(July 29, 2014 at 10:10 am)SteveII Wrote: Jesus said he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Fulfilling it is not that same as "getting back to basics" or some other effort to clarify it.
Ignoring all the extras that the Pharisees heaped on top, the strictness of the OT Law was to show people they needed to be redeemed. Jesus was the fulfillment of the OT Law by being the final sacrifice needed so then salvation would be through belief in him and not through the rituals of the OT atonement system. Therefore the OT Law was not abolished nor destroyed
When referring to the "dos and don'ts" of the OT, Jesus said that is is not enough to abstain from murder, but we should not even hate. We should not only avoid adultery, but avoid lust. He was teaching that obeying the law was not a "works" thing but an internal thing.
Paul taught that circumcision and dietary laws (and other things) do not pass on to the gentile Christians.
So Jesus introduced thought crimes into the mix, and Paul found a nifty marketing gimmick to out-hustle competing Jewish sects in appealing to potential Gentile converts. Color me impressed.
