1.Something that seems very important to God is obedience. We learn in the Bible that when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden he gave them some rules or instructions of what they should do and what they should not do yet they were told they could choose because if the chose to break the rules or the commandments there would be consequences. Later on we see men added hundreds of commandments and the Bible was full of different little rules and Christ later got on their case because of the picky ways and their strict rules. He gave examples of the Ox in the hole and so you pull it out on the sabbath or not, he spoke of people that prayed just to be seen of others and not for the right reasons. This law of obedience continues to be important today just as it was in the day of Adam. Some people feel that being obedient and conforming is wrong and they say we should be rebellious and creative. They say that Jesus was a non-conformist. I would say that if we feel there are unjust laws that we should go about changing them in legal ways. I do admit that the example of Rosa Parks is a good one and there are times when the government needs to be corrected by the people.
2. Later we learn about animal sacrifice. In the old testament we read about people sacrificing animals and the entire purpose of this was symbolic of the future sacrifice Jesus would make when he would suffer for our sins and have his life taken on the cross. Men were commanded by God to sacrifice and specific instructions were given. Later in the Bible we read that God no longer wanted animal sacrifice but a broken heart and contrite spirit. As time went on a better understanding of The Law of sacrifice came about and Christ himself taught people to forgive and that they could be forgiven. He taught love and said "If ye love me keep my commandments" the attitude of why and how we should sacrifice changed. They no longer had to kill birds or other animals to be forgiven.
3.We also learn more about the Gospel or the good news. Understand that men are not forced to obey God although they are told that when they do they will be blessed and when they do not there will be consequences. Some people believe that when Moses came down off the mountain the first time he had a higher law of the Gospel more like what Christ later taught and when he came down and the people were clearly not ready for the higher law he broke the tablets and went back up to get the 10 commandment which were simplified version of the law. Christ said "Moses said thou shalt not kill but I say unto you that you should not even be angry with your brother. This type of law or higher law requires more discipline, love and commitment. Do men obey laws because they are afraid of the consequences (hell) or do they obey because they love God? In the Bible we read where a man asked Christ what the most important commandments were and Jesus distilled all ten into two. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind and strength and love thy neighbor as thyself. These commandments would lead to the last paragraph where I talk about a life based on Christ's teachings where people want to do the right thing because of the love they have for God and each other not because they are afraid of being caught in sin.
4.The Law of Morality given by God in the scriptures became more clear when Christ taught. Christ said "Moses said ye shall not commit adultery but I say unto you that you should not even think lustful thoughts." Obviously lustful thoughts could lead to adultery. Adultery is having sex with a married person to whom you are not married. Fornecation is having sex with a person that is not married but it is also a serous sin. In the Bible there were serious punishments handed out to those that broke this law of morality and later when Christ was preaching he made a very poignant example when a group of men were going to stone a woman they had found in adultery. Christ said let him that hath no sin cast the first stone and then when all the men dropped their rocks and left he told the woman that he was not going to condemn her either and yet he told her to go and sin no more. This is what is expected after someone repents, that they stop doing the sin and begin a new life. True repentance is not just accepting Jesus as our savior, it also include a change in our hearts, a change in our attitude that requires us to love God and others and show this love with our actions. It is true we cannot earn our way to heaven although as it states in Timothy "Faith without works is dead" Someone that has true faith will naturally bring forth good works although we need to understand that it is through the grace of Jesus Christ that we are saved not not through our own works.
Christ's teachings also included information that could lead people to believe in a way of life where everyone could help each other, share and live in peace together. This law or way of Charity which would be a true love for Christ would allow people to live the above higher law of the Gospel in peace where everyone would share responsibilities, their talents and of themselves. Most societies have not gotten to a point where they could live such a law and prosper. Some of the communes that have tried this either failed in the way they were set up or in the practice because they were not set up and administered in God's way but in in the ways of men. Some Christians believe that when Christ comes back that men will live in peace for a 1000 years and life will be much different not fighting against one another and having peace for 1000 years. What a beautiful vision this would be.
