“Keeping the Law”

[DHC]

Our Lord Jesus nailed the handwriting of ordinances in the law to His cross, not all of God's law, for even God's commandment in Lev.19 to love our neighbor as thyself is a NEW TESTAMENT COMMANDMENT for ALL Christians.

Hello NoHype.

Your argument that Christians are under the law is not what the scripture reveals.

Here is a line from your post.

1 Timothy 1:8-11
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man!

The Mosaic law system was not designed or intended to develop the Christian life.

The purpose of the law is to reveal your inner sinful nature.

Attempted obedience to the law does not develop holiness, perhaps self-righteousness
but never holiness.

Humans cannot obey the law and never could obey the law system. God did not obliterate
Israel because Israel was a worse nation than any other nation. God spared us and selected
Israel to demonstrate once and for all that mankind is deeply evil. God's chosen, holy people
crucified their own creator for heaven's sake, what greater proof does one need.

The flesh of man is not redeemable, it is absolutely corrupt. Christians are inhabited by the Holy
Spirit and it is through the walking in step with the holy spirit which is the Christian life. God builds
the life from within without the aid of the law, God sanctifies via the spirit.

The whole point of the law is not that we can easily obey the law because we are basically good.
On the contrary, the law tells us very firmly that we cannot obey the law because we are not
good by any measure. For example HoHype, not stealing does not make a person holy. No law
will assist a person to become holy at all, the law only condemns.

 

[NetChaplain]

for even God's commandment in Lev.19 to love our neighbor as thyself is a NEW TESTAMENT COMMANDMENT for ALL Christians.

I wanted to point out that to love your neighbor as yourself is of the Law, Jesus said it's what sums up the Law and the prophets, when a lawyer asked Him, "which is the great commandment in the law?" (Mat 22:36).

A new commandment which Jesus gave concerning neighborly love is different from the that of the Law. The OT commandment was conditional, to "love as you love yourself." The NT is unconditional which is to "love as I have loved you."

 

[NoHype]

Would you say the ordinances nailed to the cross would have been all those that was defining of their legalistic duties as required under the old covenant?
That's my take when considering the freedom from religious bureaucratic obligation we have in the New Testament, we need to understand what it means to have freedom in the true sense.

Yes, that's especially what our Lord Jesus nailed to His cross, the ceremonial requirements, rituals, the following of religious ordinances which God gave under the Old Covenant. The only religious rituals we are commanded to do under the New Covenant is baptism and holy communion with Christ Jesus, which can be done anywhere and without having to go through a priest caste. And there's no stipulation on how often we must hold holy communion with Christ, as often as we feel we need was Apostle Paul's suggestion in 1 Cor.11. I see this removing many burdens off of God's people, as it will be necessary because of what Christ's enemies are getting ready to do.

 

[NoHype]

To really get the meaning of what Paul is saying above we need to go back a few verses, 1 Tim 1:5-7 "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6. From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; 7. Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

What Paul is saying is those desiring to continue to teach the keeping of the law have swerved aside to vain jangling. This is not a statement in support of teaching the keeping of the law, but rather speaks to the futility of attempting to bring others under a system they themselves had no success in. The statement in verse eight that "the law is good" does not mean it ( the law ) creates or causes good in us, it means because it is good it exposes our lack of goodness or righteousness. This was always the purpose of the law not to save you or make you a good or righteous person, but to show us just how hopelessly unrighteous and evil ( in God's eyes ) we are. The law did nothing to deal with the heart of man. Jer 17:9 The heart isdeceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? That is why the most perfect of law keepers ( the Pharisees ) were still so far from keeping the spirit of the law. Matt 5: 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceedthe righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. This is why God gave us a new heart along with the new covenant, Eze 36:26 Anewheart also will I give you, and anew spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Why is the old heart referred to as stony ? Because the law was written on tablets of stone, and the required a rigid adherence to follow it all.
Heb 10:16 " This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

God want us to draw close to him with our hearts, not with any works of law keeping, but in " spirit and in truth". Desiring to keep the law is like saying to God " I will obey you, but I wont love you ". " I'll do what you say because its your law, but I will not trust you to love me and cleanse me without my righteous adherence to your law. " I know you have said in your that saving grace is free from my works, but I'm afraid to take my eyes off the law, for fear you wont show me how to live above the law. I dont believe your Holy Spirit in me is able to keep me from sin without measuring it by the law"

Remember the same God who gave the law is the Same God who brought us grace. His law, His grace. If we can trust that which condemns, should we not much more trust that which gives freedom and life ?
"Grace that is greater than all our sins"

That's not very close to what Apostle Paul is actually talking about in the 1 Timothy 1:5-10 verses...

