"THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE LAW..."

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: judgment, and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Matthew 23:23

Christ pointed out to the Pharisees that they were missing the weightier matters of the law....judgment, mercy and faith!  Why would people want to do away with the law so much?  As if it were an evil thing.  When we keep the law the way it ought to be kept, it teaches us proper judgment, how to have true mercy and right faith in God.  He said, "These you ought to have done, (the weightier matters of the law) without leaving the others undone."  He even told them that tithing on their mint and anise and cumin was right, but His point was for them not to neglect the  hefty parts of the law.

Truth is, the Pharisees just wanted people to see them looking religious.  They didn't care about doing what was right.  "But all their works they do to be seen by men."  Matthew 23:5   "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (anomia...transgression of the law)  Matthew 23:27-28

Christ could easily make that same statement to those who "do away with the law." He could say to them, "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (anomia---transgression of the Ten Commandments)  Matthew 23:27-28

1 Timothy 1:8-9 explains what the law is made for.  The Bible says that the law is made for lawbreakers and for those who rebel against God.  Paul says, "We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, adulterers and perverts...."  Those are not the ceremonial law...they are from the Ten Commandments.

Look at it this way. It is just like the laws of our country.  If you are not a murderer then the laws concerning murder do not even apply to you!  Pay no attention to them.  If you are not a kidnapper, then pay no attention to the laws concerning kidnapping...they don't apply to you at all!  The Bible explains that the law is only made for law breakers and the rebellious!  People who keep the weighty matters of the law learn how to develop proper judgment, which gives them the ability to discern right from wrong and they develop mercy and faith.  Why would anyone want to do away with that? 

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