How do you substantiate that claim?
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SUBSTANTIATING THE CLAIM:
THE MORAL LAW (TEN COMMANDMENTS) NOT ABOLISHED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
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I. JESUS'S TEACHINGS ON THE LAW
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1. MATTHEW 5:17-19 (Sermon on the Mount)
PASSAGE:
"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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
SUBSTANTIATION:
Jesus explicitly states He did *not* come to abolish (kataluō – "destroy," "invalidate") the Law but to "fulfill" it (plēroō – "to make full," "to bring to its intended meaning," "to complete"). He affirms its enduring validity and the importance of teaching and obeying it. "Fulfill" does not mean "abolish."
2. MATTHEW 5:21-48 (Sermon on the Mount – Intensification of the Law)
PASSAGES (Examples):
- On murder (6th Commandment): "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment..." (vv. 21-22).
- On adultery (7th Commandment): "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (vv. 27-28).
SUBSTANTIATION:
Jesus deepens and internalizes these commandments, showing their true spiritual intent extends to thoughts and attitudes. This is an affirmation and expansion, not an abolition.
3. MATTHEW 19:16-19 (The Rich Young Ruler)
PASSAGE:
"And behold, a man came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?' And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' He said to him, 'Which ones?' And Jesus said, 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
SUBSTANTIATION:
When asked about eternal life, Jesus points to the Ten Commandments as the standard of righteousness.
4. MATTHEW 22:36-40 (The Greatest Commandment)
PASSAGE:
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
SUBSTANTIATION:
Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments under love for God (Commandments 1-4) and love for neighbor (Commandments 5-10). This distills their core principle, not abolishes them.
5. JOHN 14:15, 21
PASSAGES:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (v. 15)
"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." (v. 21)
SUBSTANTIATION:
Jesus's commandments are in harmony with the Father's moral law. Love for Christ is expressed through obedience to His teachings, which uphold God's moral character.
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II. PAUL'S TEACHINGS ON THE LAW
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1. ROMANS 3:31
PASSAGE:
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."
SUBSTANTIATION:
After establishing justification by faith, Paul emphatically states that faith *upholds* or *establishes* the law, likely by showing its true purpose and leading to Spirit-empowered obedience.
2. ROMANS 7:7, 12
PASSAGES:
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (v. 7)
"So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." (v. 12)
SUBSTANTIATION:
Paul affirms the goodness, holiness, and righteousness of the law (quoting the 10th commandment). Its function is to reveal sin.
3. ROMANS 8:3-4
PASSAGE:
"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
SUBSTANTIATION:
The "righteous requirement of the law" is fulfilled *in* believers through the Holy Spirit, indicating the law's moral demands are still valid and met in a new, Spirit-empowered way.
4. ROMANS 13:8-10
PASSAGE:
"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
SUBSTANTIATION:
Paul lists several Ten Commandments and states that love fulfills them, confirming the principle of love as their essence.
To be cont'd
