YAHWEH'S LAW APPLIES TODAY

There is much controversy about the law among the various Christian religions of this age. The general consensus is that the law has been done away That is, obedience to the laws of the Old Testament are no longer required. In our modern society it seems that the majority rules. The majority says the law was nailed to the stake or the law was cancelled.

Colossians 2:14 among other verses are then quoted as verification. Is this point of view valid ? Could this vast majority be wrong? It is alleged Yahshua fulfilled the law thus bringing it to an end. Matthew 5:17 is quoted to verify this point. just believe and you will be saved, that is all that is required Acts 16:31 will be quoted to attest to this concept.

A cursory reading of many scriptures seems to imply that the law was done away. Do these scriptures all add up to the ultimate conclusion that the law is truly cancelled? Could this vast majority of religions be mistaken? Could the numerous scholars who have studied this subject and arrived at this conclusion be in error? Isn't it probable that the majority is right and the minority is wrong? Let's turn to Revelation 12:9 to find the answer to this question: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him," According to this scripture, the whole world has been deceived by Satan. This is the majority. Could this include the scholars and highly trained teachers?

TRUTH HIDDEN FROM THE WISE

The answer to this question is also in Yahweh's word, Matt.11:25 Yahshua says the deeper truths of Yahweh's word have been hidden from the wise and scholarly and have been revealed to babes. The word babe in Greek is Nepios meaning unlearned, simple thinking people. Yahweh said that He would confound the scholarly and those who propose to be great He tells us that the majority (including the scholarly) are deceived; they are mistaken. "But Elohim hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and Elohim hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty," 1 Corinthians 1:27.

Keep this in mind during this study, you don't need to be a scholar or highly learned to understand the deep things of Yahweh. His truth has always been believed by the simple minority which has been right while the majority was wrong. To cite a few examples: Noah who Yahweh said was righteous, Gen.7:1. He was the minority but he and his family were right and the rest of the world was wrong and were destroyed on account of it. Lot was the only righteous one in two whole cities. Remember Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Eliyah, Elisha, the prophets and many, many others who were the minority in their time.

Let us not neglect to mention Yahshua Who was the only right one in the whole world. His apostles who He taught were the minority. Yes, the majority can be mistaken. They can be deceived. With this in mind let us begin by understanding how the unlearned, simple thinking person can understand while the wise and scholarly cannot. 1 Cor. 2:1-16 answers the question to its fullest. The deep things of Yahweh are spiritually discerned. They don't come by the wisdom of man but are given us through the Spirit of Yahweh. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all the truth if we are receptive, John 16:13. Through the Holy Spirit we have access to the mind of the Messiah and His Father. 1 Cor. 2:16

Let us now allow Yahweh's Spirit to work in us as we begin to study deeper into the subject of the Law. It is commonly referred to as the law of Moses This implies that the law originated with Moses. Let's clarify just where the law came from:"And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that Yahweh's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath Yahweh brought thee out of Egypt," Exodus 13:9. "Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no," Exodus 16:4.

THE LAW IN GENESIS

These and many other scriptures confirm that it is Yahweh's law. It originated and came from Him. No one will argue that point as it is self-evident. The setting of this groundwork is to show that these same laws that were given at the time of Moses were in force and known to the patriarchs and others even in pre-flood times and did not originate at the time of Moses. A careful study of the book of Genesis will reveal this truth.

A few of the more prominent scriptures on this topic start with Cain and Abel in Genesis, chapter four. Two things of note occur in this chapter. First, Cain and Abel both brought offerings to present to Yahweh. Abel's was accepted while Cain’s was rejected. Cain was crestfallen over his rejection. He was angry. Yahweh asked him why he was angry, then declared Cain would be accepted if he did right. If he did not do right, sin was crouching at the door.

1 John 3:4 states, sin is the transgression of the law. Yahweh told Cain he did wrong. If he did wrong, there of necessity had to be a law defining what was right in that situation. The presence of sin necessitates a law must have been broken, else it would not be a transgression. If Cain had not transgressed a law concerning offerings and what was acceptable, his offering would have been accepted. Yahweh expected him to know what was right and what was wrong. Knowing this, his offering was rejected.

