LOVE – THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: Die Liefde – die vervulling van die Wet
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone asked me, which boils down to: “When you proclaim that certain sections which are in the Old Testament are no longer applicable, how do you determine which are still applicable and which are not applicable?”
Firstly, the Old Testament is as much a part of our Lord’s Word as the New Testament.
However there are many laws, for example ceremonial laws etc. in the Old Testament, which according to my opinion is no longer relevant to us as Christians – because Jesus Christ fulfilled them and it, according to my opinion, encompasses generally what is in the Law of Moses.
Because we have the Holy Spirit living within us that guides us, and as we read the Word in its entirety, we understand that the Old Testament contains the promises of Christ and the New Testament with Christ’s coming is the fulfilment thereof and that Jesus Christ has given us a New Covenant / Testament.
As you will see with that which I send to you – because our Lord made a New Covenant with us, His children, it is an easy messurement for me personally that the things that are written in the Old Testament what we must or should not do – which is not supported / endorsed by the New Testament, is not applicable on us.
Because you see:
GAL 4:4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
GAL 4:5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonshipHEB 8:13 By calling this covenant “new”, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
I am going to give you just a couple of examples to demonstrate what I mean when I say that the Law of Moses, is not applicable to Christians.
While you read this, from time to time you must bear in mind that the Word teaches us, as I want to show you, that if you should break one of the Laws of Moses, you have broken all the laws of Moses.
To put it in another way – When you follow one of the laws of Moses, then you are obliged to follow all of the laws of Moses:
EXO 21:29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.
LEV 20:27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’”
LEV 12:2-5
2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period.
3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.
4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.
5 If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.LEV 20:10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.
Believe me; I could have given many other examples.
As I said – What some of the people who make certain sections of the Law of Moses applicable to themselves, seem to forget and what most people on purpose fail to proclaim because it is beneficial to them for some reason, who apply only certain parts of the Law of Moses to themselves and their followers, are the following:
JAM 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
JAM 2:11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery”, also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
It also applies in the reverse – If you apply one part of the Law of Moses to yourselves, you are obliged to apply the entire Law of Moses to yourself.
My great hero Paul explained to the Christians at that time, which believed that as a Christian you still had to be circumcised:
GAL 5:3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
GAL 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (mercy).
To summarize:
The Law of Moses and all its decrees was for the Jews.
And the Love Law of Christ is for me and you and all His other disciples:
MAT 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Therefore my great hero Paul was able to write as follows:
ROM 13:9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
ROM 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The following thoughts which I have written can help to explain my opinion more clearly and I will send them on request with great love to you:
• Hoe heerlik! Jy en ek is vry. Kom ons Wandel met hierdie vryheid in die
weë van ons Here. – How lovely you and I are free. Come let us walk in the freedom in the way of our Lord.
• Die wet deur Moses en die genade en waarheid deur Jesus. – The law through Moses and the mercy and truthfulness through Jesus.
• Wie volop saai, sal ook volop maai. – Those who sow abundantly, will also reap abundantly.
• God het ‘n blymoedige gewer lief. – God loves a cheerful giver.
Greetings,
Sakkie