The Barrd said:
That's because they are being taught a twisted version of Paul's epistles. Paul never taught that the law was "done away". He kept the law himself, and encouraged others to do it.
Folks just need to remember that Paul was a Jewish lawyer. Have you ever tried to get a straight answer out of a Jewish lawyer?
He does not replace Jesus...his job is to preach Jesus.
As Peter says, those who are unlearned and unstable twist his teachings to their own destruction.
Unlearned, as in unfamiliar with those "hard sayings" of the Lord, Jesus Christ...
Yes, Jesus' statement that those who love Him will obey His commandments is one of my favorites. But my very favorite of Jesus' sayings is this:
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Actually Paul did teach that the law was "done away". In fact, he used that very same wording, and when he did, he made very direct reference to the 10 commandments.
To say that Paul kept the law isn't really true. He believed in morals so it seems that way. But he at that point wasn't trying to keep the law and he certainly wasn't pointing to his performance as righteousness.
He encouaged others to be moral, but no... He didn't push the law on anyone. In fact the whole point of galatians was to scold them for going back under the law.
I've never talked to a Jewish lawyer. I've talked to a few lawyers before and they gave pretty straight answers except when they were asked to predict how the judge will rule on a case. Besides, paul wasn't a jewish lawyer. He was an apostle. Calling him a lawyer is slighting his more important calling. In any sense, I don't want to talk too much more about this.... I don't like stereotypes. In this case its a little too close to anti-semitism for me.
People who like to stay under the law LOVE to speak of that verse in peter's epistle about Paul being hard to understand. In reality, paul was very easy to understand. To the Jew he was a Jew, to the Greek, a Greek.... He didn't come with flowery or enticing words.
So the question is who had a hard time understanding him? The pagans didn't; they knew exactly what he meant. His followers had a hard time in the beginning, but Paul straightened them out. The hardlined Jews who zealously followed the law? Yep! But they didn't believe Jesus either, so i don't think that is who peter was referring to.
That leaves only one other group: those who try to mix grace and works.
There's alot of those folks here and they don't understand Paul either.
I'm glad you finally found John 13:34. Maybe the next step is for you to understand that this is one of the two commandments he was teaching us to obey, and not the 10 commandments and thr rest of the lae of Moses.