The Moral Law

I have heard it taught many places that the Law, as in the law of the Old Covenant, given under the leadership of Moses by God, is split up into 3 parts: There is the moral law, the ceremonial law and the civil law. The moral law is the Ten Commandments, the Ceremonial Law is all the priestly stuff, and the Civil law is all the stuff relating to running a country.

This is all very interesting and for the sake of scholarship and study, I’m sure it is very useful. The thing is, usually when talking about the parts of the law, we get told that as Christians, the moral law is still in force and we are expected to live by it. “Of course!” we all say, and who wouldn’t? Isn’t it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God?

As Christians we are wonderfully free, we can eat bacon, we can mix cheese and meat, we can eat crayfish and crabs and we can even touch unclean people! The huge burden of the ceremonial and civil law has been lifted. Thank God!  I know my wife does not relish the idea of walking around the streets shouting “unclean” when she’s menstruating!

But there is still this issue of the moral law.

We can’t commit adultery, we can’t lie, we better rest on the Sabbath and we definitely shouldn’t disobey our parents! I’m just not sure how the graven images thing works. Is a photo or a movie with pictures of Jesus illegal? I’m also not exactly sure when am I no longer a child so that I don’t have to obey my parents, is it when I’m 13, or 21? Especially now that there’s no civil law from God to tell me when I’m no longer a child.

It’s not like any of us want to go about breaking the Law, at least, none of us would dare admit that there might be a desire to go for a hike on a Sabbath day, or that we REALLY like our neighbour’s car, or his new iMac. 

Then we move onto the New Testament and Jesus just completely destroys that haven of merely entertaining the THOUGHT of beating up my stupid neighbour and "borrowing" his iMac. Now I no longer have to do to be condemned, I just THINK a sinful thought and I’m GUILTY! We really have moved from works to faith. On top of that he tells people to cut off and pluck out body parts that cause them to sin. (That shows how obedient I’ve been, I’m still typing!)

Who decided to call those first four books of the New Testament the Gospels? They certainly don’t sound like good news to me. After all if my righteousness doesn’t exceed that of the Pharisees, then I’m a goner!

No more lifting up holy hands for me, I’m a sinner! I looked at that super hot girl on the beach the other day... Sheesh! Poor guy who invented the bikini, imagine how many guys he has caused to stumble!

I think it’s easier to be a Muslim.

There is something wrong with this picture, because I know the gospel is good news. How can we proclaim freedom and liberty while at the same time binding people up with moral rules? It doesn’t quite add up.

So I did a bit of research. I'd like to share with you my findings and also some perspectives on the implications:

There is no place in the Bible where the law is split up into parts.

James 2:
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Jesus talks about the “law and the prophets” and while he talks about “the law” many times, there is no place where the law is not spoken of as one thing. It is unscriptural, especially in light of James’ statement, to break up the law.  The law is always just referred to as the law. In Greek and Hebrew there are a few different words for the law, sometimes translated as law, sometimes commandments, sometimes as precepts or statutes, but there is no consistency, the different words are used interchangeably and don’t refer to the same “parts” of the law every time. There is no language or imagery used that gives even the impression of the law being anything but a composite whole.

While it may be argued that James is talking about the moral law, and even if it can be shown from scripture that there is a distinction between moral, ceremonial and civil laws, I want to look again at what exactly Jesus set us free from on the cross.

What Happened to The Law?

Colossians 2 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Jesus cancelled the written code on the cross! 

Now we can still not conclusively say which part of the written code (law) he cancelled. From this scripture it could be that the ceremonial and civil laws are cancelled but the moral still stands. Please note though, that he cancelled the code, that has regulations that was against us.

2 Corinthians 3 “Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Now if we look at 2 Corinthians and put it next to Colossians, allowing them to enlighten each other some things become very clear:

From Colossians we see that the written code that was against us was cancelled at the cross.

Corinthians shows us that the letter kills and the ministry that brought death was written on tablets of stone. That same ministry is called the ministry that condemns men!

I only know one “letter” that was written on tablets of stone. In fact, Paul makes it clear later on in 2 Corinthians that he is talking about the Ten Commandments because he starts referring to the Old Covenant and Moses.

So we can see that the written code that was against us is the same “letter that kills” which was engraved on tablets of stone. AKA, the “ministry of death”.

What is the moral code? The ten commandments. What was cancelled at the cross? The written code, the one written on tablets of stone.

So even if we are able to prove the distinction between different parts of the law and insist on the distinction, it is specifically the MORAL LAW that we have been set free from, not the ceremonial or civil.