1 Tim 1:5-11
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

Paul's Message there from v.5 is how some were trying to be teachers about the law when they didn't have a clue as to its real purpose.

When he uses the idea, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: ..." he is summarizing God's commandments, much like he did in Galatians 5:14 with God's commandment of Leviticus 19:18 to love thy neighbor as thy self. (Yes, that commandment comes from God's laws per Lev.19).

1 Tim. 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

God's law is good, IF... a man use it lawfully? This is Apostle Paul who said that, not some unbelieving orthodox Jew who seeks to be justified by following God's law.

So HOW is God's law used lawfully per Paul? He covers that very thing next...

1 Tim. 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
(KJV)

What? God's law was not made for the righteous man? That's right. It was made for the unrighteous, and Paul gives a specific list of what kind of unrighteousness he means. What does this mean exactly? It means God gave those laws to deal with criminal acts that are against a peace-loving and righteous loving society, His people.

Who would look at the court system of law today that has been in effect throughout the history of the Christian nations and still today, and try to say that's not what Apostle Paul was talking about in those 1 Tim. 1:9-11 verses?

The ones who have turned aside to vain jangling are those who deny that.

That's why it takes the vain-janglers so many pages to try and explain away God's laws that are in operation among His people, even under The New Covenant Jesus Christ!

 

[NoHype]

I wanted to point out that to love your neighbor as yourself is of the Law, Jesus said it's what sums up the Law and the prophets, when a lawyer asked Him, "which is the great commandment in the law?" (Mat 22:36).

A new commandment which Jesus gave concerning neighborly love is different from the that of the Law. The OT commandment was conditional, to "love as you love yourself." The NT is unconditional which is to "love as I have loved you."

Your re-interpretation of that is nothing but vain-jangling, the very thing Apostle Paul was talking about with those who seek to be teachers about the law.

Paul's quote of Lev.19:18 in Galatians 5:14 is an exact quote from Leviticus. Christ and His Apostles did not... change the meaning of that commandment from God.

 

[NoHype]

The Law at that time was still in effect in their reasoning, because they were still in the process of learning about Christianity.

More vain-jangling.

Paul was sent to preach The Gospel to Gentiles mainly, so NO WAY did he expound the law to them like some orthodox Jew, because Paul's office was under the New Covenant, not the old covenant. Paul showed them what God's law was for, for the unrighteous, the criminals.

 

[NoHype]

Hello NoHype.

Your argument that Christians are under the law is not what the scripture reveals.

Check your reading, nowhere did I ever say that we Christians are under God's law. I showed how the wicked... are still under God's laws, because from God's laws is how they are judged and sent to jail, even for today.

Here is a line from your post.

1 Timothy 1:8-11
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man!

You post just ONE line of my quote from Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1? Why would you do that? Here's the rest of it...


1 Tim 1:9-11
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
(KJV)

If you're going to quote people, you need to make sure you include the gist of their quote, and not try to slice and dice in order to make it easier to mangle into some other doctrine that doesn't apply.

The Mosaic law system was not designed or intended to develop the Christian life.

The purpose of the law is to reveal your inner sinful nature.

The purpose of God's law as originally given in OT times was to point the Way to Christ Jesus. The idea of the word Torah even means 'to point' (no, I'm not Jewish). But there in 1 Timothy 1, Apostle Paul tells another reason why God's law was given and it has nothing to do with religious ceremonial ritual and what not that Christ nailed to His cross. It has to do with a system of laws to GOVERN society with, to deal with unrighteousness, for those acts in Paul's list have to do with wickedness.

