ProfBenTziyyon wrote:
“It is no longer necessary to obey God’s laws,” christians tell us, “you only have to ‘love’ Him.” But they never specify how one is supposed to show this “love” for God.
Christian scripture makes this very clear:
  • In John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commands." 
  • In Matthew 5:19 he says, "Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 
  • In James 2:26, James says, "faith without works is dead". 
  • In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Of course, Christian scripture also says that this does not mean that Gentiles are expected to keep Jewish law, or try to convert.  Acts 15:19 and 1Corinthians 7:18 say this very explicitly.
On the other hand, and I think this is really the point where we disagree, Christian scripture also says that we cannot be justified (made righteous) by our attempts to keep the law, since nobody can do that perfectly.


Note: Forum rules require me to make the following disclaimer.

This post is not Jewish teaching, rather it is Mark's personal opinion as a non-Jew.