I'll Follow This Rule... and This One...Not This One...

As I've stated in previous posts (and comments on others' posts), one of my problems with the Bible is that some of the laws seem to be "outdated." I've never understood why people will scream and moan that we must follow this law... that some people are horrible sinners because they do not follow this law... but the law in the verse right above or below is completely ignored.

Well... I figured it out!!!

Ok, maybe I don't have it fully figured out... but I think I finally understand where I'm coming from. I understand where my issue lies. It isn't that I disagree with the Bible, or that I don't take it seriously. I do... very much so. But, the problem is with the two sets of laws. Yes, you heard me... two sets of laws. There is God's Law. And there is Moses' Law (Mosaic Law).

God spoke to the people and gave us the Ten Commandments. These commandments were written in stone by the finger of God.

These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. (Deuteronomy 5:22)

 After this, God spoke to Moses alone and gave additional statutes for him to give the people. These are the several laws listed in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (according to all information I found, they number 613). Look up Mosaic Laws if you're interested. These laws included us making sacrifices. They included stoning, burning, etc for specific reasons. These laws included a rapist being required to marry his victim. And, they also include the law regarding men having sex with men (and women with women).

Many (including myself) believe these Mosaic Laws were basically wiped out because of Jesus dying on the cross. In fact, Jesus himself makes changes to these laws. He does not dispute the 10 commandments (although, he does expand on them), but he does dispute some of the other laws.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expands on murder and adultery, adding that even thoughts of hatred and lust are breaking these commandments. And then he goes on to say that the laws regarding divorce, making oaths, the "eye for an eye" concept, and the concept of hating your enemies are all wrong. He changes them.

What does this tell me?

This tells me that those who claim these 600+ laws are obsolete because of Jesus are correct. The only laws in the Bible which still stand today are the ones which were etched in stone - the ones which cannot die - the ones which God himself wrote a second time with His own hand because Moses broke the first set. The Ten Commandments. AND, I'll also add the additional laws Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount are important. Are they "set in stone" as the 10 commandments? No. But, they were spoken to the people by the Son of God.