Following this, Cain was furious. He tricked Abel into travelling into the wilderness where he killed him and buried his body. Cain knew this was wrong and he was punished because he knowingly killed his brother. For there to be a penalty there had to be a transgression or breaking of the law. Paul said that where there is no law there is no transgression. It follows that if there is no law there can be no sin and no penalty, Rom.4:15. Did Cain know of a commandment that said, thou shalt not kill? It is obvious that he did.

Let's go forward to another prominent case before the time of Moses where it is evident that the Ten Commandments were known to Joseph, Gen. 39:6-10. Joseph, after being sold as a slave into Egypt found favour with Potiphar, a captain of

Pharaohs guard and was given charge over all Potiphars possessions. Potiphar's wife desired to lay with Joseph, but he resisted her advances, saying he could not do such a terrible thing and sin against Elohim, verse 9.

How did Joseph know it would be a sin to lay with her? He was very familiar with the Commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery evidently taught by his forefathers. It was said of Abraham by Yahweh Gen.26:5, Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws. It was not just the Ten Commandments that were known to the pre-flood followers of Yahweh. Noah knew about clean and unclean foods, Gen.7:1-5. Tithing was also known and practised long before Moses, Gen.14:20; 28:22.

LAW ADDED DUE TO TRANSGRESSIONS

There are many more scriptures to verify that the law as given by the Ten Commandments was known and obeyed before it was given to Moses at Mt.Sinai. But these will suffice for the purpose of this study. To come to a correct understanding as to whether the law has been done away, we first need to know what the law is and what it does and how Yahweh uses it. Let's go backward in time to Pauls day and examine a scripture that most think says that the law was given as a punishment for sin committed by the Israelites. This question arises from time to time on the meaning of Gal.3:19: why then the law? It was added because of transgressions

Is it really correct to say the law was added as punishment ? Yahweh gave Moses the law to give to the Israelites. Can you think of a good reason why a written code of laws was necessary at that time? Let's go back to the very beginning of mankind to find the answer. Yahweh instructed Adam fully when he was created. Paul said sin entered the world through Adam, Rom. 5:12 (more on this scripture later.) Since sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4) then Adam was fully instructed in the law of Yahweh. This law was handed down from father to son for many generations (as yet not a written code of ethics). Circumstances led Jacob (Israel) and his family to take up residence in Egypt.

Because of Joseph they found favour in the eyes of the Pharaoh. In due time a new Pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph and was not disposed to be kind to the Israelites. They were forced into slavery where they remained for 430 years; they were not allowed to keep Sabbath, make offerings etc., to their Elohim. They gradually lost sight of who and what they were. They forgot Yahweh's laws, statutes, and commands which their forefather Abraham had kept and handed down to his sons. Moses questioned who it was He was talking to at the burning bush, Exodus 3:16. The Israelites would demand proof of whom Moses was speaking for they had lost contact with and had little memory of the Elohim of their fathers, being residents of pagan Egypt over 400 years.

They were ecstatic to leave Egypt and finally be free. However, the joy soon turned to complaining as they encountered numerous problems and did not know the power and loyalty of Yahweh. This attitude continued throughout the journey to Mount Sinai. When Moses went up to Sinai to receive Yahweh's instructions for the Israelites, he was gone forty days. They were so accustomed to the false deities of Egypt that they told Aaron to make them a deity, something they could see, something they could look at. Aaron complied, Ex. 32:1-6.

Take special note of this: they did not realize they were sinning. This was the deity which brought them out of Egypt as far as they were concerned, verse 4. They were following the practices of Egypt where they had been for 430 years. That is why they were given the law, to identify sin for them, Gal. 3:19. Not for punishment as some think, but to identify sin for the Israelites. The law was now written in stone to identify clearly what Yahweh's principles are. The law was etched in stone for Israel because of their sins, their transgressions.