Attempted obedience to the law does not develop holiness, perhaps self-righteousness
but never holiness.

So, does that mean it's OK for you to go out and murder someone? or rape? or steal? or adultery? or do perjury? or kidnapping?

That's essentially what you're saying, since you say attempted obedience to God's laws that Paul was speaking of has nothing to do with holiness? What did our Lord Jesus say about our righteousness exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees, hmmmm?

Humans cannot obey the law and never could obey the law system. God did not obliterate
Israel because Israel was a worse nation than any other nation. God spared us and selected
Israel to demonstrate once and for all that mankind is deeply evil. God's chosen, holy people
crucified their own creator for heaven's sake, what greater proof does one need.

So does that mean you want to let all the inmates out of today's prisons, simply because we know they aren't able to stop being law breakers? Is that what you want, hardened criminals running our streets, creating chaos? raping, stealing, and pillaging?

I'm a believer on my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ Who shed His blood for the remission of my past sins on His cross. I have been baptized of water in His Name, and I have gotten in depth into His Word of Truth like He told us to do.

And I tell you now, the unrighteous wicked will never be turned to Christ Jesus by allowing them to continue in their wicked ways. Christ's servants are not here just to talk about God and His Son, we are expected to act and make a difference in this world, and to turn the wicked man from his ways and instead to Christ Jesus. That will never happen if the wicked are allowed to think they can keep doing wickedness on our streets and get by with it. It is only... when they are restrained and taught the difference between righteousness and wickedness that will give them the opportunity to change. That's who God's law was made for according to Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1, and that is the first stage in STOPPING their wicked ways in order to preach to them a New and Better Way through the atoning Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ!

So never miss the reason WHY God's law is 'good' IF used lawfully, for it is to be used today in Christian society for that above purpose, to help bring the unrighteous to Christ Jesus, to help save them.

 

[whearn1]

1 Tim 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
(KJV)

What? God's law was not made for the righteous man? That's right. It was made for the unrighteous, and Paul gives a specific list of what kind of unrighteousness he means. What does this mean exactly? It means God gave those laws to deal with criminal acts that are against a peace-loving and righteous loving society, His people.

Hello NoHype,
I would like for you to really take a moment to analyze verses nine and ten above. While some of the sins mentioned are indeed criminal others are not, but all are sin. Please dont try to equate men's legal system of laws with God's moral laws, they are not the same. This peace- loving and righteous, Utopian society you refer to has never existed. Rebellion has been in the heart of man since it began in the Garden of Eden. God chose a people, named them Israel, and gave them the law to show the whole world how rebellious mankind is, and has always been. Until Grace through Christ came there had never been a people who kept God's law from the heart, even his chosen people needed to be reconciled to him, because their sin separated them from God. What the Apostle Paul is doing above is showing how the law was used to point out all the sin in the heart of man, not listing criminal activity. Though Paul is the apostle to the gentiles, he spent much of his time preaching in the Jewish synagogues, and himself was also a pharisee. The whole of the old testament is Israel in constant rebellion against God, and if God's people were in constant rebellion what do you think the rest of mankind was doing ? Jesus gave a new commandment concerning love. Are you accusing HIM of vain-jangling ? He ( Jesus ) also redefined what adultery is, what hatred is and when one could divorce, all of these were different from what the law allowed.
Yours in Christ

 

[NoHype]

Hello NoHype,
I would like for you to really take a moment to analyze verses nine and ten above. While some of the sins mentioned are indeed criminal others are not, but all are sin. Please dont try to equate men's legal system of laws with God's moral laws, they are not the same.

Here are the sins Paul mentioned specific as only some examples of the unrighteous upon whom God's laws were made for:

"ungodly and for sinners" = the impious against God, habitual sinner with no conscience or care if they sin or not
"unholy and profane" = wicked, profane like Esau.
"murderers" = premeditated homicide, murder
"manslayers" = murderers, those who love to do murder
"whoremongers" = prostitute, fornicator (Greek pornos)
"defile themselves with mankind" = sodomite, homosexuality (once on the books of many states as a punishable offense).
"menstealers" = kidnapper, slavers
"liars" = a falsifier
"perjured persons" = a false swearer, a perjuror (i.e., lies on the witness stand which is still penalized by todays' law system)

And with the last verse of that Paul says this...

