by jimwalton » Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:15 pm
The purpose of the Law was to point to Jesus and to lead us there (Gal. 3.24). Now that Jesus has come, the Law has fulfilled its purpose.
The purpose of the Law was also to show us what sin is (Romans 5.20).
We are not to think that the Law is bad, or that is was good for nothing. The Law came from a good source and had good things to accomplish. It had its place, and it did was it was designed to do. And, as Galatians 3.25 says, "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law."
> Also how does one tell what does and doesn't count anymore?
The law that Christ fulfilled was the law in general, not just part of it. He fulfilled it in that he did what the law failed to do: showed people how to live. The law was a temporary measure—God wanted to tell his people that they should have certain attitudes. God did that by commanding actions (the Law) with the idea that they would see the attitudes behind them. They failed. Christ, on the other hand, preached the attitudes (Mt. 5), but more importantly lived an example of the proper attitudes (Phil. 2.5-8) as well as the proper actions (Jn. 8.46), thus accomplishing what the law failed to accomplish. So the rule of thumb now is that we follow Christ's example. We can, in that sense, ignore the law (all of it), because if we follow Christ's example, we'll get the actions of the law and the attitudes of the heart. But we don't do them because of the law; we do them because that is what godly attitudes bring about. So all of the law was fulfilled in Jesus, and our behavior now is not based at all on the law, but on Jesus' example (Rom. 13.8-10). The coinciding with many points of the law is to be expected, but we are not living by even that section of Law.
The Law is still there, but it has been superseded. Picture a volcano on a barren plain. It is the law. From wherever the people are on the plain they can look to the law for direction. It stands awesome and ominous.
When Jesus came two things happened. First of all, the volcano erupted and grew into a mountain that completely engulfed and dwarfed the original. This mountain is Jesus. Second, the land, instead of being barren and sterile began, to bear fruit. Now we, rather than living in a wilderness, live in a well-watered garden land, and when we need direction we look to Jesus, and not to the law at all. The law is still there, but we don’t see it. It has been fulfilled. Now we look to Jesus, and him alone. The law is void; Christ is the standard.
Therefore we look at the OT teachings, but don't govern our lives by them.