The Mosaic Law
Explanations of What the Law Entailed, Its Components; and What is Still in Effect and Why
Preface
The Bible is replete with teaching and history about God’s laws, for all the nations, as well as for the specific, ancient nation of Israel. There are differences in the two. The following is a logical explanation of what God expects from us as his subjects. After all, he is the King of the Universe. While his very nature is love, he has given all humans boundaries for behavior as it relates to him and to each other – for the flourishing and peaceful co-existence in a sinful, imperfect world.
The concepts about following “the law”, both in the Old Testament and New Testament, are not always “cut and dried”. The concepts can be nebulous, general, and/or contain spiritual overtones. Life is sometimes simpler, when we have a list of rules to follow; however, life is much more muddy than that. Our emotions, desires (sinful and good), motives, and how they come out in actual behavior, all play into God’s requirements for us humans. The different aspects of his laws are thus intertwined in all of our decisions in life.
My goal in this exposition is to parse the nuances about the law as found in the Bible, while recognizing my limited understanding. We know that God doesn’t have a plan B, but that he has orchestrated all aspects of his unfolding of the redemption of mankind and the revelation of his love and nature. While we can understand enough of his plan, there is much of God that cannot be understood. Psalm 145:3 states that “…his greatness no one can fathom.” Isaigh 55:9 also states, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts [higher] than your thoughts.” Another passage to keep in mind that is hard to understand is Romans 11:32: “For God has bound all men over to disobedience, so that he may have mercy on them all.” Somehow that verse plays into the big picture of man’s inability to keep God’s righteous requirements.
There also needs to be a word said about another nebulous but important related concept – the conscience. It appears from some New Testament scriptures (Romans 2:12-15; 1 Timothy 4:2) that God has created us humans with a built-in metaphysical check regarding the morality of certain behavior. Morality is defined as what is appropriate for human interaction for all peoples at all times, in all places on the earth. (This idea is related to the philosophical concept of “natural law”, the latter of which is a topic for discussion all of its own.) The most common behaviors related to this conscience are negative: murder, theft (property rights), lying, and sexual relations. It seems that we as humans, especially when we are children, know that certain behaviors are “wrong”, even if we are not specifically taught such. This concept is directly related to the “moral” component of The Law and to behavior historically accounted for, prior to God giving the Law to Moses for the nation of Israel. This concept is also related to the fact that God did not give The Mosaic Law to any of the other nations on earth (Psalm 147:19, 20). This then begs the question: Is it better to have known God’s laws or to have not known? I hope that the explanations below will give us a sufficient answer to that question, as I believe that the answer is neither affirmative nor negative.
History Before the Law Was Given to Moses
According to the Jewish calendar, it is the year 5785 (2025 in the Gregorian calendar. Some scholars believe that the time of the Jewish exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law to Moses at Sinai, was around the year 1443 BC. However, if we understand the timeframe of Kings David and Solomon to be somewhere between 1050 and 950 BC, then the history stated in Joshua and Judges would put the giving of the Law in the 1200s BC. Nonetheless, this timeframe is clearly more than 2000 years from the creation of Adam, which is remarkable in itself. How did mankind survive for two millenia without a written code (notwithstanding the creation of Hammurabi’s code in approximately 1750 BC, but still only for a limited population of the world at that time)? This is where the concept of the conscience/morality comes into play.
Before we explore some examples of morality, we need to look at the very first command to Adam (and Eve) (Genesis 2:16, 17; 3:2, 3). They only had one command from God: ONE!!! “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die”. Before they did eat of it, they had no need of their consciences, because they had no idea what sin, disobedience, or rebellion was. They were “naked and unashamed”. Shame has to do with knowing that one has done wrong, which feeling comes from the conscience. When one has never done wrong, there can be no shame. After they disobeyed God and felt the shame, then consciousness of sin was realized and would flow into all of their offspring (Romans 5:12; see also Genesis 4 for the account of Cain and Abel).
An account of the payment for sin also needs to be mentioned, as this concept plays a very large role in the ceremonial and practical aspects of the Law. God had to kill an animal in order to make clothing for Adam and Eve so that their nakedness was covered. This is specifically mentioned in Genesis 3:21. In the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, we are told of a freewill sacrifice that Abel brings to God from his flocks. While it is not specifically detailed in these accounts, we begin to see the killing of animals as some form/image of atonement for sin and/or worship to God. This concept will be seen throughout Genesis, including with the acts of Noah after the flood, and with Abraham, and how he interacts with God.
