Paul taught us that faith establishes the law

ROMANS 3:30-31 (Paul)
30 Seeing it is one God, who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and un-circumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yes, we establish¹ the law.

Note: The word translated we establish¹ (Romans 3:31) is from the Greek verb isthmi (Gtr. histemi) which means "to make to stand", or "to cause to stand". Paul's conclusion in this context was that "a man is justified by faith without the works of the law." (Romans 3:30), by which he meant that justification could not come through sacrificing animals to cover sin(See #4.04), but only through a genuine faith. There are two ways you can seek to be justified by the law, one was by making animal sacrifices every time that you made a mistake, called the "works of the law" (See #4.04), and the other was by faith. Only faith worked:

(Romans 9:31-32) "But Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone;"

The implication here is, that if they had sought to attain to the law of righteousness by faith, then they could have done it. James also taught that a man is justified by faith which produces works of faith (James 2:17-26), and therefore a genuine faith will give us the ability to keep the law in a spiritual sense, including the ten commandments. So how does faith establish the law? Simply by giving a person the ability to obey the commandments, which a person without faith cannot do. We could therefore say this:

(Romans 3:31) "Do we then make void the ten commandments through faith? God forbid: but, we establish the ten commandments."

Paul taught us to fulfil the righteousness of the law

ROMANS 8:3-4 (Paul)
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Note: The apostle Paul is teaching here that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in us, but can we do this without keeping the ten commandments? No, because the psalmist said to God, "all your commandments are righteousness." (Psalm 119:172). This means that the fourth commandment, observing the Sabbath day must be righteousness, doesn't it? This completely agrees with other scriptures being put together:

(1 John 3:4) "Whoever commits sin transgresses also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law."
(1John 5:17) "All unrighteousness is sin:"

Another point is that God's righteousness requires God's law to be in our heart:

(Psalm 37:30-31) "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom ... The law of his God is in his heart."
(Isaiah 51:7) "Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law;"

This righteousness fulfils the same condition as those who are partakers of the New Covenant, where God's laws are written in their heart (See #1.5). The conclusion to be drawn from all this is that all Christians are expected to grow to the place where they can fulfil the righteousness of the law in a similar manner to the way Jesus did, which would involve us keeping the ten commandments the same way that Jesus taught. So we have seen that Paul not only kept the Sabbath commandment, but taught others to keep it also, even as Jesus kept it (See #1.24); and his words for us today are, "Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Paul offended nothing against the law of the Jews

ACTS 25:7-8
7 And when he came, the Jews who came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and made many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.
8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.

Note: How could Paul say that he offended nothing against the law of the Jews if he was not a Sabbath keeper? Was he a liar? Or was it rather that he told the truth, and being a Jew, he not only kept the Sabbath, but also the feast days (Acts 18:21; 20:16)?

Paul went to places of prayer on the Sabbath day

ACTS 16:13

13 And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by the river side, where prayer was accustomed to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women who resorted there.

Note: This took place in Philippi (v12), where Paul went after seeing a vision which called him to go into Macedonia (v9). It seems that the religious people of Philippi gathered by the river on the Sabbath day for prayer, and this is where Paul went to minister the gospel of salvation. This not only shows Paul's habit of looking for religious gatherings on the Sabbath day, but also shows that many Gentiles also gathered together on the Sabbath at that time also. As a result of this meeting, God opened the heart of Lydia, a seller of purple from Thyatira, and she and her household believed and were baptised (vv14-15).

Paul habitually taught in the synagogues on the Sabbath day

ACTS 13:14-16
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, You men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, give audience.

ACTS 13:42-44
42 And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.
43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And the next Sabbath day almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

ACTS 17:1-2
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in to them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.

ACTS 18:1-4
1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome) and came to them.
3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and worked: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and Greeks.

