The Mosaic Law/Covenant was a specific Covenant given exclusively to Israel and was never binding upon mankind as a whole. This has been a source of confusion among Christians. Let's look at to whom the Mosaic Covenant was given to.
Exod 31:16-18
16 Wherefore ***the children of Israel*** shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign ***between me and the children of Israel*** for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.(KJV)
Deut 5:1-3
1 And Moses called ***all Israel, and said unto them***, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant ***with us*** in Horeb.
3 The LORD ***made not*** this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
(KJV) [Moses them recounted the 10 Commandments in the following verses].
We see clearly from these statements that the Old Covenant, and particularly the 10 Commandments, were NOT universal laws binding on all mankind since creation, but were specific to Israel, from the days of Moses onward. There is no escaping this conclusion if you one understands Grammar and Context.
So are the Ten Commandments part of the Mosaic Covenant?
Exod 34:28
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables........
***the words of the covenant,*** the ten commandments.
(KJV)
Deut 4:13
13 And he declared unto you ***his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments;*** and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
(KJV)
So we see from the above scriptures that the Ten Commandments are in fact "The Covenant" or let's say the centerpiece of the Mosaic Covenant.
Now when Jesus came He came to give us a New Covenant via His sacrifice for us. It is through His sacrifice in which we are able to be grafted into the Jewish New Covenant and inherit the blessings of entering the Kingdom of God.
Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of ***the new covenant,*** which is shed for many for the remission of sins. NKJV
Now below is the Prophesy of that NEW Covenant that God promised Israel.
Jer 31:31-32
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (KJV)
It must be emphasized that this NEW Covenant is NOT a Gentile Covenant but a Jewish Covenant given to Israel First and then we who are Gentiles can be "grafted into" this Jewish Covenant. Jesus gave the New Covenant to His Apostles who are the 12 representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in whom the Promise of this NEW Covenant was promised by God.
So now that we have a New and better Covenant, what happened to the Old one? It was completely done away with and replaced.
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ***better covenant, which was established on better promises.***
7 For if that FIRST covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Now look what Paul says next about the New and Old Covenants.
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to VANISH AWAY.
Paul said that the first Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, has been made "obsolete" and that it was ready to "vanish away". Why is that? Because The New Covenant that was promised by God has now come into being. God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He made in Jeremiah 31:31. He was going to make a New Covenant and it was NOT going to based upon the Old Mosaic Covenant. It was going to be something entirely new.
Heb 10:8-10
8 Above when he said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law";
9 Then said he, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." ****
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.***
Did you catch that? God took away the FIRST Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant so THAT He may establish the SECOND Covenant, the New Covenant that Christ brought in.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (KJV)
In verse 9 above we have clear language that demonstrates that God took away the Mosaic Covenant so that He may establish the Second Covenant.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having ***ABOLISHED*** in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Above in Ephesians 2:14 we see that Jesus Christ "abolished" the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. What are those? Those are all the Laws contained in the Mosaic Covenant. All 613 of them which includes the original Ten Commandments. Does this mean that we can now murder and commit adultery? Of course not. Jesus implemented God's "Moral Principles" in the New Covenant which is also known as "The Law of Christ". It is important to distinguish between God's "Moral Principles" and the laws themselves. In part two I will address the New Covenant, The Law of Christ. Before I do I would like for you to examine the situation that the Early Church was having regarding the Gentiles and how the leaders of the Church came to the theological conclusion that the Gentile Christians were never under "the Mosaic Law" and were never bound to any of it's requirements.
(Acts 15:23-24) �The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings,
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, �You must be circumcised and keep the law� � to whom we gave no such commandment � it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.� .
Act 21:18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;
21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.
24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."
2. So when the LORD said there is fault in the Old Covenant and replaced, the Law had been done away.
According to me:
1. Law is not equal to Covenant because LORD there is fault in the Covenant but His Law is perfect because "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7. Perfect means no fault.
My question to you:
If the covenant is law, and is with fault, how can it be perfect at the same time as according to Psalm 19:7?
:stop:According to you:
1. Law is given to the Jews.
According to me:
No such thing because "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4
My question to you:
Did John write this to the Jews only? He said everyone!