One further related concept must also be mentioned briefly. That is the concept of “covenant”. God himself institutes a specific covenant with Noah (and with all mankind and animals), although it does not mention anything about law or morality. Nonetheless, in Genesis 9, there is a brief story regarding morality and shame, as they relate to Noah’s sons. Hundreds of years later, God makes a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15) regarding his offspring and the land of Canaan, and with a special, promised son to Abraham, who will be the biggest blessing to all of mankind. The covenant itself involved the slaying of animals. Later on, when God asks Abraham to sacrifice this promised son, God provides a ram to take the place of the son. I mention this simply to show that animal sacrifice is a repeated concept in the redemption of humans and as an act of worship to God. God furthermore makes another covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, regarding the circumcision of all males in his household. This practice is specifically mandated by God for all future generations. This mandate is the closest thing that we have to “codified” rules before the Mosaic law.
The covenants between God and Abraham do not mention any specifics regarding moral behavior or orderly, prescribed rules for living – it is only regarding the promised son. However, we do have a few glimpses of this common sense of morality in the life of Abraham and in the Egyptian and Philistine societies of his day. The stories in Genesis chapters 12 and 20, where Abraham submits himself to a person greater than him, involve Abraham revealing to the King of Egypt, and separately to Abimilech, that his wife Sarah is really his sister. In both stories, the greater persons find out that Sarah is Abraham’s wife, and they scold Abraham for deceiving them into allowing for marriage to Sarah (and hence, sexual relations), which they both recognize as bringing deleterious consequences to them. This is a direct inference to moral behavior (adultery), even though we are not told specifically in the book of Genesis that God deems such behavior as evil or unacceptable. The other extreme of immorality is given to us forcefully in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18, 19). We are given the picture of homosexual behavior and violence as being morally reprehensible (19:6), even though we are not given dictates against them anywhere in the book of Genesis.
The first conundrum that we encounter in this taciturn environment of morality expected but not codified, is found in Genesis 26:5. Isaac is visited by God, who re-iterates to him the covenant made with Abraham. God himself states to Isaac that the covenant is still intact because “Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, commands, my decrees, and my laws.” (NIV translation) Thinking in broad strokes, one can neatly fit “requirements” and “commands” into the covenant of circumcision, as both terms equate to obedience for the act of circumcision. However, we are never given the specifics in Abraham’s life regarding God giving him decrees and laws. So, what were these decrees and laws that God himself mentions? I have not been able to find any reference in the rest of Scripture, that gives an answer to this question. Official Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) doctrine states that the answer comes from the moral code found in the Mosaic Law. However, while there may be a logical connection there, it is not specifically stated in the text of Genesis, nor elsewhere in Scripture. (The SDA doctrine specifically makes this connection due to their forceful emphasis on keeping God’s written commands in all dispensations of God’s covenants.) I am simply trying to paint the picture that there existed a concept of morality in the ancient world, despite the lack of a shared (hence, known) list of decrees for acceptable behavior. This understanding had to have originated from the aforementioned stories and/or from the human conscience itself. The concept is also one of the components of the Mosaic law, which will be discussed later.
The Formal Giving of the Mosaic Law
I have not studied Hammurabi’s Code in detail. However, it is not surprising that there may be aspects of it which are similar to those found in the Mosaic law. As previously mentioned, the ancient world did have some sense of a common morality and some sense of atonement in animal sacrifice. God allowed for some restraint of sin even in pagan cultures of the ancient world. That restraint is still alive today to some degree; else, the world would constantly be in a state of chaos, whereas we currently only see chaos sporadically and mostly temporarily. Of course, this restraint also comes from a fear of punishment, either from “the authorities” or from God himself (see Romans 13:4; Exodus 20:20).
The giving of the Law to Moses and the recently-freed nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage, is a continuation of God’s covenant with Abraham; it cannot be separated. In Exodus 3:16, Moses is commanded by God to tell the elders of Israel that the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” has been watching over them in their misery, and has not forgotten them. This is a direct reference to the God of the covenants. This is also the beginning of the physical redemption of the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery.
