Yeah, true fact.
Moses is dead.
And that's what most Christians cost to understand.
If you are Christian, you probably already faced yourself with this big anguish about not making any mistake.
Do you know why?
Because as long you read the Bible, you become more aware of "right and wrong".
Right from the start, you already have the 10 commandments that give you some awareness like:
- You shall not have other gods before Me
- Don't cheat (Don't commit adultery)
- Don't kill
- Don't steal
- You shall not want something that belongs to someone else
- You shall not give false testimony (Don't lie)
- Honor your father and your mother
(And so on)
Ok, let's be 100% honest; That is all good stuff.
It is everything about having a healthy attitude towards life and people.
And that's how Jews live. They follow all of that and a bunch of rules (Or at least they try it). Which is good.
However, Jesus in the Gospel of Mathew 5:17-27 gives a more profound meaning, saying that getting angry with someone for no good reason is equivalent to murdering. Also, if you look lustfully at a woman is already adultery. So, externally doing or not doing those things will only bring more consequences (Like going to Jail); however, in the eyes of God, it may not change.
So, if you are Christian, you must not only deal with the commandments but you need also to be a super /excellent person by loving God and individuals in a way that you won't violate anything (even in your thoughts).
Now tell me, who can live like that???
Truth be told, apart from eternal life, being a Christian is much worse than being a Jew.
Because Jews only have to worry about not doing those things externally, however, they can do all of that in their minds.
(Like being mad, fill yourself with angry, willing to kill to someone or just by desiring a hot person)
Moreover, allowing yourself to think and share with others about a wish is much healthier rather than creating this huge repression to avoid thinking about it.
Thus, in those circumstances is much easier/better to be a Jew and follow the burden of the 613 laws rather than follow the Ten Commandments in your mind/soul.
I can say with considerable confidence that I struggled most of my life trying to be righteous and be the better as could to avoid some sort of consequences (Spiritual/Physical) because, in my head, there were two things that always made sense:
- There is a God (You may believe or not)
- There is some sort of Universal law. A law that goes beyond human statements, something that transcends what we must follow concerning our thoughts/feelings/actions towards others, ourselves, and the creation as a whole.
The Torah (Moses's books) and all the things said by the prophets were just a way to give some steps and enlightenment about how to behave towards this Universal law. How to act on the inner side and externally, let's say.
And once you believe in God and have awareness about how you should think and do in your life with people, then you will find yourself of being punished by this universal law. Because Justice requires Justice, period.
And that's why Christians struggle so much.
Why?
Because they know pretty well the "right and wrong" and are super aware of God's ideals.
They are still following Moses and the prophets (And a new set of new ones: Paul, Peter, James, and John).
So, that's why they struggle.
You are carrying to much inside of you.
Despite my opinion that Paul's letters must be read according to the context, they can be really helpful in having some peace of mind.
Look at this part of the letter to the Romans:
Romans 7: 1.4
"Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."
Thus, here is how Paul shows us the way out.
That the universal law is like a husband that you are bonded to him (Until Death). There is a bunch of obligations that you must follow in order to avoid being punished and bringing consequences to your life.
So, Moses and his gang are like a husband in this metaphor.
However, according to him, you were separated by death once Jesus came.
So, it is dead. Period.
Trying to carry this awareness and the obligations that come with it, will feel like having a husband and bringing something different will feel like an outsider in this marriage.
And that's where most Christian trip:
They can't accept that all of that is dead. They are still trying to keep the burden alive while trying to enjoy Jesus's grace once in a while,
Even Paul said:
"you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him."
So there is no more bond between you and this Universal law because the fee required from the punished has already been paid.
How?
Look at this extract from the dead sea scrolls (There is also in the Tanach):
It was written by the prophet Isaiah 600 B.C:
Isaiah 53:
"Who can believe what we have heard?
Upon whom has the arm of the LORD--a been revealed.
Yet it was our sickness that he was bearing,
Our suffering that he endured.
We accounted him plagued,
Smitten and afflicted by God
But he was wounded because of our sins,
Crushed because of our iniquities.
He bore the chastisement that made us whole,
And by his bruises we were healed.
We all went astray like sheep,
Each going his own way;
And the LORD visited upon him
The guilt of all of us.
But the LORD chose to crush him by disease,
That, if he made himself an offering for guilt,-b
He might see offspring and have long life,
And that through him the LORD's purpose might prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see it;
He shall enjoy it to the full through his devotion.
"My righteous servant makes the many righteous,
It is their punishment that he bears;"
So, please, Christians accept once and for all:
Don't live with the anguish any more
Jesus fulfilled the law and received all the punishment required by it in order to give us peace.
Moses and the prophets are dead but Jesus still lives.