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Gramps,

I recently met a man who identified as a Christian Hebrew. He believed we should still keep the Law of Moses. I investigated some of his claims. I was interested by Moses’ account of Noah and the clean and unclean animals. This explicitly tells us that unclean and clean animals are part of pre-mosaic law. I haven’t ever thought of myself as a smorgasbord saint but I just can’t figure out how we make the distinction between what we adhere to in the Mosaic Law and what has been “fulfilled”  and we no longer are obliged to keep. For example we still adhere to the Ten Commandments but seem to have done away with things like eating restrictions and restrictions on contact with those who were ill or dead or postpartum. As far as i am aware, i have not found anything that says its okay to eat “unclean” meats and there is even the scripture (Acts 15) where Paul talks about the Gentiles being exempt from parts of the law but still should not fornicate or worship idols (which we still adhere to), but he also says not to eat strangled things or blood (which i have never heard restricted in the latter days). Where do we draw the line? Thank you

Josiah

 

Answer

Josiah,

Every time the Lord reestablishes His covenant with His people He teaches them exactly what ordinances and laws they need to obey. Adam was first, and after being taught by the Lord, he taught his children. Then we have Abraham whom the Lord taught, and Abraham taught his kids what they needed to do. Then we have Moses who, through God, freed the children of Israel from Egypt and established the whole Law of Moses. There are more, but I think you get the idea.

Then came Christ and He once again taught the people. He fulfilled the Law of Moses and did away with it. He also ended the need for animal sacrifices, and circumcision as God-given commandments. Thus Christ did teach them both in Israel and among the Nephites all the things that they needed to do.

In our day the Lord once again reestablished His covenant with His people and taught them what they needed to do. He did this through Joseph Smith. It is through what Joseph Smith taught that we learn what the Lord requires of us today. Things like the Ten Commandments were repeated for us, but animal sacrifices are not. The dietary restrictions were summarized in the Word of Wisdom. Things like being clean before the Lord have gone from a more external focus to a more internal one. For as the Lord said; it is not that which goes into a person that defiles them but what comes out of them.

Thus we draw the line at what the Lord commanded us to do through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the prophets that the Lord chose to follow Him.

 

Gramps

 

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