The Effect of the Law

2 Corinthians 3 actually makes some scary statements, if you like the Ten Commandments:

“But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Reading the Law makes you spiritually stupid! It makes your mind dull and HIDES the glory of the New Covenant! (“Reading” means studying it and teaching: There were no bibles when this was written, the law was read from a scroll by a priest or a rabbi or a Jewish man in the synagogue or at the temple during meetings.)

If you’re a believer, and the law is read to you, the glory starts fading, like Moses. However, when you turn to Christ the veil is taken away and we reflect with an unfading glory! Turning here clearly implies leaving. 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”  

We’ve all heard this so many times but have you ever stopped to think what the freedom is from?

This verse actually continues on from verse 6, I’ll put the two verses together: 

“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

 

Paul is contrasting living in the Lord, who is spirit and gives life, against living by the letter, which kills.  The freedom we have is FROM THE LETTER WHICH KILLS, which brings a veil over our hearts and faces!

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom from the Law! There is no other way to interpret this in the context it is in.

As an aside: There is no distinction in most of the New Testament between “Spirit” and “spirit”. Both are exactly the same word in Greek. There is only the word “pneuma”. Writing “Spirit” (to refer to the Holy Spirit) or “spirit” (referring to the spiritual part of a man or the spiritual realm) is done by the translators through inference but it does not always necessarily specifically refer to the Holy Spirit when “Spirit” is used instead of “spirit”.

 Another effect of the Law is that it empowers sin. We see this over and over in the epistles of Paul: 

1 Corinthians 15:56
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

Romans 6:14
“For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (If you are under law then it is clear that sin is your master.)

Romans 7:9
“Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.”

Teaching people to live according to the Law (or any external law) will only increase sin. It is the grace of God that leads us to repentance and teaches us to say no to ungodliness, not laws.

Just looking at a few verses from Scripture shows me that the Law is not my friend! There is no positive thing that the believer can get out of the Law except relief that we are free from it!

What is the Purpose of the Law?

The Law was never given for anyone to live by. In fact, the Law was a test people were given that they could never pass, a standard no one could live up to. The idea of the law was never to show you how to live, but to show you your sin.
As Paul writes in Galatians 3:

“Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

The purpose of the law was to show man the need for a saviour. Once you turn to Christ, the Law has no purpose, it is fulfilled. It is as clear as day:

“Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

Jesus said it himself in Luke 16:

"The Law and the Prophets were until John.”

What is The Christian’s Relationship to The Law?

“Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

Paul draws a parallel between the ways of the flesh and the way of the spirit in Galatians 4-5. He contrasts Hagar, Abraham’s slave, and Sarah, his wife. The way of the flesh is the way of human effort, the “ordinary way”, and is dictated by flesh (laws), while the way of the spirit is the way of God’s effort and is dictated by spirit. Notice how Paul makes it clear that the two cannot co-exist:

Galatians 4-5:
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written:
   "Be glad, O barren woman,
      who bears no children;
   break forth and cry aloud,
      you who have no labor pains;
   because more are the children of the desolate woman
      than of her who has a husband." Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son. Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Paul is exhorting the Galatians to get rid of the slave woman and her son. The whole caboodle, anything that has to do with the way of the flesh. Why? Because a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.

In short: You cannot mix law and faith.  The Christian and the Law have absolutely nothing to do with each other. You cannot mix the way of the flesh with the way of the spirit. 

Many people say that some things have continued through the cross. We are told to see the cross as a kind of filter and only some things make it through from the Old Covenant to the New.

I believe this is a gross underestimation of the power and impact of the cross and a misunderstanding of the Way. Jesus came to make a New Covenant. It is not a modification of the Old, but a NEW one. It is not even vaguely based on or similar to the Old Mosaic Covenant, it is about as opposite as you can get.

The Old was based on man’s effort and governed by EXTERNAL regulation. The New is based on God’s effort and is based on INTERNAL regulation.

Romans 8:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Living according to laws or regulations that are external is also living in the flesh. We know already the Law brings wrath and condemnation, we see it again here: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death.” If we walk according to our mind, our understanding, we are walking according to the flesh!

Galatians 3 “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."

Ever since the Fall of Man, our reference point for good and evil moved from an internal, spiritual  reference to a “knowledge of good and evil” based in the mind, our flesh. Living according to any laws is just more knowledge of good and evil. The New Covenant changed all that!  

