Has the Moral Law been abrogated?
by Wyatt Houtz   March 17, 2009 3:20pm v.18 Rating: Status: Hidden

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Many people have said that the Ceremonial Law and Judicial Law portions of the Mosaic Law have been abrogated but the Moral Law is still in effect. I suppose some people believe the Moral Law refers to the Ten Commandments (Decalogue) but others include the scattered Moral teachings through the entire Mosaic Law. There isn't a clear and unanimous definition as to which of the 613 commands of the Mosaic Law are exclusively the Ethical/Moral Law. The more I study Covenant Theology, the more I see people taking this division as given, but is this tripartite approach to the Mosaic Law a legitimate hermeneutic? The Westminster Confession is particularly guilty of this tripartite to the Law. Here are two examples: Chapter XIX Section 3 Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly, holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the new testament. Chapter XIX Section 5 "The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it. Neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation." The Mosaic Law Cannot Be Divided Into Three Parts My first objection is that throughout the old and new covenants, it is repeated that nothing can be added or removed from a covenant, and that it is basically an all-or-nothing unit. If you do modify it, then you receive all kinds of curses like those in Deuteronomy 28. Here's a list: Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Deuteronomy 12:32 Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. Proverbs 30:6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Ecclesiastes 3:14 14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. Revelation 22:18-19 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in r the holy city, which are described in this book. Guilty of the Whole Law There are also many verses that indicate that if you violate one part of the law, then you are guilty of the whole law. This is consistent with my first point about the tripartite division. James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. Galatians 5:3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. Judaizers were consistently condemned Even Peter was confronted by Paul when Peter tried to follow the dietary rules of the Law. This picking and choosing parts of the Law, denies that Jesus has freed us from the Law, and we are still under the Laws condemnation if it is still in effect. Galatians 2:11-14 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" The Mosaic Law is Indivisible and Inseparable Moses commanded the people to setup Judges to settle matters of the Law after Moses had died (Deut 16:18-20.) The judges used the 613 commandments that Moses gave as a basis for judging future disputes. Jesus made the keen statements that all the 613 commandments derived from the two greatest commands (loving god and neighbor) Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." So my point is that the ceremonial and judicial portions of the law are the necessary and direct result of the Moral Laws (namely the Decalogue). So if the Decalogue is still in effect as it was for Moses, then so are the Judicial and Ceremonial portions of the Law as well. Paul makes the same argument that a covenant cannot be divided: Galatians 3:15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.. The Law is Fulfilled, not Abrogated Throughout the New Testament, the Law is said to be fulfilled by Christ and not abolished (Mat 5:17, Luke 24:44, John 15:25, Rom 8:4, Rom 13:8, Rom 13:10, Gal 5:14, Gal 6:2, Jam 2:8). It also says those who reject Christ are still perishing under the law (Gal 3:10). The law only brings death. The End of the Law is Christ The New Testament continually says that Jesus Christ is the end of the law for those who believe(Rom 10:4), and that John the Baptist was the very end of the Law and Prophets (Matt 11:13,Mark 6:18,Luke 16:16), and now the Law of Christ is in effect (which is of faith) Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Matthew 11:13 The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it The Mosaic Law was always meant to be temporary Paul explains that the Law came into being 430 years after Abraham, and has not been an eternal Law, and that it was designed to end when Christ appeared because it contradicted the Abrahamic Covenant. Since it contradicts our faith, by requiring works, it has been satisfied by Christs affects and made complete. Gal 3:17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. Gal 3:24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. Moral Law is no longer in effect Moses broke the two tablets immediately after he received the decalogue and saw the golden calf. The people had to repent and Moses when back up the mountain in faith to receive a new copy indicating that the commandments were designed to be temporary, since they were shattered, and that they had to be replaced. The flaw was that they can be followed by works but not in faith. This argument is carried out in full by Paul's comparison to the veil over moses's face in 2 Cor 3, and also in Hebrews 8. Exodus 32:19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 2 Cor 3:3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Galatians 3:23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. 2 Cor 3:15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. Hebrew 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. The Law of Moses was designed to be replaced Deuteronomy ends with a massive curse on Israel for they are doomed to break the covenant, but Moses promises in the last days, that a new covenant will be given them. This is repeated in Jeremiah 31, when a covenant written on people's hearts will be in effect. Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 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, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The Law was a copy, shadow and pattern but not the original The author of Hebrews reminds us that everything Moses gave the Israelites were patterns of what he saw on the mountain, and were not those things directly. The temple and procedures and everything was all from a vision of the truth thing that is in heaven. Eventually when heaven comes to earth, the shallow duplicate of the Law must go away and be replaced with what is the original. Exodus 25:40 And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. Hebrews 8:5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." Doesn't Romans 13:9 prove the Ten Commandments are still in effect? Correlation does not imply causation my dear friend. Simply because there are overlaps between the Old and New Covenants doesn't indicate that everything in the New Covenant is a literal and direct replacement of the old. This is why we don't baptize infants and do baptize women and don't give communion to children. This is why we don't have to obey the sabbath. (Romans 14:5; Col 2:16). Returning to my previous arguments, the Law was a temporary image of something eternal, and the temporary thing has many of the same characteristics of the truth thing but is flawed or imperfect. Just like any copy of a copy. Romans 13:9-10 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore a love is the fulfilling of the law. Isn't the Mosaic Law in effect until Jesus returns? From the ripping of the temple veil, to Jesus's shout "it is finished" on the cross, and the proclamation of the kingdom has been announced, the New Covenant is in effect. Some things of the New Covenant will not happen until Jesus returns such as the redeeming of our bodies. This is called Dualistic Eschatology, or Inaugurated Eschatology, or Realized Eschatology, or most commonly known as the great "already, not yet." See the "Gospel of the Kingdom" by G.E. Ladd. Conclusion The Mosaic Law is a single unit and has been fulfilled by Christ in entirety. It was designed to be temporary and only brings death, especially on those who modify it. The Old Covenants pointed to the New Covenant that will be fulfilled at Jesus's coming at the culmination of the New Creation, when Heaven comes down to earth.   Last Update: March 9, 2011 7:04pm Tags: Westminster Confession, Moral Law, Judicial Law, Ceremonial Law, Deuteronomy, Judges, New Covenant, Law, Shadow, Pattern, Mountain, Moses, Jesus, John the Baptist, Ten Commandments, Decalogue

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