This has not changed. The law still identifies sin, Rom.3:20, last part. Paul says, through the law comes the knowledge of sin. He says, also, (Rom.7:12) he didn't know he was coveting until the law identified it for him. He sees the law as a Holy thing and the Commandment is Holy, just and good ,verse 12. He agreed totally with Moses on this subject, Deut. 4:5-8. He saw the law as bringing wisdom to the Israelites. He saw the righteous concepts that the law teaches, verse 8.

Remember, the Israelites had been without law and any moral principles for hundreds of years while in Egypt. Yahweh could not in good conscience hold them responsible for their actions in this situation. Paul understood the concept, where there is no law there is no transgression Rom. 4:15. Yet he said in Romans 5:13: sin was in the world before the law was given referring to the written code given to Moses at Mount Sinai. Yahweh in His goodness and fairness could not impute a penalty without first outlining the transgression which He did through publishing and codifying the law.

PURPOSE OF THE LAW

Therein lies the purpose of the law. It instructs. It tells us the difference between right and wrong The law does not make us righteous. It does not give us salvation. It guides. Let me qualify these statements. The law does not make us righteous. It has no power to do that. It instructs us in righteous behaviour. It does not give us salvation. It is a mirror, rule and guide. It monitors our behaviour. It establishes rules to live by. It instructs us in the righteous behaviour that leads to the salvation process. That is what the law does. It instructs. That is what it did for the Israelites and that is what it does for us. Let us proceed with the law force and Yahshua not yet in the picture. The law defines sin. Sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4.The wages of sin is death. Rom. 6:23 first part. Therein lies the curse of the law, Gal. 3:13.

DEATH IS A CURSE

Death is a permanent condition that lasts for all eternity. There is no provision in the law for a resurrection. There is no provision in the law for eternal life. There are just temporal rewards pertaining to this life for obedience and a death sentence for disobedience. Death eternal. If we obey the law it is powerless in regard to us in that we are not under the penalty of death. We empower the law when we disobey. When we sin we give the law power over us and it can now demand a penalty to be paid. That penalty (wages of sin) is our death, Rom. 6:23. This is eternal death from which there is no escape.

Remember, there is no provision in the law for a resurrection. If we have sinned but once, the death penalty stands against us. There is no provision in the law for our forgiveness. From that point on, if we obey the law to perfection the death penalty for that one infraction still stands against us. It must be paid before we are right with Yahweh. It requires us to be dead forever. That is the state we are in with the law and without Yahshua.

Dead for all eternity. What would we gain by paying the penalty for our own sins? We are dead forever and still separated from Yahweh. What would Yahweh gain from this? Nothing. Just billions of eternally dead people whose whole existence was pointless from both positions. Question: can the law make us righteous? Answer: no, it can only instruct us and demand a penalty if we fail to heed its instructions. Can you see how pointless it would be for us to pay the penalty for our sins? We would be dead for all eternity with no hope of living again.

Therein lies the curse of the law that Paul speaks about in Gal. 3:13: the death penalty that hangs over everyone. He said in Col. 2:13 that we were dead in our trespasses. Paul fully understood the condition of mankind without Messiah. In Col. 2:14 he talks about a Cheirographon or legal bond which stands against us. This scripture has been translated in various ways: King James: handwriting of ordinances New International: having cancelled the written code with its regulations Revised Standard: having cancelled the bond which stood against us. All these phrases are translated from a single Greek word, Cheirographon. It means a legal bond of indebtedness This Cheirographon stood against us. This legal bond of indebtedness was the penalty that the law demanded to be paid, the death penalty for our sins. We could not pay this debt ourselves. We have already seen the futility in that.

SALVATION IN YAHSHUA

Enter Messiah Yahshua! He became cursed on our behalf Gal. 3:13. He paid the cheirographon or Bond that was against us and set us free from the laws curse. This cheirographon was marked paid and (symbolically) nailed to the tree with Messiah. Col. 2:14. Messiah accomplished what we on our own could not do. We are now justified before Yahweh. Rom. 5:9-10. We are reconciled to the Heavenly Father.

