Leviticus 19-21<\/a><\/p>\nDaily Thought<\/h2>\n
Question: Why don’t Christians today obey all the laws and instructions of the Old Testament?<\/p>\n
The short answer is, we did. That needs to be explained, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n
Israel is the nation ruled by God, and “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). You shall be different than those other nations around you that are not the nation ruled by God.\u00a0You shall be a nation set apart to me.\u00a0Count how many times Leviticus 19 reminds Israel, “I am the Lord your God.”\u00a0This long list of instructions tell the Israelites how to do “I am the Lord your God.”\u00a0The chapter closes simply and straightforward: “Do them” (Leviticus 19:37).<\/p>\n
Jesus did them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n“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” (Matthew 5:17). He fulfilled all righteousness, then offered the most incredibly, ridiculously wonderful exchange of all time: his righteousness for our sin.”For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2Corinthians 5:21).” Take the deal! We obeyed the Law when Jesus obeyed the Law, and we are righteous because he is righteous; his righteousness became ours.<\/p>\n
This does not mean that the Law goes away.\u00a0“You shall be holy, for I am holy” is in the New Testament, too (Matthew 5:48; 1Peter 1:16).\u00a0Significant is a verse right in the middle of Leviticus 19, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (v 18). Jesus, who is holy, says loving your neighbor goes right along with loving God and this sums up everything, \u201con these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets\u201d (Matthew 22:40). Jesus fulfilled all the Law so we can focus fully on its heart, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n