Unabolished Law

 We do not love more than Christ did. This has been a repeating idea in several of the books i've recently read, and it's true. As much as we water down the Gospel to make it purely "loving," we overlook the idea of Christ in the temple with a whip, shouting, and throwing tables. He also spoke truth to people's sin, cast out demons from people who hadn't asked for prayer, and had little regard for public opinion when He spoke. Much of what He said was harsh.
 We skip much of the Old Testament because, frankly, God just seemed rather ticked off. We don't want to mess with God when He's grumpy.
 But here's the thing; we write off unappealing passages and entire books of the Old Testament because, well, we say, "That's Old Testament." Christ fixed all that, didn't He? Who needs Levitical Law when we have Christ? Who needs Deuteronomy, Numbers, or Exodus, either? Might as well drop part of Genesis, too, since it has a mitzvah or two that we aren't overly fond of, right?
 This is idolatry.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law (Torah) 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 (Torah) until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments (mitzvot) 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."

 Is Heaven still here? Is earth still here? Then the Law, the Torah (the Law of the books of Moses), does still apply. He, Jesus, even went so far as to say we're not even to relax even the least of them.
 Why would God have written it if only to void it later? Is not the Bible infallible? Is it truth? Or is only part of it of concern for us in the Anno Domini? You may say, "That's Old Testament," but i tell you right now that it is still Testament. If the Ten Commandments are still worth following, why not the rest? I'll tell you why--because the Ten Commandments aren't all that hard! We're okay with them because we can manage them without it creating too much derision between soul and Spirit.

 You may say God's not like that anymore, but i tell you that He is eternal and unchanging! He is the I Am (not to be confused with "I Was;" this is not a temporary statement, but a statement of His nature; He Is)! He does not change like the seasons, He does not go back and forth as the tides.
 You may say He is ruthless, and i would agree; He is ruthless in His pursuit of those He loves. And He is ruthless against those He hates. But how can God hate when God is love? Well, reading over the book of Psalms will confirm that He hates a great many things, including violent and wicked people.
 "But that's not my God," you might say. Precisely. A god made in our finite definition of "good" is much more appealing to us than the universally "good" and true God. To deny the Old Testament God is to deny the One Christ calls "Father."
 He was, He is, and He is to come. Anything that He was, He also is and also will be.

 Do not think this a fit of rage, for this is a moaning of remorse.
 I do not wish to condemn, i only wish to encourage teachers to do what is necessary in order to become "great in the kingdom of Heaven." So often preachers give potent laxative to the order of the Old Testament in some attempt to nullify its authority, but the Word of God is eternal authority, Old or New Covenant. This, again, is an idolatrous misconception. This is a futile attempt to make God in our image, to set Him in a cast to be formed as small, weak, and impotent. The truth of the death of the Law of sin is that the sacrifice has been made.

 I also understand how Paul said that death with Christ and resurrection with Him has made the Law dead to us, but looking at it from Christ's words, the Law is fulfilled and certainly not to be relaxed. The Law of sin, the rituals determined for redemption, this is what is dead to us. The Law has been fulfilled, Christ our provident propitiation. The Spirit descended like a dove, the Lamb was slain, the birds have been rent and their blood spilled and sprinkled with hyssop, whatever it was that had to happen for sin to die, it happened. But that doesn't mean the Law is to be ignored. We can't behave as though it has been relaxed or abolished.

 This is not a free pass to live however we wish. This is a costly pass to enter into the holy of holies, or rather it is a costly pass for the holy of holies to enter into us.

 God was wrathful, He is wrathful, and He is to be wrathful.
 God was ruthless, He is ruthless, and He is to be ruthless.
 God was patient, He is patient, and He is to be patient.
 God was compassionate, He is compassionate, and He is to be compassionate.
 God was merciful, He is merciful, and He is to be merciful.
 Above these things, and Christ our proof, God was love, God is love, and He is to be love.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)

 Christ is the single offering to prove that God was, and is, and is to be loving, faithful, merciful, and compassionate.