Take special note: This is not a completed salvation process! This is the beginning of the salvation process only! Give attention to the last part of verses 9 and 10. It says that now being justified or reconciled by the death of His Son we shall be saved by His life, 1 Cor. 15:17.

If Messiah has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins wrote the Apostle Paul. We are reconciled to the Father by the Death of Yahshua but we are saved by His life. Paul understood this and explains how this can be in Gal. 2-20. it is no longer I who live but Messiah lives in me. It is the resurrection and life of Yahshua that will save us. The salvation process began at the torture stake and Savior continues that process in us throughout our lives. Now that Yahshua has paid the penalty the law demanded which began the salvation process in us, where does that leave the law? Is it still required? Does it still play the same role in Yahweh's plan as it did before the death of Yahshua?

FORGIVENESS FOR BREAKING THE LAW

Yahshua saw the law was an instructor. He saw that it identified sin for us. He saw that it was powerless if we obeyed it. We give it power over us if we disobey its instructions. We give it the power to demand our death. Is this still the case? Can we still come under the curse of the law?

To begin to understand our current relationship with the law let's use an example from our era. When Queen Elizabeth was coronated she granted pardons to many criminals. Some were convicted murderers with life sentences. They did not pay the penalty for their crimes. The Queen forgave them and set them free. They were under her grace.

Did she cancel the law that convicted them? No, she cancelled the penalty. Could the law possibly convict them again? Could they fall from the Queens grace? Were they now free to do whatever they desired with no further consequences? Could the law no longer touch them? They remain under the Queens grace as long as they obey the law. If they break the law, they fall from the Queens grace and can once again be convicted by the law. The law still identifies criminal activities just as it did before the Queen was coronated. She cancelled the penalty not the law.

It is no different today with Yahweh's laws. Yahweh granted us pardons through the death of His Son Who paid the penalty in our place. The law remains as it was before. It is still an instructor and identifies sin. We are under Yahweh's grace. We remain in this state as long as we obey the law. Yahweh's plan is superior to the Queens plan.

Yahweh has inserted a forgiveness clause in the new covenant. He will reapply Yahshua's blood as atonement for our sin if we do transgress the law. 1 John 1:9 also 1 John 2:1-2. If we do sin, transgress the law (1John 3:4), He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. When sin exists, it needs to be forgiven and the law must also exist to identify it.

LAW DONE AWAY - NO SIN

As was stated in the beginning of this study, the general erroneous teaching of those religions professing Christianity is the law was done away and nailed to the stake Let's take this concept to its ultimate conclusion. Assume for a moment that this is true, that the law is done away. 1 John 3:4 says sin is the transgression of the law. If, then, there is no law there can be no sin. Then there can be no penalty. Paul said, where there is no law there is no transgression Rom. 4:15; 5:13.

Where does that leave us in relation to Yahshua and His sacrifice? If there is no law, then sin was cancelled at the stake. Since sin is the transgression of the law and it was cancelled, then every one born after that time has not sinned and has incurred no penalty needing forgiveness because there is no law.

Therefore, Yahshua did not die for your sins or mine as we haven't committed any, as we were born after He died and got rid of the law, and to this day we have not sinned, according to the no law teachers. That is the ultimate conclusion to the law done away concept. In that case we are not under grace because it is not necessary. There can be no other conclusion. How does this concept square with scripture? 1 John 1:8 says, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. John wrote this statement some 50 to 65 years after the death of Yahshua. He also said sin was still in the world, (1 John 1:10) if we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us. So what are we saying by the law done away statement ? We are calling Yahshua a liar and the truth is not in us. Read the scripture again. That is what it says!!!

SIN IS STILL WITH US

What about the many scriptures that are quoted that seem to say the law was done away? Most of these scriptures are in the writings of Paul. The first thing we need to know is Pauls attitude toward the law. A good place to start is with Pauls own words in Acts 24:14: but this I admit to you, that according to The Way, which they call a sect, so I worship the ELOHIM of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets.