Let us not forget that the Law was not given to any of the other nations on earth. It was only given to the Jewish nation. Psalm 147:19, 20 state: “He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws.” Deuteronomy 4:8 also states: “What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws that I am setting before you today?” This giving of the Law was not done quietly either. Exodus 19 states that the second time that Moses climbed Mt. Sinai, there was thunder, lightning, a dense cloud, a trumpet blast, billowing smoke, and trembling of the mountain (possibly small earth tremors), and darkness. Moses makes several trips up the mountain to meet with God, even one time for forty days. God speaks to Moses all of his commands and decrees that we find in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. (Deuteronomy is the re-iteration of the Law given by Moses to the people near the end of the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, right before crossing the Jordan river near Jericho.) God put on display his great prowess to test his people so that they would fear him and not sin (Ex. 20:20). This compilation of all the laws and decrees was not simply a written document, stating what was already being followed in society. It was much larger than that; it contained specific instructions regarding moral behavior, civic behavior, tabernacle setup and sacrificial orders, as well as personal “hygiene” related to formal worship.
This raises the question of why God instituted the law. Is there a big-picture answer, one that even goes beyond the Law? Paul the Apostle will give us some thoughts in his letter to the Galatians that might seem contradictory to the grand statements found in Deuteronomy. We will get to them later, as God provides further ongoing insight into his own revelation to the people of Israel, as well as to “the nations”. For now, listen to the words of Deuteronomy 4:35-40: “You were shown these things so that you might know that Yahweh is God; besides him there is no other God. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from the fire. Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out nations greater and stronger than you, and to bring you into their land to give it to you as an inheritance…keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land that Yahweh your God gives you…” “And now, O Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and to observe Yahweh’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (10:12-13). It appears that following God’s decrees would bring about the best possible chance for flourishing in life. However, don’t forget that this covenant of obedience/blessing (Deut. 28) was to the nation of Israel only. The bigger question of “Wouldn’t this work for the rest of the world also?” will be answered later in this work.
We see, therefore, that there are at least two big-picture reasons behind the 613 commands found in the Mosaic law. God actually cares about us humans and wants us to know him, love him, serve him, all the while experiencing (tasting) his goodness that follows by doing those things he just mentioned. Psalm 34:8, 9 echo this sentiment found above in Deuteronomy 10: “Taste and see that Yahweh is good; fortunate is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear Yahweh, you people set apart for his purposes, for those who fear Him do not lack.” We can also conclude that God has not just mandated a list of rules arbitrarily to create a religion without relationship. Nor are these commands and decrees man-made in any sense. God knows what is best for human flourishing: a knowledge and understanding of God’s ways and his heart for his image-bearers.
The second reason for God giving the Mosaic Law to the nation of Israel, was that He wanted to reveal himself specifically as the only true God amidst the current belief in the pantheism of gods, which were literally idolized by the various nations and societies in the middle east. Many of the Israelites may not even have had a good understanding of the true God who was high above the “other gods.” Exodus 15:11 might back up this understanding of the pantheon. “Who among the gods is like you, O Yahweh? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Moses specifically stated to Pharoah in the midst of the plague of frogs, “It will be as you say [tomorrow], so that you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God” (Exodus 8:10). Moses also re-iterates this phrase in 9:14, “…so that you [Pharoah] may know that there is no one like me [Yahweh] in all the earth.” God wanted the nation of Israel and the other nations to know that he was top dog among “the gods” of the world.
In the idea of “Father knows best”, which is completely true, he gave the nation of Israel positive commands and negative commands within the larger scope of the law and its different components. A brief example of positive commands is found in Leviticus 19:30, 32: “Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary…Rise in the presence of the aged; show respect for the elderly, and revere your God.” A brief example of negative commands is found in the same chapter, verse 31: “Do not turn to mediums or seek spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. There are also plenty of examples of the consequences for disobeying the commands.
An example from a personal standpoint is Leviticus 19:13 – “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” On a corporate level, Leviticus 19:22-23 intimates a generic but serious consequence: “Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. [See Jonah 2:10 for a picture of vomiting.] You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you.”
What about the people living around the promised land, who were not designated for extermination? For example, the lands of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were not listed as part of the “original” inheritance promised to the nation of Israel. These lands were just to the east and south of the Dead Sea. The Israelites passed through these lands enroute to the crossing of the Jordan River. (Nonetheless, the Moabites and Ammonites were not allowed to “join the [Israelite] assembly” except those after the tenth generation [assuming the counting starts at the entrance to the promised land].) More “neighbors” might be the Egyptians; those people living in the far northeast, beyond the Euphrates River (which was a designated boundary); and people farther east in Chaldee (Babylon), from whence Abraham came. All of these people, including everyone on all continents, at all times, would/will be held accountable by God for their actions because of the previously-mentioned unwritten morality that was and is present in the consciences of all peoples. Romans 2:12-16 gives us a clear accounting for those “not under the Law”, and how they will be judged.
