But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

Jesus said that the teacher of the law who was instructed in the ways of the Kingdom, that is, of the Spirit, would be like one who brought out of his storehouses old treasures as well as new (Matthew13:52).  So too, today, the most important thing is to understand the life in the Spirit, but now like then, we can bring forth many more great treasures through the history of God’s litany.

The Gospel of John begins by drawing a contrast between the Law and Grace by saying this,

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

Yet, from the rest of the New Testament, we know that God still has a purpose and a desire for the Law, when understood in the proper spirit.  In fact, Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus says clearly that whoever breaks and teaches others to break the least commandment of the Law of Moses will be the least in the Kingdom of God.

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The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

John 7:7

The world hates followers of Jesus.  The verdict against humanity is this, that men, even though confronted with their own sin in the light, prefer to kill those who show them they are wrong, rather than coming with humility before an Almighty, merciful God (John 3:19).  Rather than feeling with their heart, they justify, set up road blocks, walls, and excuses that they cannot tell right from wrong any more.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

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I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Luke 13:5

Take an apple, cut it open, and put it on the counter.  Leave it there, say, for a week, or a month, and you will notice something. The apple is no longer the apple you left it as, but it is now destroyed.  Further, there is no repairing that apple to it’s original golden deliciousness.  It is now, if you leave it long enough, brown slime, and food for the bees.

This world, like that apple, is broken like that apple.  And, in fact, it was God that broke it for His own justice at the beginning, when the man fell.

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For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

The issue of the ages is a sin issue.

It has never been an issue of the knowledge of good versus evil, for that is God’s domain, and we were told to steer clear of it, but it has always been about sin.

From the beginning, it has always been about Life in Obedience.

The law was added due to the increase of transgressions.  God’s standard of right has never changed, but it was added.  It was God’s perfect righteousness.

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In one meeting, upon a riverbank, Old met New.  One was fulfilled, and one was just beginning.  He must increase, and I must.  He must become greater, and I must become less.

For, the law and the prophets were until John, and since that time, men were forcefully entering the Kingdom with violence (Luke 16:16).

The old system was to be replaced, and it was the New that mattered now.  The law was given through Moses, Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).

Jeremiah the prophet wrote this oracle:

 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

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Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-20

God’s original standard to Adam was holiness.  And, in failing that, by one man’s sin, death came to all.

God’s standard to Moses was holiness.  He who broke the smallest commandment was guilty of all, and hence deserved death.  He who sinned under the law deserved death, and even Gentiles, who were not aware of the law, proved that they were indeed under the law, for they demonstrate that the law itself was written on their hearts, so that their own hearts condemned them.  Therefore, he who sinned with the law, and he who sinned without the law, both perished because of it, for failing to meet God’s standard.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Finally, we come to the New Covenant, and for some reason, people think things have changed.  And, indeed they have changed, quite a bit, but God’s desire and conditions for complete fellowship really have not.

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You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14

Jesus said not to think that He was come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).  What this means for us today, was the He was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses.  What He lived on Earth, perfectly satisfied the perfect of justice of the Father, so that anyone who is baptized into Jesus Christ has lost their old life with its sin and corruption, and entered into that perfect, finished, and sufficient righteousness of God.

Yet, more than this.  In Matthew 5:19, Jesus says that whoever continues to BREAK one of these commandments AND teaches other to do so, will be considered least in the Kingdom.

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