If you read the preceding chapter you will find that Paul was being accused by the Jews of preaching against the law, Acts 23:29. Isn't that what people say even today, that Paul teaches against the law? Read again his response to this charge in Acts 24:14. In Acts 25:8 Paul says, neither against the law of the Jews nor against the temple nor against Caesar have I offended at all. Paul was innocent of the charges brought against him at that time and is still innocent of the same charge that is brought against him today by most of the Christian professing world. Paul taught the law is Holy and the Commandments are Holy, just and good. Rom. 7:12.

We have seen previously that Paul recognized that the law identifies sin. Rom. 3:20. Remember, Yahshua had died and was resurrected many years before Paul wrote this. But Paul said the law still identifies sin. It is still doing what it had done since creation, defining what sin is. It still instructs.

Notice especially that Peter warns us to be careful of Pauls writings: "As also in all his [Pauls] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction," 2 Peter 3:15-16 AV.

YAHSHUA'S WORDS

Let's go now to the person who was supposedly the head of the Jerusalem assembly of believers. He is writing to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. In James 2:8-12, he discusses the royal law. you shall love your neighbour as yourself That is the second part of the royal law. Let's turn to Matt. 22:35-40 to find the complete royal law. you shall love Yahweh your ELOHIM with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind verse 38. This is the first and great Commandment and the second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself verse 40. on these two Commandments hang the law and the prophets The first four of the Ten Commandments tell us how to love Yahweh and the last six tell us how to love our neighbour.

In James 2:8-12, we read in verse 10: if you break one point of the law you become guilty of it all. He adds that the one who said do not commit adultery also said thou shalt not kill. Can you see how the royal law we are to live by encapsulates each of the Ten Commandments? They are the full embodiment of Yahweh's law. James wrote many years after the death and resurrection of Yahshua. Even so, James is still talking about the law as being binding.

Let's go now to the Head of the assembly, Yahshua, to Eph. 5:23 and see what He has to say about the notion that the law was done away. It should be the only scripture needed to settle the subject. His words are clear and concise. However, in spite of the clarity, a garbled understanding has been wrung from it. That Scripture is Matt. 5:17: think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets, I have come not to abolish but to fulfil them Through His Son Yahshua we have the Supreme ruler of the universe telling us not to think something.

PERVERTED UNDERSTANDING

Yet, in spite of that warning, that is exactly what the Christian thinking is today. Yahshua fulfilled the law so we don't have to! The word fulfil is understood in this way : I have fulfilled my duty so the duty no longer exists It is understood in the sense of bringing something to an end. This is not the meaning it had in the old English of the 1611 translation of the King James Bible. At that time it meant to make replete or to cram to the fullest In other words, to fill full. Fill to the brim.

This is an example of the way word meanings change over the centuries. Another example of this is 1 Thes. 4:15: for this I say unto you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Master shall not prevent them which are asleep Notice the word PREVENT. In the King James Translation of the Bible it means to precede or go before The word does not have that meaning in today’s English. It means to stop something from happening or to stop someone from doing something. It is the same with the word fulfil.

MAGNIFIED THE LAW

Returning to Matt. 5:17, let us understand exactly what Yahshua said and meant by His statement. We must turn to the Greek language from which the King James was translated. The Greek word for abolish is “kataluo” It means to loosen down, to destroy demolish. The Greek for fulfil is “pleroo” It means to cram full, to make replete to level up. Yahshua said He didn't come to kataluo (to destroy) but to pleroo (build up or magnify) the law. He came to expand the law to encompass its fullest spiritual meaning. Isn't that just what He went on to do in verses 18 to 48? He took the law from thou shalt not do, to the spiritual thou shalt not WANT to do. Was it not to show that sin begins in the mind and heart? Yahshua magnified the law and made it honourable, Isaiah 42:21. Since Yahshua went on to expand the law to its fullest, should we honestly think that it was done away under the new Covenant? Was He not preparing the way for writing the law in the hearts and minds of His people? Heb. 8:8-10 quoted from Jer. 31:31-34. Something to note here is that the major difference in the old and the new covenant is where and how it is written. The old covenant was written on tables of stone by the finger of Yahweh and presented to Moses in person. The New Covenant is written in the hearts and minds of Yahweh's people by the Holy Spirit. One was a hand-to-hand presentation. The other was a mind-to-mind transfer from Yahweh's mind to ours through the Holy Spirit. Compare Ex. 31:18 and Jer. 31:31-34 and also Heb. 8:8-18 and Heb. 10:16-17.

