Saturday, July 12, 2008

Fulfill The Law: Ugo Strange's Guide To Handling Atheist Arguments

You: Christians don't need to kill Homosexuals and everything else because we're no longer under The Law.

Atheist: You think so ?

You: Yeah, The Bible says so.

Atheist: Oh yeah, what about Matthew 5:17 ?

You:...Ummm...what's Matthew 5:17 ?

Atheist:"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Your Bible and your Christ says that He did NOT destroy The Law ! So you Christians are still under the law. And since you're still under the law, why aren't you killing homosexuals ? Because if you don't, you're
not following The Law.

You: Ummmm.....0_o
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Has This happened to you ? Where you've been seemingly cornered into questioning your faith in God ? Well have no fear, I am here to debunk a common Atheist argument with simple logic. So hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

All too often I hear Atheists use this argument to try and prove that A) God is mean B) The Bible Contradicts it's self or C) Jesus isn't God. However when ANYONE goes against The Bible we automatically know they are WRONG ! But this argument seems to be kinda solid right ? Wrong! First of all, what does it mean to fulfill ? How does one Fulfill a Law ? By using wiktionary to look up the word fulfill I get several meanings which I'll post here:

to fulfill (third-person singular simple present fulfills, present participle fulfilling, simple past and past participle fulfilled)

1. (archaic) To fill up.

My lady is positively fulfilled of grace.

2. To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.).

You made a promise, son, and now you must fulfill it.

3. To emotionally or artistically satisfy; to develop one's gifts to the fullest.

This is the most fulfilling work I've ever done.

4. To obey, follow, comply with (a rule, requirement etc.).

Unfortunately, you don't fulfill the criteria for extra grants at the present time.

For Matthew 5:17, I'll be using the 2nd definition of Fulfill, which means to "carry out, to bring to completion, to satisfy.". Therefore we can re-read Matthew 5:17 as "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to bring it to completion.". But Ugo, how does Jesus complete the Law ? Well, The Bible says that Jesus was made UNDER THE LAW. So while Jesus was on Earth, He was following The Law 100% PERFECT. Why is that important Ugo ? I'm VERY glad you asked, you see in those times The Jews had laws to practice, by following these laws they could live Godly lives. They didn't do this very well...in fact NO ONE did. Therefore anyone who went in violation of those laws had to be put to death. Why did they have to die Ugo ? Because during the Old Testament, The Jews were living under a theocratic system (which is a system of Government ran by God). So basically God is Justice and God is Law. Now when God sent Jesus to the world He sent us THE PERFECT MAN, Jesus was THE LIVING WORD of God which ultimately makes Jesus THE WALKING LAW.

As Jesus was the living embodiment of God's Word/Law He was made to be the PERFECT sacrifice. Since Jesus kept the Law, The Law was fulfilled through Him, so when He died, The Law was finished with Him. The Law was NOT DESTROYED, it was completed. Ugo, That makes no sense ! Okay, let me explain differently.

You and I sign a contract. The Contract states that A Man named John will come to your house and clean your gutters. John will show up at 5pm on your porch, he will have red hair, a Linkin Park T-Shirt, Black pants, and Blue flip-flops. So you sign the contract.

The VERY next day, someone rings your door bell, you answer the door and you see a man standing there, with red hair, a Linkin Park T-Shirt, Black pants and Blue flip-flops. You would be able to clearly come to the conclusion that this man is John. So this man goes and cleans your gutters. When he finishes cleaning your gutters, he leaves and goes on about his business.

Now let's back up, the contract you and I had with each other involved John cleaning your gutters, SO, that contract was NOT DESTROYED, the contract was FULFILLED ! John did what the contract stated ! Once he DID what he was Contracted to do, you and I are NO LONGER bound by THAT CONTRACT, because John FINISHED IT ! John did NOT DESTROY the Contract HE FULFILLED IT !

This is how Matthew 5:17 works. The Law was our Contract between us and God, and Jesus FULFILLED that Contract ! Anyways, I hope you all understand this and I hope you all continue to pray about this and correct me if I'm wrong in some areas. Let me know. Peace in Christ n_n !

Also see: http://www.carm.org/bible-difficulties/matthew-mark/did-jesus-abolish-law-or-not

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

a different christian take on it:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread467004/pg1