December 1, 2001, Vol.1,
No.11.
Two new articles every two weeks.
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us.
THIS ISSUE: "The
Ten Commandments, Part 5" (see below)
and "The Ten Commandments,
Part 4"
The Ten Commandments,
Part 5:
"The Whole Law"
by Keith Sharp
Typically our denominational friends distinguish between the
"ceremonial law" and the "moral law" in the
Old Testament. They contend the moral law has been the same from
the very beginning and remains the same today, but that Jesus
abolished the ceremonial law given through Moses.
"God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works....
This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness;
and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments....
Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give
to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws....
All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament."
(The Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States [1960 edition] 111-113)
Let's review this statement point by point and see if it harmonizes
with Scripture.
Adam
The only laws God gave Adam before his first sin are recorded
in Genesis 2:15-17:
"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the
garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall
not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'"
Not one of the Ten Commandments was given to Adam and Eve
before they ate of the forbidden fruit. In fact, at that time
they were in a state of innocence, not having had the difference
between good and evil revealed to them (Genesis 2:17; 3:5-6,22).
By eating the forbidden fruit, the knowledge of good and evil
was miraculously revealed to them (Ibid). From that time forward
man had law from God (Romans 5:13). God's law was passed from
generation to generation by teaching (Genesis 18:17-19). This
being the only law prior to Christ the Gentiles had, by it they
will be judged (Romans 2:12-16). The corruption of this tradition
was the ruin of the Gentiles (Romans 1:18-25).
Law of Moses
God chose the nation of Israel, the promised descendants of
Abraham as His own special people (Exodus 19:5-6). He made a
covenant with them which consisted of the law given through Moses
(Deuteronomy 4:44 - 5:3; 29:21; Psalm 78:10). The heart of this
law, God's covenant with Israel, was the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy
5:4-22).
Moses, at the command of God, put the tablets of stone containing
the Ten Commandments into the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy
10:1-5). When King Solomon had finished the Temple, and the priests
brought the ark of the covenant into the Holy of Holies, "Nothing
was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put
there at Horeb" (1 Kings 8:9). But Solomon said the ark
contained "the covenant of the Lord which He made with our
fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt"
(1 Kings 8:21). Thus, the Ten Commandments were the heart of
God's covenant with national Israel.
Prior to the law of Moses God had never commanded anyone at
anytime to keep the Sabbath, the fourth of the Ten Commandments.
Moses, looking back to creation, said God blessed and hallowed
the seventh day because it was this day on which He rested from
(ceased) His work of creation (Genesis 2:2-3). But the first
time anyone was ever commanded to keep the Sabbath was when Israel
was in the wilderness (Exodus 16:22-26). God made known the Sabbath
when He gave the Law on Mt. Sinai (Nehemiah 9:13-14).
The Scriptures make no distinction between ceremonial law
and moral law. The one law given from God through Moses to the
nation of Israel contains provisions that were ceremonial (Luke
2:22-24), civil (John 8:3-5) and moral (Matthew 19:3-7). The
Ten Commandments were part of this law (Romans 7:1-7). In fact,
the Sabbath is specifically included in that which was done away
with as law when Christ died on the cross (Colossians 2:13-17).
Nor does God's Word distinguish between the law Of God and
the law of Moses, as Seventh Day Adventists contend. The laws
of purification were both "the law of Moses" and "the
law of the Lord" (Luke 2:22-24). The Ten Commandments were
part of the law of Moses (Mark 7:10). The phrases "the Book
of the Law of Moses" (Nehemiah 8:1), "the Book of the
Law" (Nehemiah 8:3) and "the Book of the Law of God"
(Nehemiah 8:18) are used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
We can't pick and choose which parts of the law we will keep.
If we bind part of the law as obligatory, we must keep it all
(Galatians 5:1-3). To do so is to be severed from Christ and
to fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).
Conclusion
When Christ died on the cross He abrogated the law of Moses,
all the law of Moses, moral, ceremonial and civil, including
the Ten Commandments. None of that law is in force as law today.
Does that mean we can worship idols, use the Lord's name in
vain, curse our parents, commit murder and adultery, steal, lie
and covet with God's approval? No, but that's another study.
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