The Old Covenant was obeyed from compulsion. The new covenant is obeyed from the desire to be close to and to please Yahweh and Yahshua There are many other scriptures that are used in an attempt to prove that the law was done away. This is done mainly by changing the subject of a statement to something it is not. An example of this mindset is the attempt to do away with the Sabbath by using Rom. 14 and also Col. 2:16-17.

THE SABBATH QUESTION

First, let's examine Rom.14. The attempt is made to make the Sabbath the subject of this chapter when it is not. The subject of this chapter is judgment of those who are new to or weaker in the faith. The subject is set forth in verse 4. Those who were stronger in the faith and understood the deeper meanings of Yahweh's word were passing judgment by their actions and words on their fellow brethren. Some felt that it was okay to eat meat while those weaker in knowledge felt that they should eat only vegetables. Why would they think this? Why was it not right to eat meat?

To find the answer we must understand the pagan culture surrounding them. There were false gods by the hundreds. Every animal that was killed for food was routinely sacrificed to one of these false gods. The meat was then often sold in the meat markets. Some believed that it was wrong to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. Those stronger in the faith understood that an idol is really nothing, just a figment of someone’s imagination, 1 Cor. 8:4. As Paul said in verse 7 through 10, take care lest this knowledge causes a weaker brother to stumble as referred to in Romans 14.

Suffice it to say that the Sabbath was not the subject being discussed by Paul, for it is nowhere mentioned in this entire chapter. This is confirmed by verses 5 & 6. He is talking about the observance of a day for fasting, whether to eat or abstain from eating on it. Both were done in honour of Yahshua, so don't pass judgment on one another over such a trivial matter. Verse 10.

Turning to Col. 2:1-7 let us first note that it is not the Jews who are judging or condemning the brethren concerning the matters of food and drink, festivals, new moons and Sabbaths. The erroneous belief is that the Jews were telling the followers of Yahshua that they should be observing these things and Paul is telling them that it is not necessary as they are only a shadow

of things to come. Is this really the case? We will see very clearly that this is not the case at all. Col. 2:8 clearly sets the stage in stating, see to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition The Sabbath, new moons and festivals are not meant here, for they are not from human tradition but from Yahweh's clear commands. Verse 18 will further prove that the Jews were not the instigators here. let no one disqualify you insisting on self abasement and the worship of angels. These are not Jewish beliefs or teachings. You will not find them either in scripture or in Jewish tradition. Verses 20-22 will verify that it is the pagan culture around them that is causing the trouble. Verse 21: "Do not handle. Do not taste. Do not touch. This is alleged to be referring to the clean and unclean foods mentioned in the books of the law, but is in error as verse 22 will verify. The reference is according to human precepts and doctrines from the mind of man not Yahweh.

BODY OF MESSIAH TO JUDGE

Let's now begin to understand what Paul is talking about in Col.2:16-17. Who is doing the judging and why? We have already established that it is the pagan culture around the brethren at Colosse who are being judgmental. For what reason? Let's come forward to the same situation that still exists today. Nothing has changed. As Ecclesiastes 1:9 wisely states: There is nothing new under the sun. A great many religions of this age wrongfully insist Yahshua is just one of many ways to salvation when scripture specifically says that Yahshua is the only way to salvation. (Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.") He is only one of many mediators between the Almighty and man. Are you shocked that this would be said?

