Originally posted by King Kandy
Not entirely true. There are biblical rules on dressing like to cover your head or to wear fringes. There are a lot about what you can eat. There is a certain level of micromanagement in the bible (613 laws is a lot).
That was under the Old Testament/Covenant. Believers operate under a new, better Covenant established upon better promises.
Hebrews 8:5-7 (New King James Version)
5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second .
There is more freedom or latitude for the believer than there was for the Israelite under the law. We function according to the spirit or heart motivated by love whereas under the law of Moses the children of Israel functioned according to the flesh (everything was external as far as the laws and various ordinances). But under the New Testament that Jesus the Christ introduced everything is according to the heart. All that we do is now, or should be, motivated from the seat of the heart not just external observance of strict laws and commands. The Bible puts it this way:
2 Corinthians 3:6
who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life .
Jesus had a lot to say about the spirit or the heart. The bar has been raised for the believer because Jesus deals with the source and seat of human process--the heart. Jesus does not just say "do or do not do" based on the letter. Jesus says things like,
Matthew 5:27-29 (New King James Version)
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
So, I said all of this to say that under the New Covenant the theme is liberty and freedom in Christ. Everything that we do should flow from a heart of love for God and our neighbor, not be some mechanical response to the letter (i.e. a written law that commands us to do thus and so or not to do thus and so). We should refrain from sin because we love God and our neighbor as ourselves not because God said to abstain from the appearance of evil. We should avoid certain types of dress or food for sake of decency, good health, and to honor God because we love Him, but--from the heart not solely because God may or may not have told us to do so. Under the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ said,
John 14:21-23 (New King James Version)
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Under the Old Testament God gave the Israelites--who were not born again spiritually--to do this or don't do that and outlined His will for them in the form of the Ten Commandments and in other civil and ceremonial laws. But under the New Testament God--the Lord Jesus Christ--gives us one law: the law of love. God does not have to tell us to have no gods before Him, do not steal, do not covet (desire) your neighbor's spouse, do not murder, etc. He just gives us the law of love and that one law should regulate our conduct and take care of it all. Here's why: if a person loves God then he/she will not worship other gods, steal, covet someone's spouse, murder and so forth. His/her love for God should motivate him/her to glorify, honor, and hold God in deepest reverence and to treat his/her neighbor as he/she would want to be treated. What I endeavor to say is summed up in these verses:
Romans 13:8-10 (New King James Version)
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
So all of the things that God told the children of Israel i.e. all of the laws (God told them more than just ten commandments, He gave them national, local, and private laws to regulate their lives) are all summed up for the believer in one law: the law of love. But love is a matter of the heart or spirit. God simply desires for His people, the church, to be led by the spirit and to do all things from a heart of love.
Do you follow me?