"Do not think for one minute that I came to do away with the Law (OT), but to fulfill it"
Tom, did Christ lie or did he indeed fulfill the OT and the Law--which includes the prophecies? If Christ fulfilled it, then why are so many in the twentieth century going back to look for fulfillment through modern Judaism? For two thousand years modern antichrist Judaism has held to the ideas that Jesus did not fulfill the OT prophecies and the Law, and now many Christians are following their teachings. This is clearly faulty thinking. This type of thinking goes back to the thinking of the Pharisees and scribes who rejected Jesus and is the thinking of antichrist modern Judaism even today. They also sought a worldly and carnal fulfillment of the OT prophecies, and when they could not have it, they simply rebelled against God and established modern Talmudic Judaism.
Jesus captures it best in a parable: Matt. 21:33-45
"33: Hear another parable: There was a certain householder(God), which planted a vineyard(created man on the earth), and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went
into a far country:
34: And when the time of the fruit(men to love and worship Him in spirit and truth) drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might mreceive the fruits of it.
35: And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36: Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37: But last of all he sent unto them his son(Jesus), saying, They will reverence my son.
38: But when the husbandmen(the Jews and their leaders who rejected Jesus) saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir(to the promises of Abraham) ; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39: And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40: When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41: They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42: Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
43: Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation(those who accept Christ. The nation that was born in one day) bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44: And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
45: And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
The Pharisees, scribes and Jews who rejected Jesus and established modern Talmudic Judaism are wrong and so are the misguided Christians who attempt to follow their teachings today. It is simply a lack of understanding and appropriation of the promises provided through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.
Jesus did indeed fulfill the law and the OT because He is the Law and the OT. Jesus came to give us the essence of Himself---the Holy Spirit--man recreated with God living in him. When Christians are Born Again and filled with the Holy Spirit they contain the essence of the OT in their hearts. This is why Peter called Christians a 'holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people'. The Christian nation was born in one day when Christ was raised from the dead. The Christian nation are the sons of God--they are eternal and of the household of God. This is the Holy Land that Abraham sought for and grasped by faith; this is the Zion of David; this is the vision and dreams of all the prophets fulfilled.
Until a person has grasped the essence of the New Covenant, it is useless to try and understand the OT prophecies.
I want to return to your original questions but first I must make a comment on your Romans SCriptures in my next post. I've been extremely busy but will try and give you an answer as soon as possible.
Emile |
