THE LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT The word “law” occurs 223 times in the New Testament of the King James Version. The word “ordinances,” which means law occurs seven times.Because of verses like Colossians 2:14 nearly the entire Christian world believes that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect. This verse says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”Paul says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” A law that is established is certainly not abolished or nailed to the cross.So, has the law been established, or has it been nailed to the cross and abolished? Obviously there is more than one type of law referred to in the New Testament.God gave four different types of laws to the Israelites in the Old Testament. They were: 1. The Ten Commandments 2.The religious ceremonial laws 3. The health laws 4. The civil lawsOne of the major problems with the words “law,” “ordinances,” and “covenant” in the New Testament is that it is often not clear which “law” or “covenant” is being discussed. But in each case God has given us a way to know which law or covenant is meant. Here we get into the problems of interpretation of the Bible.A contradiction is of necessity a lie. If one thing is true and another disagrees with it, the second can not be true. It must be a lie. Titus 1:2 tells us that God cannot lie. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” Hebrews 6:18 also tells us that God cannot lie. “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie. . . .” And finally Numbers 23:19 tells us this also. “God is not a man, that he should lie. . . .”Since it is impossible for God to lie, and contradictions are lies, there can be no contradictions anywhere in the Bible. Therefore, the correct way to interpret the Bible is so that there are no contradictions in the entire Bible. When we interpret the Bible so that there are no contradictions anywhere, we know we have it right. This is the method God has given us whereby we might know when we have the Bible interpreted correctly.We read many Bible verses in chapter one that showed that the Sabbath commandment would be in effect forever, a perpetual covenant. God’s Sabbath commandment, will never end.Therefore, when we read something in the New Testament that is interpreted in such a way that claims that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect, we know that this interpretation is wrong. For instance, there are places in the New Testament that talk about our not being under the law. In light of the verses we have read that say that the commandments will stand forever, this cannot mean that the Ten Commandments have been abolished. We will see later what not being under the law means.Regarding these four types of laws God gave to ancient Israel, here are the types of laws and the ones that were discontinued.1. The great universal moral law, the Ten CommandmentsWe will see shortly that the Ten Commandment law is God’s constitution for the government of heaven and the entire universe. We will see that the Ten Commandments have been in effect ever since God was and will be in effect throughout all eternity, as long as God exists.2. The religious ceremonial lawsGod planned from the beginning that the religious ceremonial laws would cease at the cross, because Christ, the true Lamb of God was sacrificed. The animal sacrifices all pointed forward to Christ’s death on the cross. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, . . .” (Daniel 9:27) For us to offer animal sacrifices today would be a sacrilege, saying that Christ did not die for our sins.3. The health lawsThese are laws that God gave us to keep us healthy and free from disease. The physics of the human body have not changed since these laws were given. The health laws are just as much a benefit for us today as they were for the ancient Israelites. Consider Exodus 15:26: “. . . If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, that I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that heals you.” If people perfectly obeyed God and kept the health laws today they would NEVER be sick.4. The civil lawsThese were the laws governing the civil penalties for crimes within the theocracy of Israel. Many of our civil laws today are based on these laws to some degree. God does not require these to be strictly adhered to today, because the theocracy is no longer in existence, but they should be used to guide us in setting up our governments. When someone is convicted of murder, for instance, the murderer should be put to death swiftly in order to discourage others from this sin. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. . . .” And “. . . blood defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.” (Genesis 9:6, Numbers 35:33)
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 04:34:17 +0000
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