1 Tim 1:11
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
(KJV)

By Paul's statement there, he made this matter a part of The Gospel he was entrusted by God with.

As long as this present world exists, there will never be any such thing as a Utopian society. The unrighteous will continue to exist and do those things all the way up to Christ's second coming. Can someone who does those things be brought out of them and saved by Christ Jesus? Yes, absolutely! Can one who falls back into doing those things be saved by Christ after having believed on Him? That's between the person and The LORD Himself.

 

[whearn1]

lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons

I could have been, and at one time was many of the things above, If not for the grace of God. There was no law against whoremongering in this society, but God's moral law was there, not making me a criminal, but a sinner. This is all I am trying to say. Dont think that all prisoners are more unrighteous than the rest of us in society. Paul and Peter were prisoners sometimes, there are Christians in prisons around the world at this very moment. This is why I said dont try to equate God's law with Man's legal systems, they are not the same. In man's system of laws there are laws that are unjust and unrighteous, that is not so with God's law.

Yours in Christ

 

[NoHype]

Now, about the idea that those sins Paul mentions in 1 Timothy 1 not being equated with a society's system of law...

YES, they have been and many of them still are today!

"ungodly and for sinners" = the impious against God, habitual sinner with no conscience or care if they sin or not

Obviously Apostle Paul didn't have space to cover all the sins that God's law points to. That's why Paul said "and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine" in the 1 Timothy 1:10 verse.

So what can the "ungodly and sinners" point to? Many wrongdoings, even a little thing like public drunks. Is public drunkenness a crime in today's American society? Yes, it can get you thrown in jail. The ungodly can point to many things against society's laws. So it's not like this is about a Christian who tries to do right but slips up with a small sin every once in a while. This is about those don't care about God, not concerned with what's good or evil, and do whatever is in their heart to do. That's what the habitual sinner idea is about, one who simply doesn't give a hoot whether they sin or not. So can that cover law-breaking in today's society. Yes, it can, because the ungodly mindset allows it and even promotes it among the wicked.

"unholy and profane" = wicked, profane like Esau.
This one is very similar to the first one. It includes impious behavior, like mocking God, immorality, blasphemy, libel, etc. It can lead to a law suit upon the person who does it upon another that libels (like Carol Burnette did against one of the Hollywood magazines and won her lawsuit against them for libeling her).

"murderers" = premeditated homicide, murder
This is actually called patricide and matricide, since it involves a child murdering their own mother or father. Who doesn't know they can go to prison for doing that, or even suffer the death penalty in some states and nations? So I don't think that need much explaining how it links to a civil law and court system.

"manslayers" = murderers, those who love to do murder
From Greek androphonos which means homicide, premeditated murder. Premeditated murder is when someone fully intends and plans beforehand to kill someone. Who doesn't know doing that sin can get you the death penalty in some states today? No problem with linking these to the civil law and court systems as of yet.

"whoremongers" = prostitute, fornicator (Greek pornos)
The only U.S. state I'm aware of where prostitution is legal is Nevada. It would be funny is someone went to Nevada and practiced prostitution without permission from the state authorities too! Even that would land you up in jail, probably as a misdemeanor. In the other 49 U.S. states, prostitution is illegal. And depending upon the people of a city, county, etc., they can vote to make it illegal in their specific areas too, which can put one in jail if they are caught doing prostitution or promoting pornography. In the 19th and early 20th centuries porn was very illegal in the U.S. and Europe and could land one in jail for doing it. Who is not aware of these things?

"defile themselves with mankind" = sodomite, homosexuality (once on the books of many states as a punishable offense).
In some U.S. states sodomy is still a criminal offense. Nuf said.

"menstealers" = kidnapper, slavers
At the time of the Apostles and prior, owning slaves was not a crime. But someone stealing slaves that belonged to another was. Today in the U.S. slavery is a punishable criminal offense. So is kidnapping which this includes. No question there that has to do with our present law system also. I recall a few years ago the child-napping ring that was discovered in Nebraska within a facility called Kid-Care. The children were sexually abused by some in high public positions. Strange how the media just whisked right over all that.

