CHRISTIANS AND THE LAW OF MOSES (No.2)
I have said from the pulpit and on radio that the Law of
Moses was the greatest law anyone had ever known - until Christ gave the
gospel. Have you taken note of the many times the book of Hebrews uses the word
"better" in reference to the new covenant? We have a better
spokesman, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-4). We have a better hope (Heb. 7:19). We
have a better covenant which is established on better promises (Heb.8:6). In
fact, every phase of the new covenant is better than comparable phases of the
Mosaic covenant. If it were permissible - and scripturally speaking it is not -
to choose which covenant you would honor, why would you choose an inferior
covenant?
One of my listeners suggested that the word
"everlasting" in Psalm 105:10 means "out of mind." I have
no idea what that means, but I know the meaning of the word
"everlasting." Generally speaking, the word "everlasting"
is a synonym of the word "eternity." The word relates to duration and
continuity. But does the word always mean without end? Sometimes the word
applies to events that were limited in time. For example, Moses told the
Israelites: "And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make
atonement for the children of
My e-mail correspondent asks: "Who is the God that
gave the Everlasting Covenant to Abraham and also thundered down the Ten
Commandments to Moses?" Tragically he has confused the Abrahamic covenant
with the Mosaic covenant. They are not the same, not by any stretch of the
imagination. We are beneficiaries of the Abrahamic covenant. Is that not what
Paul told the Galatians? "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs
on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith" (Gal. 3:13-14). We have been redeemed from the curse of the law,
but we still enjoy the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant through Christ.
Did God thunder down the Ten Commandments to Moses? Absolutely!
But what does that mean? If you believe the Bible, you know God gave the Ten
Commandments, but does it mean the Ten Commandments are binding on Christians?
God gave instructions to Noah to build an ark, but he has not obligated you and
me to do so. God also commanded the Jews to offer a lamb without blemish under
the Jewish covenant (Ex. 12:5). But the animal sacrifices were abolished
forever. Jesus Christ is now the "lamb without blemish and without
spot" (1 Pet. 1: 19). It ought to be obvious that the law of God has
changed. In fact, it had to change for Christ to serve as our high priest (Heb.
7:12-14).
I shall introduce our study of the Ten Commandments with an
incident that occurred more than sixty years ago. After my graduation from
junior college, I moved to
Paul affirms that the Corinthians constituted "the
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the
heart." Paul then explained that "we are not sufficient of ourselves
to think anything of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of Christ: who has made
us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit:
for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3: 3-6). What is
the meaning of the "letter" and the "spirit?" Is Paul
contrasting the New Testament with "the letter?"
I am aware of the way many Americans use the words
"letter" and "spirit." Have you ever heard someone say:
"I did not keep the letter of the law, but I kept the spirit of the
law?" How about trying that approach on the next state trooper who stops
you for speeding? If you are driving eighty miles per hour in a fifty mile per
hour speed zone and you tell the trooper: "I may have violated the letter
of the law, but I was keeping the spirit of the law." Your fine will
likely be the same if you do not reason so foolishly. But what I have just
described is not the way Paul speaks of "the letter" and "the
spirit."
Please remember that "the letter kills" but
"the Spirit gives life." Paul next defines what he means by "the
letter" and by "the Spirit." "But if the ministration of
death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children of
Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his
countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall the ministration of the
Spirit be rather glorious" (2 Cor. 3:7-8)? It ought to be plain that the
letter that kills is also the ministration of death. But what is the
ministration of death? It was that which was "written and engraved in
stones." Could that possibly mean the Ten Commandments? Only the Ten
Commandments were written and engraved in stones. And the Lord "gave unto
Moses, when he made an end of communing with them upon mount Sinai two tables
of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Ex. 31:
18).
The Ten Commandments were glorious "so that the
children of
In contrasting the two laws - the Mosaic covenant and the
gospel of Christ - Paul says the law
including the Ten Commandments-"was glorious." Moses' countenance
literally shone when he came down from receiving the Ten Commandments, but that
glory was to be done away. The expression, "done away," means to
render inoperative, to abolish. The verb, katargeo, is rendered
"make without effect," "make void," "might be
destroyed" and "shall fail." The Mosaic covenant was glorious.
"How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious" (2
Cor. 3:8)? Paul further emphasizes the greatness of the gospel compared to the
Mosaic covenant. "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much
more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory" (2 Cor. 3:9).
The English Standard Version renders verse 10:
"Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all,
because of the glory that surpasses it." What "once had glory?"
There is one and only one possible answer: What Paul calls "the
letter," "the ministration of death," that which was written and
engraved in stones - the Ten Commandments. "For if that which is done away
was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious" (2 Cor. 3:11). The
Mosaic covenant has been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross. Paul
exhorted the Colossians: "Let no man judge you therefore in meat, or in
drink, or in respect to a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:
which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col.
2:14-17).