There are many saints who supposedly intervene on our behalf with Yahweh. Angels are revered in many religions as having a part to play in our spiritual relationship with Yahweh. Penance and afflicting the body as in the days of Lent are said to enhance our standing with Yahweh. It is said that the Sabbath has been replaced with the Lord's day, Sunday. Yahweh's Holy days have been replaced by days of pagan origin. Has anything changed since Paul wrote to the Colossians?

What is said about those who believe that the law of Yahweh is still to be obeyed, including the Sabbath and Holy Days? Are we judged as doing wrong by those around us? The answer is evident every day.

This letter to the Colossians was written by Paul toward the end of his life some 60 years after the death of Yahshua and His resurrection. It is obvious that the culture around them was not observing the things mentioned in verse 16. Since Paul mentioned these things, it should be just as obvious that the Colossian brethren were observing them. Paul called these things a shadow or preview of things to come. He did not say a shadow of things that have come but a shadow of things yet to come, so he sees them as important. Col. 2:16-17 has been so butchered that it is not even recognizable when compared to the original statement of Paul.

From the literal Greek to English translation, it reads: therefore. let no one judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of Sabbaths which are a shadow of things coming but the body of Messiah. Paul is simply saying. let there be no judge but the body of Messiah About what? Eating, drinking, new moon celebrations, festivals and Sabbaths. Why are these things important to followers of Yahweh ? Because they preview things that are to come in the accomplishment of His plan. Those who study and know their Bible will comprehend the importance of clean food, improper imbibing, special Holy Days and Sabbaths.

PAUL WAS MISUNDERSTOOD

Paul said that all these other things being foisted on the Colossians by the Gnostics and Hellenists had the appearance of piety or holiness but were of no real value since they were from man and not from Yahweh. It is very difficult in a study such as this to expound to the fullest all of the scriptures that have been misrepresented as doing away with the law. It would take a large volume of books to do this. The purpose of this study is to begin to see the law from a positive viewpoint rather than a negative one. If a scripture is misrepresented then the true message is missed and one fails to understand what the Messiah and our Heavenly Father are telling us.

In this study we will cover one more misrepresented scripture because it has been quoted many times. First we will see the inconsistency of the argument against the law, Rom. 10:4. for Messiah is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified. This is misinterpreted as saying that Yahshua brought an end to the Law. The word in Greek translated end is “telos”

Let's look at another scripture that uses the same Greek word when talking about Yahweh in the days of Job. James 5:11 behold, we count them happy that endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of Yahweh: that Yahweh is very pitiful and full of tender mercy. Both use the same Greek word “telos” If end means the law has been brought to an end then the other means that Yahweh has been brought to an end. Is this really the case? Has Yahweh been brought to an end? What a silly concept. The truth is neither has been brought to an end. The Greek word telos does not mean end in the sense of stopping or bringing something to its final conclusion. telos means goal, purpose or aim. Paul says that Messiah is the goal, purpose or aim of the law. James says we saw the purpose or aim of Yahweh in His dealings with Job.

How then is Yahshua the Messiah the aim or purpose of the law? Remember, there is no clause in the law that offers eternal life. There is no provision in the law for forgiveness. The death penalty hung over us all apart from Messiah. The curse of the law is the penalty demanded by it that we can never pay. The writings of the prophets tell of One Who would pay that penalty demanded under the law on our behalf. The Jews missed it. That is why Paul is lamenting his people. They were attempting to achieve righteousness and a reconciliation to Yahweh through their own efforts and could not see the futility of their human works. They could not see that reconciliation and forgiveness comes only through the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah. The prophets tell of the Messiah.

MESSIAH THE END OF THE LAW

Therefore, the Messiah is the goal, objective, purpose, intention, reason, hope, desire, aim of the law so that all who will accept His atoning sacrifice on their behalf will be reconciled and justified before the Father. What a beautiful scripture when properly understood! See how misrepresenting such a scripture conceals its true message. What a sad thing to do. I pray this

study will help in beginning to see the law as Paul really did from a positive perspective.

Rom. 7:12 so the law is Holy and the commandment is Holy, just, and good.

May Yahweh bless your studies. Elder David Ganton