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Are We Still Under The Law of Moses?
John R. Gentry
In discussing false standards of authority, we would be amiss if we failed to include a discussion of the Law of Moses. There is much that could be said about this subject but, due to the constraints of this medium, this will be very brief. Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this further.
Many people today attempt to go the Old Bible (i.e., the Old Testament or, specifically, the Law of Moses) to find authority for various things that they might want to preach or practice from the Sabbath to mechanical music. Is this acceptable in God’s sight?
The Law of Moses was meant to be temporary. The Law of Moses was to be in effect until Christ came; “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary…Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3.19, 23-25). The Law of Moses was not perfect and needed to be replaced; “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross,” “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second…’Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt’” (Colossians 2.14; Hebrews 8.7-13). Christ’s death on the cross made the Law of Moses obsolete; “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility,” “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive” (Eph. 2.14-16; Heb. 9.15-17).
Having said this we need to understand the proper place of the Old Testament. It is inspired by God and we believe it (2 Timothy 3.14-17). We need to learn from it (Romans 15.4; 1 Cor. 10.11). It is still needed and beneficial for us today.
originally published in the Banner-Gazette
2007.06.06