:stop:According to you:
1. There is fault in the old covenant.
According to me:
1. The fault in the old covenant is there is no way for sin remission. There is no fault in the Law because Psalm 19:7.
Question to you:
Point out one verse which said there is fault in the law.
:stop:According to you:
There is a new covenant, and there for the law had been done away.
According to me:
I would like to remind that the new covenant included the law. Because the LORD said: "I will put my LAWS in their minds and write them on their hearts." Hebrews 8:10. You pointed yourself! Yet you refuse to recognized that the LORD will placed will the laws in their minds!
Question to you:
How would you explain the laws in our mind?
:stop:According to you:
"In Ephesians 2:14 we see that Jesus Christ "abolished" the Law of commandments contained in ordinances."
and there is such things as
"The Law of Christ"
According to me:
No such thing! Ephesians 2:14 means that through Jesus Christ we have been wash away our sins and thus Immanuel.
No such things as the Law of Christ. There is only one law, i.e. the Mosiac Law, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."John 1:17
Question to you:
How do explain John 1:17, which specifically said Jesus did not give us a new law?
:stop:According to you:
statement in Acts: "You must be circumcised and keep the law� � to whom we gave no such commandment" prove that law had been done away.
According to me:
you misunderstood the whole subject.
Reading from Acts 15: which said that the matter is about circumcision. So the law here is not the original law according to Moses. It is the law of Moses according to the interpretation of the Pharisees. Remember, Acts is not a book of teaching, is a book of examples.
My question to you:
Jesus taught his disciples to obey the law (Luke 16:17), and tell his disciples to teach what he taught. How can then the Apostles taught the otherwise?
:stop:According to you: The law is not eternal.
According to me: Yes, it is eternal. "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal."Psalm 119:160
If the law were perfect, then Christ died in vain.
And there was a system in place for the remission of sin, it was the sin sacrifice. Jesus was the ONLY man ever justified by the law, all others were condemned by it. Jesus said, you think I come to accuse you to the Father, but there is one who accuses you...Moses in whom you trust. Also, I am the true shepherd, ALL who came before me were thiefs and robbers.
Psalms=old Covenant. It was all they knew. They thought it would save them until Jesus came and said otherwise.
You: Point out one verse that said law is not perfect
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been without fault, then no place would have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He said to them, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make an end on the house of Israel and on the house of Judah; a new covenant shall be,
I can give plenty more. Paul, for one, was very outspoken about the law.
Me: And there was a system in place for the remission of sin.
You: No. you misunderstood the law. Sacrifice of lamb is a sign for things to come. It is not required.
Me: No, you misunderstand. I was not speaking of the passover lamb, I was speaking of the sin offering, usually a calf or oxen, then once a year, the scapegoat. It was the blood that covered the sin. If you want to follow the law, you need to understand it all. It was all interlinked. That is why it all passed away.
Me: Psalms=old Covenant. It was all they knew. They thought it would save them until Jesus came and said otherwise.
You: Are you saying that Psalm is not the word of God but man?
Me: I don't know whatever gave you that idea. God was not ready to reveal His plan to man. He let them believe that for that time.
The law was never meant to save anyone. It was designed to show man that we could not do it. Even that didn't work correctly. Man can find a way to mess up anything, even grace.
You remind me of a friend who I told I was going to take his OT away for a year. You need to understand grace before you can understand the law. It takes a good year of full time study.
You: Covenant is the law, that's why the law is not perfect.
Me:
Wow "I can give plenty more. Paul, for one, was very outspoken about the law."
First the law is not covenant because He said: "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7. It is also said "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal."Psalm 119:160. He also said the new covenant includes the law: "I will put my LAWS in their minds and write them on their hearts." Hebrews 8:10. There is fault in the covenant so law is not covenant because it is perfect and eternal. You can say that old covenant is done away, but can you say the word of the LORD is not everlasting? Above is the everlasting word of the LORD our God on the law in both NT and OT.
Paul did not said the law have passed away as you understood it. He said we need to follow the spirit of the law! But we cannot be justified through observing the Law but by faith. Because law point out sin, faith save us from sin.