"liars" = a falsifier
Who doesn't know that purposefully falsifying financial records and accounts can lead to a jail sentence? It's called embezzlement. There's many categories of illegal criminal activity this can apply to. Professional con men use it as a tool for their thefts all the time.

"perjured persons" = a false swearer, a perjuror
If you get called to the witness stand in court and are found lying on that stand, it is called perjury which is punishable as a criminal offense. That is directly pointing to the law and court system.


Obviously the workers of iniquity don't want us to understand all this by Apostle Paul as it relates to God's laws He gave His people so as to keep the peace among us. Christ's enemies want to destroy God's people and our Christian nations, so of course they will speak out against all this. But don't let them bother you brethren, just keep an eye on them, for in a while they will mess up revealing their true colors to us.

 

[NoHype]

I could have been, and at one time was many of the things above, If not for the grace of God. There was no law against whoremongering in this society, but God's moral law was there, not making me a criminal, but a sinner. This is all I am trying to say. Dont think that all prisoners are more unrighteous than the rest of us in society. Paul and Peter were prisoners sometimes, there are Christians in prisons around the world at this very moment. This is why I said dont try to equate God's law with Man's legal systems, they are not the same. In man's system of laws there are laws that are unjust and unrighteous, that is not so with God's law.

Yours in Christ

Probably a good thing that I covered the meaning of those sins more in depth with my previous post, because the whoremongering idea in the Greek is about the sins of prostitution and pornography, something that is definitely illegal in much of America and in other countries too.

We are not to beat ourselves up once having come out of something like that. Once we have come to Christ Jesus in Faith and have repented to change our life, He doesn't want to hear about it anymore. The sin is wiped from us.

But I will not agree with you that these things Paul was covering from God's laws have nothing to do with the present court systems of the past and of today. Nor should any Christian lie to theirselves about it, nor hate that these things are punishable offenses for doing wickedness, because this is one of the things that can influence our blessings from God, on an individual basis, and on a national basis.

 

[NoHype]

Something else...

In the Book of Romans Apostle Paul taught the idea that we as believers on Christ Jesus are 'dead' to the law. Some have taken that and turned it around to say instead that the law is now dead, period; like it no longer exists and is not to be used in Christian society. That latter idea Apostle Paul never, ever, taught in his Epistles.

In Galatians, Paul was specific that IF... we walk by The Spirit, then we are not under the law (Galatians 5:16-18).

Gal 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
(KJV)

That is why Walking by The Spirit makes us 'dead' to the law, because doing so produces that fruit of The Spirit, and with that kind of fruit there is no law against it.

So never think the law itself is dead just because we are 'dead' to it by Walking in The Spirit. The law definitely is not dead today for the wicked and unrighteous. It is very much in effect today in Christian society as God has ordained it to be so.

 

[petrosmyers]

Please, fellow Christians, remember that the words we post on this site should reflect our love for our neighbour.

 

[NetChaplain]

Your re-interpretation of that is nothing but vain-jangling, the very thing Apostle Paul was talking about with those who seek to be teachers about the law.

Paul's quote of Lev.19:18 in Galatians 5:14 is an exact quote from Leviticus. Christ and His Apostles did not... change the meaning of that commandment from God.

The command to love your neighbor as yourself is law-dispensation-oriented (Matt 22:40); to love as Christ loved is grace-dispensation-oriented.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34; 15:12).

"And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The metaphor is taken from oxen put under a yoke, and implicated with it, from which they cannot disengage themselves: some of the members of this church had been Jews, who had formerly been under the yoke of the law, and seemed desirous to return to their former state of bondage, from which the apostle dissuades, and therefore uses the word again: or else he may refer to the bondage of corruption and idolatry, which they as Gentiles were in, before their conversion; and intimates, that to give into the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies would be involving themselves in a state of bondage again." John Gill

 

[NoHype]

The command to love your neighbor as yourself is law-dispensation-oriented (Matt 22:40); to love as Christ loved is grace-dispensation-oriented.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34; 15:12).

