The Place of the Mosaic Law
in the Life of the Believer
By
Stanford Murrell
A Crisis in Society and in Christendom
The Church of the New
Testament was born in the cradle of Judaism with all of its rituals and
ceremonies. As a result, the time came when conflict arose regarding the
meaning of the symbols of faith. For centuries conservative Jews were taught to
honor the Law of Moses and observe all of the Moral, Ceremonial, and Civil codexs of the Law.
To make certain that this was
done the Jewish Rabbis counted and categorized the Law. In their final analysis
it was concluded that there were 613 precepts and prohibitions which fell into
two classifications.
·
Mandatory Laws, of which there 218. These
were divided into 18 sections.
·
Prohibition Laws, of which there 365. These
were divided into 13 sections.
Sections of the Mandatory Laws Sections of the Prohibition Laws
1. God 1.
Idolatry
2. Torah 2.
Post-exilic prohibitions
3. Temple and Priest 3. Blasphemy
4
Sacrifices 4. Temple
5. Vows 5. Sacrifices
6. Ritual Purity 6. Priests
7. Donations
to the Temple 7. Dietary Laws
8. The
Sabbatical Year 8. Nazarites
9. Concerning
Animals for Consumption 9. Agriculture
10. Festivals
10. Finances
11. Community 11. Justice
12. Idolatry 12.Sexual
relationships
13. War 13. The Monarchy
14. Social
15. Family
16. Judicial
17. Slaves
18. 18. Torts
Because
the Law of Moses was the central document that held the Jewish society
together, because the Law regulated every facet of life to the smallest detail,
it was both a blessing and a burden. The Law was a blessing for it brought
stability to society and allowed a sense of continuity from one generation to
the next. But the Law was a burden in that it demanded strict obedience with
harsh penalties for its violation.
Nevertheless,
for the most part, the people of Palestine learned to adjust to the Law. They
honored the Law with their lips, if not always with their lives. In principle
the people held a fundamental respect for the Law, much the same way that
people today hold a fundamental respect for the Constitution of the United
States with their lips though comparatively few have ever bothered to read the
Law of the Land through completely.
Because
of a fundamental respect for the Law of Moses, because they believed that God
Himself gave the Law, because the Law brought stability to society, the members
of the Sanhedrian were alarmed and horrified when they discovered that members
of Jewish society were being taught by other Jews that the Law was no longer
valid as a way of life.
Perhaps
a modern day analogy might be the reaction our Congressmen would have, along
with millions of others, if they woke up one morning to the news that the
Constitution was no longer the Law of the Land. The potential would be present
for social anarchy—not to mention loss of power and prestige. For the Jewish
rulers two thousand years ago, they awoke one morning to hear that their whole
way of life was being overthrown and they wanted to know.
·
If
the Law of Moses was no longer valid, what New Law was?
·
If
the Moral, Ceremonial, and Civil Laws of Society were being set, what would
take their place?
·
If
the Sanhedrian were no longer the best and the brightest
·
religious
and political leaders of the land, who were?
When members of the
Sanhedrian were told that the nation should follow after a crucified Carpenter
and His merry men, one of which was a despised tax collector, it was just two
much. An immediate and intense persecution against the Christian community was
launched. The name of Christ and the followers of Christ had to be destroyed.
There was a crisis in the land of Canaan.
To complicate matters, there
was a crisis in Christendom itself for not all that came to faith in Christ
understood all of the implications that such faith entailed. In particular,
there was still the question of the Law of Moses that dominated society. Three
responses emerged.
·
Some
people turned away from the gospel so that the religious ceremonies could
continue and the civil law and social laws of Jewish society could be enforced.
·
Others
embraced the gospel and immediately abandoned any keeping of the Law of Moses.
There was a great appreciation for the freedom the gospel message brought from
observing the rules and regulations imposed by the Law. Within the Gentile
community, acceptance of the gospel was easy enough to do for there were no
emotional or cultural ties to the Mosaic Law.
·
A
third response to the developing situation between the history of society and
the new message of the Messiah was a compromise between Law and Grace. Those in
the Jewish community were inclined to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior but then
they tried to keep certain portions of the Law. One clear example of the
attempt to embrace the principles of Christianity while maintaining the
practices of Judaism is reflected in the situation in Galatia.
The term Galatia was used in
an ethnic sense, referring to those Gauls who had settled in north central Asia
Minor. During his second missionary journey, Paul had established churches in
the region of Galatia. But the term Galatia was also used in a political and
geographical sense referring to the Roman province that included such cities as
Lystra, Derbe, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch.
It is unclear to which
region Paul was writing, either those in the north, or those in the south. On
one level, it does not matter for the problem was more or less universal in the
Jewish community. Those who came to Christ has to consider their relationship
to the Law.