Did you take note of the fact that we can no longer judge
on the basis of a holy day? Does that mean that the feasts, festivals and holy
days of the Mosaic covenant have been abolished? Paul also mentions
"Sabbath days." The Israelites harshly judged their fellow Jews who
violated the laws governing Sabbath keeping. We can no longer do that because
we are not under the law that requires Sabbath-keeping. So what you sometimes
see on billboards along
Paul concludes his discussion of "the letter" and
"the Spirit" by affirming: "Seeing then that we have such hope,
we use great plainness of speech: and not as Moses, who put a veil over his
face, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of
that which is abolished: but their minds were blinded: for until this day
remains the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which
veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the
veil is upon their hearts. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:12-18). I have just
one more comment on 2 Corinthians 3. When modem men and women read the Old
Testament with a view to living by its precepts, the veil is still on their
hearts.
The e-mail makes an unusual observation. "Genesis 1: 1
reads: 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God in the
Hebrew means Elohim. Elohim is a uniplural word in Hebrew like the word sheep
in English. It can be one sheep or many sheep. Elohim can be one God or more
than one. In verse 1, there are at least two Gods talking with one another
because down in verse 26 it reads: "And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness. Therefore we know there are two Gods talking with
one another at this point.'" There is no basis for having two Gods. That
is polytheism. There is one God in three persons. Having two Gods would be
heathenism. Do you remember what Moses told the Israelites: "Hear, 0
The e-mail asks: "Since we know that Jesus Christ gave
us the Ten Commandments and HIS feast days, what does He have to say about
it?" The author of the e-mail quotes these words from Matthew: "Think
not that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I have come not to
destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,
not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever
shall do them, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven" (Mt. 5:17-19).
The author of the e-mail comments: "Here it is clearly
stated that Jesus did NOT come to destroy his holy days and HIS Sabbaths. That
is why He kept the holy days when he was here (Lk. 2:41-43)." We know
Jesus kept the holy days and every other aspect of the Mosaic covenant. He
lived every day of his earthly existence under the Mosaic covenant. He kept the
Sabbath, observed the feasts and festivals of the Jewish law because he lived
under that law. But if Jesus did not come to abolish or to destroy the law and
the prophets, his own apostles clearly misunderstood at least one of the Lord's
purposes for coming to earth.
I ask you to listen again to the entire passage to which my
e-mail correspondent referred. "Think not that I have come to destroy the
law and the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from
the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall teach and do them, the same shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:17-19).
Do you have any idea of the meaning of the word
"till" or "until?" Jesus specifically stated: "Not one
jot or one tittle shall pass from the law till (or until) all be
fulfilled" (Mt. 5:18). I must ask you a question: Did Jesus Christ fulfill
the law and the prophets? If he did fulfill the law and the prophets, would
that not mean the law and the prophets were abolished? I urge you to listen to
a brief excerpt from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand
Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957), edited by Dr. James Orr.
"Looking at the whole testimony of the Gospels, we can see how it was that
Christ fulfilled the Law. He fulfilled the moral law by obeying, by bringing
out its intense spirituality, and he established it on a surer basis than ever
as the eternal law of righteousness. He fulfilled the ceremonial and typical
law, not only by conforming to its requirements, but by realizing its spiritual
significance. He filled up the shadowy outlines of the types, and thus
fulfilled, they pass away, and it is no longer necessary for us to observe the
Passover or slay the daily lamb: we have the substance in Christ" (volume
3, p. 1847). Since Jesus completely fulfilled the law and the prophets, they
were removed forever. There are no precepts or statutes from the Mosaic
covenant that are binding on anyone. If men seek to be justified by the law,
they have fallen from grace (Gal. 5:1-4).
I need to return to an observation I made a few minutes
ago, and that is: If Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the law and the
prophets, his own disciples failed to understand one of the purposes for which
he came to earth. Will you think with me about the events on the Mount of
Transfiguration? The Apostle Matthew says that Jesus took with him Peter, James
and John and brought them into a high mountain. He was transfigured before
them. His face shone as the sun and his clothing was as white as light. Moses
and Elijah appeared and were talking with Christ on the mount. The Apostle
Peter was so thrilled he suggested: "It is good for us to be here: if thou
wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah. While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them:
and behold a voice out of the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear him" (Mt. 17:1-5).
What is the significance of the events I have just read to
you? What did Moses and Elijah represent? There is no doubt that Moses and
Elijah represented the law and the prophets. The events on the Mount of
Transfiguration prove conclusively that we are no longer to hear Moses and the
prophets. We are to hear Jesus Christ - not a combination of Moses and the
prophets and Jesus Christ - but Jesus Christ alone. Is that not also the
message of the book of Hebrews? "God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son" (Heb. 1: 1-2).
If you want to know how to be saved, how to stay saved and
how to worship God, you do not consult Moses and the prophets. You follow the
instructions of Jesus Christ and his spokesmen. Jesus Christ declared:
"All authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth" (Mt. 28:18).
Faithful Christians must go forth with the message of salvation Jesus Christ came to earth for us to proclaim.
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour
Fayetteville, TN 37334