Any “foreigner”, not specifically excluded, who wanted to join the Israelite community and live within the nation’s boundaries was allowed to do so. However, he had to live by the Mosaic law, as the alien was bound to obey the covenant just like the Israelite was (Exodus 12:48-49; Numbers 9:14-15). Why would anyone want to join this nation of strict blood-line ethnicity? Deuteronony 4:8 gives us one clue: “What other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law, that I am setting before you today?” Aliens could find a home of peace and justice under this system (at least theoretically speaking). They could also prosper materially under the blessings of corporate righteous living. (Leviticus 25:47 even mentions the possibility of an Israelite selling himself to an alien because of personal financial struggles.) The alien had to submit his allegiance to the standards of the covenant, which would lead to his personal flourishing. And isn’t personal flourishing what we all want out of life? (See John 10:10 as well.)
It is at this point that I must introduce a deeper idea of how the history of Israel relates to us followers of Jesus Christ, his body of believers. One thing that Romans 9-11 teaches us is that NOW Israel is composed, not of blood Jews, but of those who put their trust in Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles. Hebrews 12:22-28 also compliments this idea of a spiritual Israel, composed of only people with saving faith. Therefore, the passage in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 is important to understanding how we as New Covenant believers are to regard the entirety of the history of Israel. That history was a physical example of what happens and/or can happen to the body of Christ spiritually, since both the physical nation of Israel and the body of Christ were both chosen by God himself to be his special possession (or treasure) (Exodus 19:5-6; 1 Peter 2:9-10). Therefore, whatever we read in the Mosaic Law, probably has a spiritual counterpart and/or analogy, to which we as believers must pay attention. The moral parts of the Law can also be analogized, but are most likely still in effect, as they were previously seen to be requisite for living before the Law was given. This idea concerning what parts of the Law are literally still in effect will be discussed near the end of this teaching. I am not an expert in the details of the Law, by any means. There are also many commands for which I cannot find a direct analogy. This writing is simply meant to be an overview to help one understand the meaning of “the Law”, especially as it is stated in the New Testament.
The Components of the Law
“The Law” is an over-arching term that is used, I believe, in a nebulous manner in the New Testament. That could be my perception as one who was not raised under the Law, as a Jewish child. Nonetheless, the specific component(s) of the Law that one finds mentioned ad nauseum in the New Testament can be understood by the context of the discussion. This will also be fleshed out in a later chapter. For now, I categorize the Law given by God through Moses in four different components. The first component is the moral one. This is the component that I have previously mentioned was already known and practiced by various societies and is related to our consciences. Morality consists in how we treat our fellow humans and their property. This component can also consist in how we relate to God. The Ten Commandments consist entirely of this component.
The second component is the ceremonial one, which would include all the religious duties of the priests and how the public relates to God through these “ceremonies”. This component entails all the rituals related to “clean” and “unclean” circumstances, as well as to the daily sacrifices and offerings made by priests and occasional offerings made by the public (via the priests). It also consists of the annual festivals that were to be observed.
The third and fourth components are what I call practical and civil components, respectively. They are closely related to the previous first two, and may even be swallowed by them, but I have chosen to distinguish them separately. Some examples of these are found in Leviticus 19 and 25, where the Israelites were given commands about when and where to plant certain crops; wearing certain types of clothing; debt commands, Sabbath years, and the year of Jubilee. Some of these had to do with civil living among one’s fellow Israelites, and even living with “foreigners”, who would later come to live with the Israelites, but who were not originally designated for extermination.
God’s Expectations Regarding the Law
God commanded the Israelites to keep ALL the commandments that he gave (Deutoronomy 11:8). He commanded this so that blessings would be enjoyed by the people of Israel – rain in due season (Deut. 11:14); strength to overtake the promised land (Deut. 11:8); long timespan in the promised land (Deut. 11:9); and material and bodily prosperity (Deut. 28:1-13), to name a few. The opposite consequences would also happen if the commands were forsaken (Deut 28:15ff). The Law consisted of personal blessings (Psalm 1:1) and punishment (Leviticus 20:10), as well as corporate blessings and punishment (see Deuteronomy 28, the entire chapter). This oscillation of corporate blessings and corporate negative consequences comprises most of the historical and prophetic books of the Old Testament, which is the overwhelming majority of the OT. For a fledgling group of two million people (Numbers 26:51 counts the men only), this might have seemed like a daunting task; but if everyone individually learned to love God and his ways, and keep his commands, then things would go smoothly (Deut. 11:22).
