withallyourmind.net

In my last post in this series, I made two main points:

1. The primary purpose of the Law was to serve as a constitution to the newly formed nation of Israel.
2. The Law must be viewed as a unified whole. There is no scriptural basis for breaking it down into civil, ceremonial, and moral divisions.

Let me first say a little more concerning point #2 above. According to Douglas Moo:

Jews in Jesus’ and Paul’s day certainly did not divide up the law into categories; on the contrary, there was a strong insistence that the law was a unity and could not be obeyed in parts.

Those who attempt such a division usually argue that it is the moral part of the law which Christians remain under obligation to obey. Paul disagrees that one can choose which parts of the law one wishes to obey, arguing in Galatians 5:3 that “I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” James, likewise, asserts that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). A. T. Lincoln argues:

In all of his discussion and terminology Paul treats the Law of Moses as a total package and makes no distinction between moral and ceremonial elements within it.

A second, related, point should also be considered at this time. What is the relationship of the Ten Commandments to the New Testament believer? Are Christians obligated to follow them? Are they the basis of the believer’s morality? It has been my experience that the average person on the street thinks that they do serve this purpose. It is also true that many Christians view them in this manner. However, once again, this view is without strong scriptural support. The Ten Commandments should be viewed within the context of the giving of a constitution for the nation of Israel. They were not given to the church.

In fact, they do not all deal with moral issues, specifically this is the case for the commandment concerning Sabbath-keeping. There is no reason to believe that the moral commandments contained within the Law are eternally binding in their original form. This should not be misunderstood as saying that we are free from God’s moral law. It is simply to say that the Ten Commandments were given to a specific people at a specific time for a specific purpose. Since God’s moral character does not change, one should expect, and indeed does find, the moral principles contained in the Decalogue reiterated by Christ in the New Testament.

Next, I turn to a second purpose of the Law.