"And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The metaphor is taken from oxen put under a yoke, and implicated with it, from which they cannot disengage themselves: some of the members of this church had been Jews, who had formerly been under the yoke of the law, and seemed desirous to return to their former state of bondage, from which the apostle dissuades, and therefore uses the word again: or else he may refer to the bondage of corruption and idolatry, which they as Gentiles were in, before their conversion; and intimates, that to give into the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies would be involving themselves in a state of bondage again." John Gill

What our Lord Jesus did with His commandments is go more into the spirit of their application. He didn't remove those commandments. He strengthened them.

 

[brakelite]

"And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The metaphor is taken from oxen put under a yoke, and implicated with it, from which they cannot disengage themselves: some of the members of this church had been Jews, who had formerly been under the yoke of the law, and seemed desirous to return to their former state of bondage, from which the apostle dissuades, and therefore uses the word again: or else he may refer to the bondage of corruption and idolatry, which they as Gentiles were in, before their conversion; and intimates, that to give into the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies would be involving themselves in a state of bondage again." John Gill

Notice NC that Gill is not referring to the Ten Commandments, but rather the ceremonial law connected with the temple services. It is with those now defunct ceremonies that is connected with bondage.

Take a look at
Exodus 20:1 ¶ And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

The very next verse says; thou shalt have no other gods....

In Egypt the nation of Israel was in bondage. Not just as slaves in menial labour, but also slaves to the religion and societal mores of the Egyptian people. This was truly a house of bondage. I find it curious however that Christians would charge those who would love God's laws as being 'under bondage'. Would God bring Israel out of Egyptian bondage into a greater bondage in regard to His law? Would God release the born again believer from the bondage of sin to place him under greater bondage (so called) of obedience to His laws...the opposite of sin?

 

[brakelite]

1) God's covenant was with Israel and not with the Gentile nations.

The new covenant is with the house of Israel also.

2) The Mt Sinai covenant included the ten commandments.

The Mt Sinai covenant DHC was merely a continuation of the original covenant made with Abraham...I will establish you in a good land if you trust me. The Ten Commandments were additional promises of God's that went along side the promise of Canaan.
You shalt have no other gods...etc etc. Every one of those ten were promises. Commandments, yes, but for those who would believe, they became promises.
The New covenant is similar...God is in effect saying....
You will have no other gods before Me because I am writing Myself upon your heart. I am going to enter into your life and make Myself available to you that there will be no room for any other god, if you are willing. In proportion to your willingness to surrender to My Spirit, so shall I fill you with Myself and <y righteousness.="" <="" em="">your obedience will become a fruit of our relationship...it will be Me who will establish your holiness...it will be My presence in you that will enable you to obey every command. They will become promises to you.
You will have no other gods.
You will not bow down to idols.
You will not profane the holiness of My name.
Nor will you forget to honor My day.
.....and you will love your neighbor every bit as much as you love yourself; why? Because My love in you will empower you to be My ambassador, My servant, My representative to bring glory and honor to MY name and help bring others to a knowledge of My true nature and character.
The question is...are you willing for Me to do this for you?
</y>

 

[brakelite]

You are claiming that Joseph refused to sin by committing adultery and that this was
actually Joseph responding to the ten commandments.

No DHC, Joseph wasn't refusing to commit adultery because he wanted to obey the ten commandments. He didn't want to commit adultery because he didn't want to offend the God he loved and sin against Him.Now of course there was no formal 'ten laws' at that stage...but sin is transgression against law...thus there must have been a law of some kind, whether it was written upon his heart or handed down through the family we don't know. But have you ever considered this?
Genesis 26:1 ¶ And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

 

[brakelite]

But they cannot have the first commandment nor even the fourth
commandment as these are unique to Israel.

Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism were quite similar to Judaism DHC. Zoroaster was a contempory of Danial and the Jewish religion was very influential in the development of his religion. He observed a Sabbath. They observed a 6 day week, and believed in a 6 day creation.

Oh, and there are over a hundred main languages that use the word 'sabbath' or an associated derivative for the 7th day. The Sabbath just for Jews DHC? No. not by a long way.