A response to 1.2.6

The systematic destruction of the law of Jesus

I have tried my hand at replying to 1.2.6 of Al-Kadhi's book. Please look it over. If it's incoherent or wrong, tell me and I will try to fix it. Your help would be wonderful. Paul, your little brother.


If keeping commandments was the only way to get into heaven
 according to Jesus, why did Jesus Himself say to the thief who
 hung beside Him on the cross say, "Tonight you will be with me
 in paradise."  Al-Kadhi misses the central theme of Jesus'
mission: "For this reason I have come, to give myself as a
ransom for many."  Those who, according to the law, were
unable to meet God's requirements of perfection, were the ones
who needed Jesus' substitutionary death.  When a woman caught
 in adultery was brought to Jesus for judgement and
punishment, He demonstrated Paul's statement adequately, that
 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  He, writing
 the ten commandments in the dirt, pricked the conscience of
 every one present to the end that none could charge her with
sin, themselves knowing in their own hearts they too, were
guilty.  "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
 life in Jesus Christ our Lord."
Indeed Jesus did say, "Whoever keeps the law and teaches
others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
But the weightier matters of the law do not revolve around
eating pork, or refraining from eating pork.  The summation of
the law is, "Love your neighbor the way you love your own soul."
 When we sin, we dont beat ourselves in response to Mosaic
law, or give ourselves over for killing, but we forgive
ourselves, making allowance for our own frailty.  So too, says
 Jesus, should we make allowance for others' faults.  "I require
mercy, not sacrifice."
One facet of Jesus' teaching was fulfilling the law of Moses.
The tithing, the fasting, and the prayer were given new meaning
 in Jesus.  To the hypocrite who kept the form of religiosity but
 had no understanding of God's heart, He said,
"You tithe dill and cummin but neglect the love of God and
mercy.  You should have kept the latter without neglecting the
 former."  About fasting He said, do not let men know that you
are fasting to get a reward from them (acclaim), but fast in
secret, so you can receive a reward from God.  Prayer, too, was
 shown not to be a rite performed for all to see, mechanically,
or in public, as the hypocrites do, to receive glory from men.
"But when you pray, go into your closet and pray in secret, and
your Father will reward you openly."  He challenges the
repetition of prayer, as the Muslims do, as hypocritical vain
babbling.
What is He pointing to?  Although the law is perfect, Jesus
came to set us free from a performance mentality, and from the
 fear of punishment.  As a legalist, one would expect reward for
 good behaviour and punishment for bad behaviour.  But
our conscience must be pure in order to know God, the goal of
religion.  With a 95% average, a student feels great about
himself, but his father will undoubtedly ask him, "Why didn't
you get 100%?"  God requires perfection.  No one except God is
perfect, so how were we ever to please Him?  The law only
makes us aware of our imperfections.  In making us aware of our 
sins before a perfect God, the law is good as a litmus test.
It is at this point when we must turn to God to help us.  It is He
 Himself who must make allowance for our guilty consciences.
As the law is absolute, so we turn to it for help in this
question- how does God help us in our weakness?  In Leviticus,
 God told Moses of animal sacrifice, "The blood makes
atonement for your sin."  To Noah, God said, "I will require an
accounting for the lifeblood of every creature... the life of a
creature is in its blood."  To Cain, God said, "Your brother's
blood cries out to me from the ground."  Blood has weight and
 value in God's eyes. Even the Muslim sacrifices yearly at
 Bakr-Eid, in remembrance of God's helping Abraham and his son
Isaac.  If Abel's blood could affect God's relations with Cain,
then Jesus' blood can and does affect God's relations with men.
  Abel was sinful yet God paid heed to Abel's plea for justice.
 Jesus was sinless and it was His infinitely precious blood
which was spilled for the salvation of sinful men.  So by the
law, Jesus set us free from the punishment for breaking the
law.  If He Himself had been guilty of sin, He would have been
unable to pay for your sin or mine, since only infinitely pure
blood can cleanse an infinite amount of sin.  "The light shone in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
As to the term "Son of God," which Al-Kadhi qualifies as being
applicable to any servant of God, according to Jewish tradition,
 the Gospels say, "To as many as received Him, even to those
who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children
of God."  Jesus said, "If you receive a prophet, you receive a
prophet's reward, if you receive a righteous man, you receive a
righteous man's reward."  The inference is that in receiving the
Son of God, we become sons and daughters of God.  The special
quality which sets Jesus apart from other "Sons of God" is that
 He came forth from the Father directly.  Jesus wasn't the
product of human decision, but of the Holy Spirit.  If, as the
Muslims say, Jesus is the Word of God and the Spirit of God,
what is the difficulty, given His having descended from heaven,
 in accepting theological statements to the effect that He is
God clothed with human flesh?  "And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among men... and we beheld His glory, as of the only
begotten Son of the Father."
In pitting Jesus against Paul, Al-Kadhi errs.  The mission of
Jesus was to set men free from their sin by dying for them.
The message of Paul is the same.  The preaching of Jesus about
law, as well as His life, was to convict men of sin.  Paul gives
weight both to this conviction and to the solution, which is, the
cross.  Paul does not say, break the law.  Jesus commanded us
to keep it.  Paul, as well as Jesus, emphasized the sinfulness of
 men wrt to the law and offer the solution of God's mercy-
Jesus' blood.  Jesus Himself highlited the greatest law, love for
 God and man. Paul said in Cor.13 that without love, he is
nothing.  In correcting churches like the one in Galatia, Paul
 states simply that men are not able to keep the law in their 
own power, and hence they need Christ.  "We preach Christ
crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks
foolishness."
Why didn't Jesus write any books?  Why doesn't a CEO type his
own letters?  God chooses to inspire men by His Holy Spirit.
Even Muslims can tell you Muhammed never wrote anything, but
 his followers copied.  Witnesses are necessary in revelation.
That is why Jesus appeared to Paul.  He said, "You will suffer
much for My Name's sake."  Al-Kadhi is only fulfilling Jesus'
prophecy in putting Paul up as a liar.
As to the men who went before Jesus getting into heaven, Jesus
 Himself said, "Many will come from the east and the west to
sit down at My table in the kingdom of heaven to eat with
Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob., etc." (paraphrased).  God is not
the God of the dead but of the living, for to Him all are alive.
 These men saw into the future, being prophets, and had faith in
 Christ, Whom they wrote about.  Job says, "I know that my
intercessor lives, and that I will see Him on the earth."  Jesus
is our High priest and intercessor, God on the earth.
Paul agrees with and interprets Jesus for the Jew, as well as for 
the Muslim faithfully to the One He calls "Master".


The Rebuttal to "What Did Jesus Really Say?"
Answering Islam Home Page