Before the people of Israel had even reached the promised land, there was a large-scale incidence of sexual immorality with Moabite women (Numbers 25). It looked like they were not starting on the right foot. As a matter of fact, Moses even stated that this whole endeavor would be a failure. Deutoronomy 31:24-29 are forceful words: “After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh: ‘Take this book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die….for I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I commanded you.” Near the end of Joshua’s life, decades after first crossing the Jordan River into the promised land, Joshua renews God’s covenant with the people of Israel. He recounts God’s dealings with Abraham, through the Exodus, to the present day. In Joshua 24:19, he says to the people “You are not able to serve Yahweh; he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” Joshua and Caleb were the only adults at the time of the Exodus, who made it into the promised land. Joshua saw all the rebellion of the people, as well as all the awesome works of God. He agreed with what Moses had said to the people regarding the ability to be faithful to Yahweh. But God already knew this! Hope was on its way!
We also must remember that the Law did not only consist of commands. It revealed the nature of God, which is love, and how he wanted his covenant people to know him and experience his guidance and goodness. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy also give us historical accounts of God dealing with his creation, blessing things and people, and sometimes dealing with their sin – even before the Law is given. These five books of the Bible are commonly called the Pentateuch. They are also considered as Torah in the Jewish tradition. The common word “torah” means instruction, teaching, or law, and generally means the books containing the Mosaic law, if not also including the book of Genesis.
Despite the overwhelming Old Testament history of negative consequences for the people of Israel not obeying God’s commands, there are hints of hope. There were people who loved God and were faithful to him, consistently obeying him. No one, however, was perfect in obeying all the laws (Psalm 130:3,4; 1 Kings 8:46). On the other hand, we are told in 1 Kings 15:5 that “David had not failed to keep any of Yahweh’s commands all the days of his life – except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” This could be a summary of the 10 Commandments or of the other moral aspects of the law. Cross-reference the story of Jesus and the rich ruler in Mark 10:19ff. Only the 10 commandments are referenced. It seems that one could keep the letter of the Law flawlessly during one’s own life, i.e. the last six commandments of the 10. (See also Luke 1:6, where Zechariah and Elizabeth are said to have lived “blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of Adonai.”) David speaks of himself in Psalms 51, confessing his “transgressions, iniquity, sin, sinfulness from birth” in verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. Of course, this was penned right after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his adultery and murder. Nonetheless, David himself knows of his personal sinfulness, despite being a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). In Psalm 25:11, he refers also to his “guilt, for it is GREAT.” He recognized that keeping the law was more than just not breaking the letter of the law (surface obedience).
A brief word must also be said about different words used in the Old Testament to describe God’s “commands”. In Psalms 19:7-11, David extols several items in the Law, using the words (translated into English) law, statutes, precepts, commands, fear, and ordinances. Excepting the word fear, all the other words basically mean “commands” in Hebrew. These same words are used repeatedly in Psalm 119, where almost every other stanza has something to do with God’s righteous commands. Therefore, please do not get hung up on the usage of specific English words as they relate to God’s righteous requirements. 2 Corinthians 3:6 reminds us that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” And what the Holy Spirit teaches us will also NOT contradict what has already been written, but he will enlighten our understanding thereof (Ephesians 1:17-18). (Cross-reference 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 for the working of the Holy Spirit, as He relates to our understanding of things.)
One other note about Psalm 119: the accolades given to “the Law” in this, the longest Psalm in the Bible, combined with the positive statements given earlier from the book of Deuteronomy, would make one think that “the Law” was God’s best revelation for mankind. At the point of the events in Deuteronomy, it might have been the best revelation to date. However, Jesus and Paul reveal even more insight into this topic.
The Teaching of Jesus About the Law
Jesus’ teaching about the Father and truly living to please him, goes way beyond explaining the spiritual meanings found in the Torah. In Matthew 5-7, he begins by explaining that the outward keeping of the law is simply that; however, the outward law-keeping never gets to the root of one’s sinfulness. Jesus brings into question the motives of the heart that tend to show one as selfish at best and inhumane at worst. He cuts right through the hypocrisy of the religion into which the leaders had turned “the Law”. He points out many times that the religious leaders had twisted the law into something not intended, e.g., ignoring the caretaking of one’s parents because of a previous religious oath (Matthew 15:1-9). He basically states that this “tradition” of the elders has raised itself higher than the simple command to “honor one’s father and mother”. The examples about what one can and cannot do on the Sabbath, were also squashed by Jesus as being so narrow to exclude the ability to heal on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17), or even to be healed (Mark 2:3-11; John 5:1-18). Many times, the religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy because he claimed to be God and/or his Son (Matthew 9:1-8; John 10:30f; Mark 14:61f; John 5:17-18; and John 8:58-59). If his divinity were false, then his claims would be blasphemy, which would be a sin against God (Leviticus 24:10f).
