Dr. Frank Einstein (12 page)

      Mt 5:17-19 seems to refute that the Old Testament is obsolete.  However, Mathew 5:20-48 confirms that Christians cannot follow the Old Testament:

5:21Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
5:22but I say unto you, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. 5:23If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, 5:24leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 5:25Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 5:26Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.5:27Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 5:28but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 5:29And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. 5:30And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell. 5:31It was said also, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 5:32but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery.5:33Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 5:34but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; 5:35nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 5:36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. 5:37But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.5:38Ye have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 5:39but I say unto you, resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 5:40And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 5:41And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. 5:42Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.  5:43Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 5:44but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 5:45that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 5:46For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? 5:47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the Gentiles the same? 5:48Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

      Putting Mt 5:19, 20 together with 5:21-43, it is saying that Jesus has the divine authority to change the law. Yet He does not
change the law. Mt.  5 21-43 reveal a higher revelation of the same law.  What Christians must follow is not the lower revelation of the Law through the Old Testament, but the higher revelation of the Law through the New Testament.   The higher revelation of the law is the way the saved, spiritual person must follow God.   To fulfill a contract means the contract ends.   By fulfilling this contract, Christ goes on to another contract: the New Testament.   I will give an illustration:  Let us say a rice dealer makes a contract with a rice farmer to buy one hundred pounds of rice every week for three years. When the three years has ended, the contract is fulfill.   Does the rice dealer have to keep buying a hundred pounds a week after the three years is fulfilled?  No. Because of the fulfillment of doing it for three years ends the contract.   Same goes with the Old Testament. Christ fulfillment of it will end the covenant.

      The Old Testament is the way the fallen, nonspiritual person must follow God.   Even John the Baptist is not good enough for Heaven because he is of the obsolete covenant.  26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.  28 For I say unto you, among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. The old covenant is not good enough even to get John the Baptist, who is, according to Christ, the greatest prophet, into Heaven. Only through the new covenant can anyone go to Heaven.

           Romans 9: nineteen -31 says

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole worl
d held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law

      Two examples of the difference between following the Old and following only the New Testament are
: Christians cannot be rich nor Christians cannot participate in the military.

  
  Christians cannot participate in the military.  Therefore, because of obsolescence of the Old Testament a Christian cannot use the Old Testament to justify his/her participation in the military. This is because God's use of the military is now obsolete.

     
These verses in the New Testament forbid Christians from participating in the military:  2 Corinthians 10:4 says “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds".  The Bible tells us,   a Christian never dies. He is just transformed into Heaven. 
      Matthew 5:44 teaches, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  Mathews 5 says blessed are the Peacemakers. In Acts 7, Stephen allowed himself to be stoned rather than fight Saul's henchmen.

       "When the soldier band came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane, impetuous Peter wielded a sword, striking off the right ear of Malchu
s, a slave of the Jewish high priest. Was it not a noble thing to fight thus in behalf of the Son of God? Jesus did not think so. He healed the slave’s ear and reminded Peter that His heavenly Father was able to send twelve legions of angels to Jesus’ aid. Jesus there stated the fundamental principle: “All those who take the sword will perish by the sword.”—Matthew 26:51-53; Luke 22:36, 38, 49-51; John 18:10, 11.

   
  Ephesian 6:10 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

     There is no war in the New Testament except the futuristic Armageddon. This war will not be fought by Christians but by God and his Angels with Spiritual weapons. 

   
In addition, the New Testament declares that being rich is a sin.  Luke 6:24 says, “Woe to you who are rich for you have receive you reward." Therefore, the rich will not receive the reward of heaven.   Mt 6:25 says, “You cannot serve to masters, either God or Money”.  God will not make a Christian rich. Therefore, no one who becomes rich off his or her ministry can be a Christian.  Making a lot of money does not make you rich.  Being rich means personally enjoying many and expensive things:  Big houses, luxury cars, designer clothes, jewelry. In Matthew 19:24, Jesus says Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.".  Therefore, no rich person will get into heaven unless they stop being rich. If a rich person becomes a born again Christian Jesus teaches “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal. But lay up to you treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.” – St. Matthew 6:19-20; Mt: 19:20-24 And every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’   25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.   27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’   29 “Abraham replied, ‘they have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them. ‘Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

                                         Chapter Twenty

    I blogged another article:

    It i
s true that Jesus said in the New Testament only twice that hell is forever.  I say twice not thrice because Matthew 18:6-9 and Mark 9:42-48 are essentially the same verses.   The other is Matthew 25:31-48.  Jude and Thessalonians say it once each. Revelations says it twice.  Therefore the bible says only hell five times.  People going to hell is a New Testament concept. Yet Jesus and the other New Testament writers also say hell is not forever.  In fact there are more verses opposed to this concept than agrees with it.   These are hell is forever verses:

Matthew 18:6-9
says

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it woul
d be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.