"13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)" Romans 2
"Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."Romans 3:31
In fact Jesus said the Law is eternal: "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law."Luke 16:17
You: I was speaking of the sin offering, usually a calf or oxen, then once a year, the scapegoat. It was the blood that covered the sin. If you want to follow the law, you need to understand it all. It was all interlinked. That is why it all passed away.
Me: God say in the OT that the blood and sacrifice cannot save you from sin! It is already known then the Lamb is to come and the sacrificial custom is to point us to the sacrificial Lamb.
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require." Psalm 40:6
You: You remind me of a friend who I told I was going to take his OT away for a year. You need to understand grace before you can understand the law. It takes a good year of full time study.
Me: If you believe that bible is God's word, and you believe that God's word is everlasting then, you must believe that the law had not be done away! Because "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal."Psalm 119:160
Gal 1:6 I marvel that you so soon are being moved away from Him who called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel,
Gal 1:7 which is not another, but some are troubling you, and desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from Heaven preach a gospel to you beside what we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, and now I say again, If anyone preaches a gospel to you beside what you have received, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:11 And, brothers, I make known to you the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.
Gal 1:12 For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it except by a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Gal 2:4 But because of those false brothers stealing in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus; they desiring to enslave us;
Gal 2:5 to whom not even for an hour did we yield in subjection, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
Gal 2:11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12 For before some came from James, he ate with the nations. But when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13 And the rest of the Jews also dissembled with him, so as even Barnabas was led away with their dissembling.
Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before all, If you, being a Jew, live as a Gentile, and not as the Jews, why do you compel the nations to judaize?
Gal 2:15 We Jews by nature, and not sinners of the nations,
Gal 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; even we believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in Christ, and not by works of the Law. For all flesh will not be justified by works of law.
Gal 2:19 For through the Law I died to the law, that I might live to God.
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.
Gal 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness is through law, then Christ died without cause.
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you not to obey the truth, to whom before your eyes Jesus Christ was written among you crucified?
Gal 3:2 This only I would learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
Gal 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now perfect yourself in the flesh?
Gal 3:4 Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it is even in vain?
Gal 3:5 Then He supplying the Spirit to you and working powerful works in you, is it by works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7 Therefore know that those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham.
Gal 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations through faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all nations be blessed."
Gal 3:9 So then those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Gal 3:10 For as many as are out of works of the Law, these are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them."
Gal 3:11 But that no one is justified by the Law in the sight of God is clear, for, "The just shall live by faith."
Gal 3:12 But the Law is not of faith; but, "The man who does these things shall live in them."
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone having been hanged on a tree");
Gal 3:14 so that the blessing of Abraham might be to the nations in Jesus Christ, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Gal 3:19 Why then the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to those to whom it had been promised, being ordained through angels in the Mediator's hand.
Gal 3:24 So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But faith coming, we are no longer under a trainer.
Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
I will stop there for now. There is plenty more, or do you not believe the NT? Does Christ lie? Paul? Holy Spirit? I think not.
Jesus said:"It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law."Luke 16:17
So are you saying that Luke 16:17 is not true?
You: After posting a long list of Galatians, I understand that you claim that law place no part in salvation.
Me: Yes, no one can be justified through the Law. This is what the verses in Galatians is about. But this does not mean that Law plays no part in salvation. Paul never meant
what you said he mean! When he said that we are not saved by observing the law means that law only points out sins, it cannot solve the problem of the sin because the wages of sin is death. So one must die for the remission of own sin. Since we all have sinned, we can only died for own sin not others. Only Jesus can died for all of us. This is the faith: Jesus died for your sin. So the Law did provide a way to be justified, i.e. break none of them. But we as human cannot do this! That's why we cannot be saved by observing the Law.
Do we then neglect the Law? Consider this
"Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."Romans 3:31
So can we really achieve eternal life just by faith without deeds?
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and 'love your neighbor as yourself." "
Matthew 19:16-19
Jesus teaches that faith without deeds is empty. Because not obeying the law is sin
"8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. " James 2
The role of the Law in the salvation.
Law is the first step towards salvation because it helps us realized that we have sinned.
"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4
Therefore, if we dont read the Law, we dont know what is sin, therefore we dont know that we have sinned and therefore there is no need for salvation!