As the epistle unfolds, Paul
commends the believers to whom he writes because they had made progress in the
Christian life and were doing well spiritually. But he was alarmed to learn
that some Jewish teachers, called Judaizers, had taught them that they must
also obey the Law of Moses and continue to perform the rite of circumcision, which
was the sign of the covenant people in the Old Testament. The apostle asked, Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect
by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3) And then he chides them for not obeying the gospel
principles. Ye did run well; who did
hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (Gal. 5:7)
Because of a compromise
position between the Law of Moses and the grace of the gospel, neither the Law
was being fully honored nor grace. The end result of an inconsistent doctrine
was detrimental. Gospel obedience was being hindered. (Gal. 5:7) Because some
parts of the Law were observed (Gal. 4:10) renewed consideration was being
given to returning to the whole. I marvel
that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel:…But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known
of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye
desire again to be in bondage? (Gal. 1:6; 4:9)
Paul’s purpose in writing
was to arrest the false teaching of the Judaizers and to expose their impure
motives of being authoritative so that they would not have to suffer for the
cause of Christ. As many as desire to
make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 For neither they
themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you
circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. (Gal. 6:12,13) Paul does
not want his converts to go back under a system of rules and regulations that
no longer served the purpose for which they were designed, nor did he want the
believers to inter into a state of legalism. To set forth the doctrine of
justification by God’s grace through faith, Paul wrote this epistle.
It would be nice if the
story ended with the Galatians refusing to go back under the Law of Moses and
casting out the Judaizers—which is probably what happened. But the old
controversy will not go away because there is a part of the Mosaic Law, which confuses Christians to this very
day and that is the Moral facet summarized in the Ten Commandments.
Today, few Christians would
concede that the Church should observe the civil and ceremonial codexs of the
Mosaic Law. I am careful to say that “few
Christians” believe these things because there are some that are advocating
this very thing. Those in the Reconstruction Movement seem to be teaching that
the Law of Moses is still a valid way to regulate society. In fact, the
argument goes, if the Moses principles and practices were revived and applied
to society the Kingdom of God would prevail upon the earth. It is a tempting
proposition to embrace.
Then there are others known
as Messianic Jews. These are racial
Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah but they want to keep their Jewish
heritage. They believe that the church, including Gentiles, should join them in
celebrating the ancient Jewish festivals but with the new understanding of how
they relate to Christ.
While these movements might
be suspect, there are still two other factions in the church that must be dealt
with for they are fiercely debating, not the civil law (as the
Reconstructionist) nor the ceremonial laws (as the Messianic congregations) but
the place of the Moral Law. Concerning this debate, there are several things to
known.
·
It is an old debate. Catholics and Protestants
argued over the place of the Moral Law in the Church and then the Reformers
argued with each other. Four hundred years the discussion is just as heated for
nothing has been resolved to everyone satisfaction.
·
Like any debate there is a
lot of name calling that goes on and some rather extreme statements made on both side in
order to press a point.
·
Because positions are staked
out and name-calling becomes personal, it is easy for those who believe so much
alike to separate in anger because they begin to talk past one another. After a while, it
seems that no one is listening and people are hearing only what they want to
hear, and not what is being said.
The names that have come to
represent the two major factions over the place of the law are Anti-nomianism and Legalism. In other words, those who believe that the Moral Law of
God summarized in the Ten Commandments is still binding on the Church today are
called legalist by their opponents. Not to be outdone, the Legalist (so called)
accuse their opponents of being Anti-nomian which means literally, Against the
Law or Lawless.
Personally, as I have
listened to those on both sides of this religious debate talk and present their
arguments, I am saddened at the rhetoric which is often so close at times as to
be indistinguishable. And I am grieved that so many good people can talk past
one another for the Anti-nomian is usually not a true Anti-nomian and the
Legalist is not a true Legalist. But the rhetoric is hard to over come once the
name-calling begins.
If someone were to ask me if
I believed the Ten Commandments are morally binding on Christians today and I
said, “Yes,” I would not want to be
accused of being a legalist. In like manner, If I asked someone if they did
believe the Ten Commandments were not binding on men today, they would not want
to be accused of being “Anti-nomian”
or “Lawless.” I believe there is a
way out the dilemma between Law and Grace.
May the Lord help us to discover that way out.
The Ten Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying,
I am the LORD thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
~*~
Exodus
20:1-17
·
The First Commandment:
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other
gods before me.
·
The Second Commandment:
Exodus 20:4-6 Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
·
The Third Commandment:
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name
of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain.
·
The Fourth Commandment:
Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days
the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
·
The Fifth Commandment:
Exodus 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
·
The Sixth Commandment:
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
·
The Seventh Commandment:
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit
adultery.
·
The Eighth Commandment:
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
·
The Ninth Commandment:
Exodus 20:16
Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour.
·
The Tenth Commandment:
Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour's.
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
~*~
Exodus 20:1-17
1.
Question. Who gave the Ten
Commandments to Moses?
Answer. God gave the Ten
Commandments to Moses. Exodus 20: 1-2 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
2.
Question. What does the
First Commandment teach?
Answer. The First Commandment teaches there are to be no other gods in the life
of the believer but the Lord God. Exodus 20: 3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before me.
3.
Question. What does the
Second Commandment prohibit?
Answer. The Second Commandment
prohibits the making of any forms that will be worshipped. Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments.
4.
Question. What does the
Third Commandment forbid?
Answer.
The Third Commandment forbids using the
Lord’s name in a profane way. Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the
LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
name in vain.
5.
What day is set-aside for
worship according to the Fourth Commandment and why? Answer. The Fourth Commandment sets the seventh day aside for worship in honor
of the creative rest of God. Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou
labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD
thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
6.
Question. What instruction
does the Fifth Commandment give and what promise is associated with it?
Answer.
The Fifth Commandment promises more days
of life for those that honor their parents. Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land
which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
7.
Question. What is forbidden
by the Sixth Commandment?
Answer. The Si