Several times Jesus told persons he had healed, to show themselves to the priests (Luke 5:14; 17:14), as a condition for being considered clean again (Leviticus 14:2ff). Was he telling them to obey the law just for the sake of keeping the law? I believe that there were two reasons for such: 1) for the healed person to be admitted back into society, after being labeled an outcast, and 2) as a testimony of Jesus’ wonderful works. When the woman “caught in adultery” was brought before Jesus by the religious leaders, in order to trap him (John 8:1-11), Jesus was reminded that the penalty for adultery was death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). There are a few issues with this scenario. 1) It takes two persons to commit adultery. The command to stone, mentioned above, requires both consenting adults to be stoned. In this story, the man is not even mentioned. This sounds like the issue was pre-planned by the religious leaders. 2) Jesus didn’t dismiss the fact that adultery was sinful. However, he pointed out the leaders’ eagerness in executing judgment – the killing of a person for a private act. 3) Jesus states that whoever has no sin can cast the first stone. Deuteronomy 17:7 also states that the accusers should be the first to throw a stone intended to harm/kill. So, the accusers would have to be recognized as being morally upright if not letter-of-the-law perfect. As Jesus was writing in the dirt (possibly a reference to Jeremiah 17:13, where those written were those who had forsaken God), the accusers slowly left the scene one-by-one. Finally, at the end, Jesus asks where her accusers were. Since no one was present to bring an accusation, the civil matter was ended. 4) However, Jesus, once again, goes deeper and rebukes the female adulterer for her sin [notice the upholding by Jesus of “moral law”], while granting her mercy and no condemnation. Hosea gives us the heart of God in this matter in 6:6 – “For I desire kindness and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings”. In this case, there was no recourse to burnt offerings to ameliorate this sin; the human was the “burnt offering”. Jesus showed the woman that he wants her to experience that knowledge of the true God. Ezekiel 18:23 also comes into play here. “Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked”, says Adonai God, “but rather that he should turn from his ways and live?” There is something bigger here than just the observing of the written code.
On another occasion, a non-religious leader asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus tells him to keep five of the ten commandments, as well as the “neighbor” command found in Leviticus 19:19. The five commandments are ones related to behavior with people. The man replies that he has kept these from his youth onward, which is the outward keeping of the letter of the law. Then Jesus gets to the root of the matter; the man loves his possessions too much. Jesus tells him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then, come and follow me.” Jesus never actually states how the man can gain eternal life. He was certainly not insinuating that just by keeping five of the ten commandments would gain him eternal life. I don’t believe that Jesus was even telling the man that he had to sell ALL he that he owned, although I will not argue that it was not a possible meaning. Jesus knew what had captured the man’s heart, and/or that the man possibly wanted to be justified in his law-keeping. Either way, Jesus wants nothing to be between us and him in our following thereof. Without even saying it, he was implying the first of the two greatest commandments: “Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Matthew 22:36; Luke 7:30).
This brings us to that very passage of Scripture. A Pharisee lawyer asked Jesus “Which of the commandments in the law is the greatest?” Jesus didn’t reply with even the first of the ten commandments, “You shall have no other Gods before (besides) me” (Exodus 20:3). He instead went to Deuteronomy 6:5 with the aforementioned verse to love God with heart soul, and strength. He gave the point-blank answer in this case to the Pharisee. Jesus then went further to say that the entire “law and the prophets” hang on these two commandments. One can actually see this quite clearly when one looks at the ten commandments. The first four have to do with loving God completely; the last six have to do with loving people. But for EVERYTHING in the written Law of Moses to be related to these two things? YEP!!! If I may also summarize, it appears to be that there are two things that we are still to do now and until the end of the age, and which all persons have been required since Adam was created: to know, understand, and love (obey) God, and to do my fellow man no harm (which entails moral “laws” or simply “morality” in itself).