Note: It seems clear from these scriptures that Paul habitually attended synagogues on the Sabbath days, where possible; “every Sabbath” (Acts 18:4), and reasoned with them out of the scriptures. In this particular case, at Corinth, it was over a period of “a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:11), and so would mean 78 consecutive Sabbath days. This took place many years after the resurrection of Jesus. At Thessalonica he entered a synagogue and reasoned with them out of the scriptures for “three Sabbath days”. At Antioch, in a meeting in the Synagogue on a Sabbath day, the Gentiles entreated Paul that he would preach to them on the next Sabbath (Acts 13:42). If Sunday was a day kept by the church at that time, why did Paul not invite them to his Sunday service? With no unbelieving Jews present it would have been an excellent opportunity to preach to the Gentiles, but there was no such meeting. Instead, they had to wait until the next Sabbath day to hear God’s word (Acts 13:44). This is very strong proof that no Sunday meetings were being held at that time. As “sin is transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4), it would be a sin for Paul to break the Sabbath commandment, and he said that he had offended nothing against the law of the Jews(See #1.33). At Antioch (Acts 13:14-16) Paul was in the synagogue again speaking to the people. This makes 84 times in the book of Acts Paul was recorded as being in the synagogue on the Sabbath day teaching and speaking to people. All this just confirms that Paul himself was a habitual Sabbath keeper, and if he ever taught others not to keep it, he would be a liar and a hypocrite, and the least in the kingdom of God, according to the words of Jesus (Mat 5:19). Some have tried to say that Paul only went to the synagogues to evangelise the Jews and their proselytes, but the bible does not say that, and it can be proven false. Where did Paul go to capture Christians before he was a Christian himself? He went to "every synagogue" (Acts 22:19, 26:11), proving that Christians regularly met in synagogues on the Sabbath day. Where in the whole of the New Testament did any of the Jews ever accuse Paul of breaking the Sabbath commandment? Nowhere!

Jesus taught us to fulfil the law by love

MATTHEW 22:34-40
34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they were all gathered together.
35 Then one of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

ROMANS 13:8-10 (Paul)
8 Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there is any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
10 Love works no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

GALATIANS 5:14 (Paul)
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Note: Does fulfilling of the law mean that we do not have to keep the ten commandments? No, because Jesus said, "all the law" (Matthew 22:40) hangs on the commands to love, which includes all of the ten commandments, not just nine of them. Secondly, we fulfil the law by love (Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14), and if we love God with all of our heart and soul, and our neighbour as ourselves, then our love for God is expressed by obedience to his commandments:

(John 14:21-24) "He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves me: ... If a man loves me, he will keep my words: ... He who does not love me does not keep my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."
(1 John 5:2-3) "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
(2 John 6) "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments."

This is why Jesus taught us two commandments which enable us to fulfil the law:

(Matthew 22:37) "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
(Matthew 22:39) "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."

The latter one of these two gives us the desire to keep the last six of the ten commandments, whereas faith would give us the ability to keep them. For example:
If we love our father and our mother, would we dishonour them? No, because we would hate to do such a thing, and we would only want to please them.
If we love our neighbours would we kill them? or anyone that they love? No, because we would hate to do such a thing, and we would only want to do what is best for them. We would not hate them if they offended us, because hate is spiritual murderer (1 John 3:15), and love is the opposite of hate. We would not speak evil of them, because spiritual death is in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), and we would not wish to hurt them.
If we love our neighbours, would we steal from them? No, because we would hate to do such a thing, and we would only want to do what is best for them. Love is a desire to give (John 3:16), and would give us the opposite desire to stealing from them. We would never wish to see them suffer the hurt from our actions, so love would motivate us to keep this commandment.
If we love our neighbours would we lie to them? No, because the scripture declares, "A lying tongue hates those who are afflicted by it;" (Proverbs 26:28). Paul declared, "Therefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:" (Ephesians 4:25), because speaking the truth to someone is an expression of love. So fulfilling this commandment by love would mean that we would never lie to our neighbour.
So likewise, love for our neighbours would keep us from breaking any of the commandments that apply to them.
In the same way, if we love God with all of our heart, and with all of our soul, and with all of our mind, would we put other Gods before him? If you have a wife or a girl friend that you love with your whole heart, would you put other women or girls before them? No way! Love would keep you from it.
Would we make carved images that are an abomination to God, and bow down to them, knowing how much this would hurt God? No way! because our love for God would keep us from it.
Would we take his name in vain, knowing that it would hurt him? No way!
How then would we not keep the Sabbath, which he made for us (Mark 2:27), knowing that this would be like throwing his gift back in his face?
So there it is, love fulfils the law, and love expresses itself as obedience to God's commandments. Jesus said, "He who does not love me does not keep my sayings;" (John 14:24), and one of his sayings was, "keep the commandments." (Matthew 19:17), so people who do not keep the ten commandments do not fully love Jesus or God.

