify about His nature are forever. The only way that laws for how to testify about God's nature can be abolished is by first abolishing God. None of God's eternal laws will ever become obsolete and are no point should God no longer be followed.

salvation is by grace through faith.

believe

What are they?



Hebrews 8:8-13

The Bible often uses the same terms to describe aspects of the nature of the Mosaic Law as it does to describe aspects of the nature of God, such as with it being holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12), or with justice, mercy, and faithfulness being weightier matters of the Mosaic Law (Matthew 23:23), which is because it is God's instructions for how to testify about those aspects of God's nature. For example, our good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law testify about God's goodness, which is why they bring glory to Him (Matthew 5:16-17). Likewise, God's way is the way in which He practices aspects of His nature, such as righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:19) and there are many verses that describe the Mosaic Law as being God's way, such as Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Isaiah 2:2-3, Joshua 22:5, 1 Kings 2:1-3, Psalms 103:7, Psalms 119:1-3, and many others.

So the set of laws that the God of Israel has given paint us a picture of the nature of who He is. For example, if the God of Israel had instead commanded to commit adultery, then that would have painted a very different picture of His nature. By testifying about aspects of the nature of the God of Israel in obedience to the Mosaic Law, we are also expressing our belief that God is holy, righteous, good, just, merciful, faithful, and so forth, or in other words, we are believing in Him, which is why there are many verses that connect our belief or faith in God with our obedience to Him, such as in Revelation 14:12, those who kept faith in Jesus are the same as those who kept God's commandments. In other words, obedience to God's word is the way to believe in God's word made flesh.

Likewise, by practicing aspects of God's nature in obedience to the Mosaic Law, we are also expressing our love for those aspects of God's nature, which is why there are many verses is both the OT and the NT that connect our love for God with our obedience to His commandments. In other words, everything that God chose to command was specifically commanded for the purpose of teaching us how to love different aspects of His nature.

He is about as lovable as lovable can be... Truly!!!

Mercy me!!!

The Bible often uses the same terms to describe aspects of the nature of the Mosaic Law as it does to describe aspects of the nature of God

Mosaic Law
... it is God's instructions for how to testify about those aspects of God's nature.

He doesn't forget His own

Not everyone is in His fold and hears His voice and follows Him and He knows them.
1 John 2:3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

The words you are disagreeing with are not from me, Jesus is speaking here. Mat 7:21-23

None of that answered the question: What are the laws for how to testify about God's nature?

From Scripture, not your opinion or interpretation of Scripture, please.

i am not disagreeing with Jesus.

i am pointing out that those He says He never knew, He never knew - they are not people He once knew and no longer does.

do you disagree with that?

If a group of people were to create lists of which of God's laws they thought were moral, ceremonial, or civil laws, then they would end up with a wide variety of lists and none of those people who interpret the authors of the Bible as referring to a list of laws that they just created. For example, I've spoken with a number of people who think everything but the Ten Commandments are ceremonial laws, people disagree about whether the Sabbath is a moral or ceremonial law, and people can disagree about whether the command against kidnapping is a moral or civil law. All of them would be speaking about their own opinions and would not be deriving their lists from anything stated in the Bible, so there is no point in using these arbitrary and contra-biblical categories.

All of God's righteous laws are forever (Psalms 119:160) and God's nature is forever, so all of all of His laws for how to testify about His nature are forever. The only way that laws for how to testify about God's nature can be abolished is by first abolishing God. None of God's eternal laws will ever become obsolete and are no point should God no longer be followed.

The obvious end to your argument is that Christians must still attend the temple three times a year and make physical sacrifices through a priest.

You're either under the whole Sinai covenant, or none of it.