Let us now turn to the hard saying found in Matthew 5:17-19. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law but to fulfill it…” To “fulfill” can mean to complete a contract, or complete one’s duties as assigned, thus no longer needing to abide by the contract, unless specifically stated. This idea fits perfectly with the need to still keep the moral aspect of the law (since it was in play before “the Law” was given), but not to require the civil, ceremonial, or practical letter of the law. I cannot begin to tell you how Jesus fulfilled all the laws related to mildew (Leviticus 14:33ff); or not cooking a kid in its mothers milk (Exodus 23:19); or not creating clothing of two different types of material (Deuteronomy 22:11). I may have some general ideas of these items, but somehow the life and sacrifice of Jesus has fulfilled the spirit of the law and has pleased the heavenly Father (Matthew 3:17; John 8:29). The word “abolish” in many translations is the Greek work “katalusai”, which means to do away with something, or destroy it. This is in contrast to the Greek word “katargesas”, which is often translated “abolish” in English in Ephesians 2:15. The meaning of this word is to “nullify, or render useless, not effective.” Jesus did both; he did not throw away the law, because it is needed for the reasons stated previously, namely to show us how sinful we are. He did make the Mosaic law null and void, because he fulfilled it, and tore down the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-19).
In summary, like Jesus insinuated to the rich man in Matthew 19, keeping the Law cannot bring about the righteousness that God requires from people. The man in that story had kept the commands that Jesus had stated, but yet he lacked something that would garner him eternal life. Jesus revealed where the man’s heart was when Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, then follow Jesus as a traveling preacher, none of which the man wanted to do; hence his departure from the scene with sadness.
There is still something else that God requires and finally reveals to us. Let’s look at this now.
Paul’s Explanation of the Law
Romans 3:19-31 is our starting point for this further revelation regarding “the Law” and its components. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced…For no man may be justified in his sight by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ…they are now justified by his grace as a gift….Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” This last sentence cannot refer to the ceremonial, civil, or practical parts of the law, as we shall see from several examples of this in the lives of the early church. It can only mean the “moral law” that preceded the Law of Moses. Furthermore, the righteousness of God can only be attained by faith in Jesus Christ, not by keeping any component of the law, even though keeping the moral law is still required, as obedience in loving God and others. Jesus himself kept the law perfectly, fulfilling the just requirements of the law in our place. Doing so, he ruined sin’s power in the flesh, and imputed his righteousness to us who do not walk according to the flesh (sinful nature) but who walk according to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
Nothing related to the ceremonial, civil, or practical parts of the law will help in having God work in our lives. Galatians 3:5 states “Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?” Furthermore, it may actually hinder God from working in us. Verse 10 of the same chapter states, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law’ “. Continuing this logic, verse 21 states “Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law.” These verses are just highlights of the Holy Spirit’s thought process as running through the writings of Paul. Galatians, chapters 3 and 4, give a thorough analysis of the law contrasted with the promises given to Abraham and the fulfillment in Christ.
Why, then, was the law given if it could not bring life? Its purpose is several.
1) Romans 3:20 tells us that “through the law comes the knowledge of sin”. Galatians 3:24 also backs up this idea.
2) Because the law requires that it be kept perfectly (Gal. 3:10), it implies that no one can do so perfectly. Furthermore, we have several examples where individuals state the same. Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 7:20 that “there is no one on earth who does what is right and never sins.” David writes in Psalm 19:12, “Who can discern his own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant from willful sins; do not let them have dominion over me.” James 2:10 also states, “For whoever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point, has become accountable in all points”. “Finally, Peter, in a refutation of circumcision needed for new Gentile believers, makes a frustrating remark in Acts 15:10, “…why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” The Jerusalem leaders give the believers in Antioch four items to follow: a) abstain from food sacrificed to idols (Paul addresses this in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8); b) abstain from blood; c) abstain from strangled animals; and d) avoid fornication. The reason for abstaining from b) and c) could not be from the Mosaic dietary laws, as Peter already refuted the need for circumcision in verse 10; in other words, we can ignore the non-moral aspects of the law. Or at the very least, if he was referring to the dietary laws, then what we see is a gradual moving away from the non-moral aspects, which may have been necessary for those previously steeped in the ceremonial laws. Of course, the last item d) was part of the moral aspect that has always existed.