Jesus came to fulfil the law

                MATTHEW 5:17-18 (Jesus)

17 Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For amen I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.

Note 1: Notice that Jesus said, that he did not "come to destroy the law ... but to fulfil." (Matthew 5:17), and from the words of Jesus himself we can know that he did fulfil as much as he could at his first coming, because he said, "I have kept my Father's commandments." (John 15:10). Also when praying to his Father before his death, he said, "I have finished the work which you gave me to do." (John 17:4), and just before he died, he said, "It is finished:" (John 19:30). There are some things, such as the feast of trumpets, for example, which Jesus will fulfil at his second coming (Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), but this does not mean that he has not fulfilled as much of the law as was expected of him. Does the fact that Jesus fulfilled the law mean that we do not now have to fulfil it? No, that cannot be so because we are expected to be like Jesus:

(Matthew 10:25) "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord."
(Romans 8:29) "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestine to be conformed to the image of his Son,"
(1 Corinthians 15:48) "as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly."
(1 Peter 2:21) "For even to this you were called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps:"
(1 John 2:6) "He who says he abides in him aught himself also to walk, even as he walked."
(1 John 4:17) "In this is our love made perfect ... as he is, so are we in this world."

If Jesus fulfilled the law, and we are meant to "be as our master", "be as our Lord", "be conformed to his image", "follow his steps", "walk, even as he walked", and be "as he is", then we are meant to fulfil the law also as Jesus did. Again there are exceptions, such as the sin offering (Leviticus 16:15-16), and the scapegoat on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:20-23), where Jesus carried away the sins of the world. That cannot be done by us, but we do need to fulfil that which we can fulfil:

(Romans 8:4) "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit."

Note 2: Notice that Jesus also said, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, till all is fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18). There are two separate conditions here, and nothing of the law will pass away until at least one of these is fulfilled. They are, "Till heaven and earth pass", or "till all is fulfilled". Has heaven and earth passed yet? No:

(2 Peter 3:7-10) "But the heaven and earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved for fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men. ... the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up."

So this condition has not removed anything from the law yet.

Note 3: The other condition, "till all is fulfilled", can be taken in two different ways, one of which is, it can mean "till all (the law) is fulfilled" (See #1.25). However, if we examine the Greek, ewj an panta genhtai, (Gtr. heos an panta genetai), which also occurs elsewhere in scripture (Luke 21:32), and where it is also translated "till all is fulfilled", we can compare it with other parallel scriptures:

(Matthew 24:34) "till all these things are fulfilled."
(Mark 13:30) "till all these things are done."

Taking these latter three scriptures in context, it seems obvious that they all refer to the events of the end time, before Jesus returns, things which have not happened to the Jews yet. So some could conclude that Jesus' statement "till all is fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18), literally could mean that "one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, until all (end-time events) are fulfilled", in which case, the law must still be completely intact. This being so, the Sabbath day commandment must also be intact, and we still need to fulfil it.

General Remarks by the G/O HPI