Modern and liberal scholarship has placed great emphasis on the suggestion that the law no longer is applicable in today’s Church world. Greg Bahnsen, the dominion theologian, emphasizes in his book By this Standard that “a common working assumption is that the New Testament believers are not expected by God to live to the Old Testament stipulations.” This has become an issue of great controversy in current scholarship.
The viewpoints emphasized by the various theological camps are numerous, with some declaring that a shift in our adherence to Old Testament law has been altered and some declaring that it remains the same. Bahnsen supports the idea that the Old Testament is linked to the New Testament and together their form a continuance of God’s law. He said “The Bible teaches that we should presume continuity between the ethnical standards of the New Testament and those of the Old, rather than abbreviating the validity of God’s law according to some preconceived and artificial limits.”
Old Testament Law still has a purpose for the New Testament dispensation:
In Romans 15:4, the Apostle Paul gives the very purpose of the Old Testament. Paul said that basically everything that is written in the Old Testament was written to teach us, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The two testaments are indivisible; they depend upon each other for interpretation and comprehension. Bahnsen says “the New Testament should interpret the Old Testament for us.” The testaments are not two separate books, but one book, and with one key purpose: to guide mankind into a personal relationship with God.
The Law is not just an isolated writing in the Old Testament, but it is also established in the New Testament. Romans 3:31 says “Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law.” An individual who proclaims that they “are not under the law, but under grace” is saying that the New Covenant makes void the Old Covenant teachings. The Old Testament law remains God’s standard and as a result it is “holy, just, good, and spiritual” (Romans 7:12, 14).
The real meaning of “not under the law, but under grace” can be summarized in the eight functions of God’s law. Only seven of these principles apply to the Christian, because of the act of repentance that justifies us and declares us righteous before God.
- The law is designed to impart wisdom to us so we can know the truth and please God.
Psalm 119:98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. Psalm 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.
Deuteronomy 4:6 “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
2. The law is designed to reveal Christ.
Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
3. The law is designed to teach us how to be saved by faith, not by the works of the law.
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Romans 7:10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me.
Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Galatians 3:21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. Romans 9:31 but
Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
4. The law is designed to encourage faith in God and obedience to His commands.
Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
2 Kings 21:8 “And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”
5. The law is deigned to teach us how to love God by fearing Him and keeping His commandments.
Deuteronomy 10:12 “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, Deuteronomy 11:1 “You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
Deuteronomy 11:13 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
6. The law is designed to teach us how to be blessed and happy.
Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 119:1 Aleph. How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.
7. The law is designed to reveal the sinfulness of sin and help restrain man’s sinful tendencies.
Romans 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 5:20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” Galatians 3:19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
1 Timothy 1:9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers
8. The law is designed to bring a sense of guilt and condemnation on those who willfully violate God’s law.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us– for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE “
The context of the term “law” in Pauline writings can have a few different meanings. In one sense he uses it to refer to the Ten Commandments (Romans 13:8; 7:7). In another sense he uses it to refer to an individual law (Romans 7:2-3). A third sense is that he uses it to refer to the whole Old Testament (1 Corinthians 14:21, “In the law it is written…” ). Paul also uses the term “law” to refer to rule or principle in which he speaks of the “law of faith” in Romans 3:27. He also uses it as a legalistic term in reference to the misinterpretation of scripture (Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6).
The Old Testament and the Proper Use of the Law:
The law, since the time of the fall, has become a means of condemnation and death. The pre-fall period, would have brought life and well-being for obedience, but the law cannot bring about a means of justification in the life of a sinner. The law in the hearts of men, can only be lived out through a spirit of obedience and servitude (a personal relationship with God), which results in the law being established through grace, by faith.
a) The law declares the character of God and so reveals His glory – the kind of lifestyle and attitudes which the Lord requires of His people tells us about our God.
b) The law displays the demand of God upon our lives as men – The law’s commands show us how we are to be like God, by clinging to His will for us.