3) The law was only a “shadow” of the good things to come, including the one-time sacrifice of Jesus to take away the sins of the world. Hebrews 10:1-3 states “Since the law was only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually made year after year, make perfect those who approach. Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have the consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Because Jesus has instituted a new covenant, the old covenant of the Mosaic law has now been made obsolete. Hebrews 8:13 states, “In speaking of a new covenant, he has made the first one obsolete. What is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.” Remember the meaning of the word “obsolete”, given previously. It means “no longer in effect”. This same chapter also explains how God institutes the new covenant in believers. Verses 8-12 are a quote from Jeremiah 31. The writer states, “this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts…they shall not teach one another…[to] ‘know Yahweh’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Paul further explains in Romans 8:10f “if Christ is in you…the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he…will give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you…but you have received a spirit of adoption that cries ‘Abba! Father!’ It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Furthermore, the Spirit of God living in us changes us and causes us to bear fruit that is compatible with the moral aspect of the law. Remember that this aspect was in place before the law of Moses was given. Galatians 5:16-25 contrasts the works of the flesh with the works of the Spirit. In explaining the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22 and 23, Paul states that there is no law “against” such things. They are the very product of God working through the Holy Spirit in believers. However, there are many written commands in the Old and New covenant scriptures that support such morality. Living in and by the Holy Spirit does not negate any commands that Jesus or the apostles have given us, in the writings that we have.
Romans 8 sums this up as well, although there is some ambiguity that needs to be made clear. In verses 2 and 3, Paul mentions the word “law” in three different phrases: 1) the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; 2) the law of sin and death; and 3) the righteousness of the law. In a way, Paul is using a play on words, as the same Greek word “nomos” is used for each occurrence. However, he does have a specific definition in mind in each phrase. Let’s start with the first phrase, the “law of the Spirit”. This is not a written code, but the life-changing, ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in those who have been birthed into a living hope.
Secondly, the “law of sin and death” is referring to the actual written code that God gave to Moses, which can only reveal our sins to us as being utterly sinful in God’s eyes. This law cannot change us. Thirdly, in verse 4, Paul is referring to the righteous requirements of the law – the moral aspect – that has always been in effect. Paul then details through verse 17, the need to allow the Holy Spirit to continually direct our living and behavior. What this looks like is described in Galatians 5:16-21, where the fleshly living is stated. However, those living in the renewal of the Holy Spirit will demonstrate the fruit of that Spirit, which is described in verses 22-25. This is allowing the righteous requirements of the law to be produced in us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, who has set us free from the written code, and given us freedom to serve the living God in newness of life.
The Law of Christ
There is yet another ambiguous phrase that Paul uses two times in his writings: the law of Christ. This phrase, however, is fairly easily explained. If we equate the word “law” with the word “command” (as we have previously mentioned from Psalm 119), then the specific commands of Jesus to his contemporary disciples and now his body at-large, can be summarized as the law of Christ. In John 13:34, Jesus states “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another.” Jesus states the same thing later in 15:12f. Then he refers in verse 17 in this ongoing discourse that he is giving us “these commands” (plural). One can read John chapters 13-17 to glean any specifics about these commands, although his specific commands to individuals and to all believers generally are sprinkled throughout the gospels.
Nonetheless, Paul refers twice to “the law of Christ” – once in 1 Corinthians 9:21 and once in Galatians 6:2. The former is in reference to Paul placing himself under different cultural constraints, so that he could possible win converts having certain a priori biases in life. The latter reference is directly related to Jesus’ command to love one another: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Therefore the law of Christ has to do with the freedom and choice to show love to others. It still is a command from our Master, but the carrying out of that command has great latitude, as the Holy Spirit guides us. It is not tied to a restrictive set of rules, but rather a principle of denying ourselves and considering other people’s needs more important than our own. Paul specifically makes this clear in Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
In order to avoid the other extreme that freedom to love can bring, Jesus also reins in our selfishness in thinking that we can love God without caring for our fellow man specifically. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus specifically points out the hypocrisy of religious tradition in order to avoid taking care of one’s parents, thus “nullifying the word of God through your tradition…” Remember that love is an act of the will and that it is sometimes difficult to do. It often sacrifices our pleasure, time, and resources in order to love someone else. In the end, however, obeying this command to love actually shows that we are followers of Jesus who love him. God is pleased with such sacrifices.
That is the ultimate goal: to please our heavenly Father, who has sacrificed his Son to make his love known to us. It involves a growing personal relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit living inside of us and changing us. It is not a religious system of rule-keeping with the possibility of skirting those very rules when they become obstacles to our happiness. Our lives are wrapped up with knowing and pleasing the living God, understanding that our relationship with that same living God will continue into the next life and into the next age – whatever that looks like.