c) The law pronounces blessing upon adherence to its demands – God’s law is for our own well-being (Deuteronomy 10:13) and obedience to them is the pure delight of the righteousness of man (Psalm 1:1-2).
d) The law provides a definition of sin – The law illustrates a standard of sin. In 1 John 3:4 it declares that sin is “lawlessness.”
e) The law exposes infractions and convicts of sin – The law judges thoughts and the intent of the heart. It brings conviction on our sinfulness.
f) The law works to incite rebellion in sinful men – It makes a sinner more defined in his rebellion against a holy God.
g) The law condemns all transgressions as deserving God’s wrath and curse – God’s law brings justice and punishment for those who refuse to adhere to its principles.
h) The law drives us to Christ for salvation – The lost have no hope if they chose to live a life apart from Christ.
i) The law guides the sanctification of the believer – The law gives us a pattern in which to live our lives by in faithful service to God.
j) The law also serves to restrain the evil of the unregenerate – The law is used to restrain the outward evil of ungodly and fallen man.
The Old Testament and Jesus Christ:
Jesus did not come to cancel out the Old Testament, but He rather came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He did not come to perfect the law, for it was already complete (Psalm 19:7; Romans 7:12). His purpose of His coming was not to make the law more internal, for it was already commanded in the Old Testament the requirement of an internal obedience to God (Deuteronomy 6:5-6; Psalm 51:10).
Jesus never contradicted the law. In His Sermon on the Mount when He said “you have heard it said, but I say unto you” He was not contradicting the law. It was rather a contradiction in regards to the tradition of the elders which were not in harmony with God’s law. “Jesus never contradicted the law during His teaching ministry.” We must obey all of God’s commandments. As Bahnsen says “those who are not striving to become rivals to God by replacing His commands according to their own wisdom will endeavor to reflect His moral perfection by obeying all of His commands.”
The holiness of God is reflected in the law. The character of God is irrevocable, He is a constant, He never changes (Malachi 3:6). “The law that shows His holiness cannot be changed because His holiness is unchangeable. The law is a standard for being like Him and for knowing Him intimately.”
In Romans 10:4 it says “For Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to everyone that believes.” This does not mean that Jesus is the literal end or conclusion of the law. The word ‘end’ does not mean termination point, but it is the goal toward which the law is directing us. Everything in the law illustrates some truth about God.
Christ obeyed all of the laws perfectly, therefore not requiring an sacrifice to atone for Himself. He came to do the will of God (John 6:38) and He obeyed all of the commandments (John 15:10). Therefore if Jesus kept the spirit of the law, it is certain that the believers today should endeavour to keep the law.
The Old Covenant, The New Covenant and the Law: Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
The New Covenant was initiated at the time of the first celebration of the Eucharist, before Christ was crucified. “We live today under the New Covenant administration of the redemption and are reminded of that every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper.” The New Covenant and the Old Covenant are the same. God did not throw away the law when the New Covenant was initiated. There were some new additions made to the covenant, but it was essentially the same, in that it was now a renewed covenant. “The New Covenant is a renewal of the ancient promises with new additions.”
The gospel messages of both covenants are the same. In Genesis 12:3 and 22:18 it declares, “in your seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed.” In Hebrews 4:2 it says that the gospel was preached to the children of
Israel in the wilderness, but it did not profit them because they did not exercise the required faith. Members of both covenants are regenerated the same way, by faith. Galatians 3:8 says “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” Paul clearly denies any significant contrast in the gospel message of the Old and New Covenants. In Romans 9:31-32 he explains that the reason for
Israel not attaining to God’s standard of righteousness is because they sought righteousness by the works of the law, and not by faith. Conclusion: The Law represents a large portion of Scripture and is as important today, as it was for the Old Testament believer. God is unchanging and His law is unchanging, it is the same yesterday, today and forever. The interpretation of the Old Testament is very important an must be considered in light of the universal principles and specific applications of the testament. The Law, the Gospel and means of salvation are still the same. We must obey the commandments, follow the gospel of peace and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives by faith, through grace.
Posted by Joseph 