Now we can be born from above and once again it is possible for man to live according to his spirit which is filled with God himself and no longer is there any need for knowledge of good and evil. Now as a Christian we are to walk with our mind set on the spirit! Our reference point has moved to our spirit, full of His Spirit!

Romans 7
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members  to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.^”

It is clear from the above passage that life as a believer has nothing to do with written regulation, but with learning to live according to the spirit. If we still come under the law in any way, we are spiritual adulterers!

You cannot be married to Christ and live under the law at all. 

Even flirting with it would dishonour your new husband!

All Christian behaviour should flow out of an overflow in our innermost being. That is why Jesus spoke so much of being in the vine and bearing fruit. The source is the vine, not the branches!

The minute we adopt behaviour because it has been taught to us from outside without the Spirit’s leading, we are merely being religious and flirting with that old husband again.

Being born again means there is a new nature in us. Learning to walk according to that new nature is the essence of the Christian life. As we grow in our intimacy and comfort in the spiritual, our lives will reflect more and more that of Jesus and his glory. This is an inside out process, in other words, all change in us is initiated by the Spirit in us and reflects in our physical life increasingly as we walk with the Lord. That is what God meant when he said he would write his laws on our hearts. It doesn’t mean we want to obey the Ten Commandments, rather it means we delight in pleasing Him and our lives are directed by the Living God in us. 

Galatians 5:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Paul has just showed the Galatians how they have been set free from the Law by Jesus, through faith. The yoke of slavery is the Law, as we see from Galatians 4, and to be burdened again has to do with allowing people to put rules and regulations for righteousness on you again. We are to live a free people, according to the way of the spirit.

The New Testament as a Rule Book

Many Christians have not grasped this fundamental change between the way of the Old Covenant (flesh) and the way of the New Covenant (spirit) and so they apply the way of the Old to the New. What this does is it makes us read the New Testament part of the Bible trying to attain more knowledge of good and evil, looking for commands to obey. We are so tuned to external regulation that we want to live by the Bible!

We might be reading from the New Testament, but we are really still living in the Old.

The Way of the New Covenant is the way of spirit. We have to get away from reading to find do’s and don’ts and read with the goal of a revelation of Jesus and what he has accomplished for us.

There is no written code!

Living in Freedom

In Hebrews, religious acts are called “acts that lead to death” or “useless rituals”. We see in Hebrews nine that even though Israel had a system of sacrifices for sin under the Old Covenant, the sacrifices were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper. They had to come again and again to make sacrifices, year after year. As an Israelite you knew your sins had been paid for but also that you would sin again and therefore that you would need to come and sacrifice again. The rituals did not actually accomplish anything except pay for sin. The worshipper wasn’t changed, he continued to sin again and be aware of his guilt.

Hebrews 9:“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Unless we can get away from the law, which produces sin consciousness and a guilty conscience and condemnation, we cannot serve God. This passage in Hebrews makes it clear that having a guilty conscience actually interferes with serving God because we get caught up in having to do “useless rituals”. A consciousness of sin comes through the law and the more we are conscious of sin, the less we are conscious of the spirit. A mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.   Why? Because when we set our minds on the flesh, we start seeing our effort, our performance and we measure it by the law. The only thing the law could ever do was to condemn you and so the mind set on the flesh is death!

However when we set our minds on the spirit, on things above, our consciousness becomes filled with what Jesus has done, with the fact that we are as righteous in Christ as God himself and instead of becoming more self-centred we become more Jesus centred! In this way we allow the glory of God to manifest more and more, an ever increasing glory instead of the fading glory we see in the presence of the law.

Conclusion:

·       -The splitting up of the Mosaic laws into moral, ceremonial and civil can be useful from a perspective of Old Testament study, but has no basis in Scripture.

·       -While there is a lot of teaching that the moral law still applies to Christians, this is simply not Biblical. The opposite is actually true! If anything, the moral law is the one part of the law we can say with 100% certainty is not applicable to anyone in Christ.

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·       -The law is actually not very healthy for a Believer, it kills faith, it creates sin consciousness and draws us from living in the spirit to living in the flesh.

·       -The new way of the New Covenant is not related at all to the Old Covenant. The two covenants are completely different and have no resemblance in any way.

·       -The Old Covenant and the New Covenant are so different they actually cannot co-exist. We see examples of this all over the New Testament: Everywhere the gospel was preached, the religious zealots rose up against it.

·       -Reading the New Covenant with an Old Covenant mentality will turn it into a rule book instead of a revelation of Jesus.

·       -The point of the New Covenant is relationship with God, not performance. Believers live out of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, not out of a set of guidelines or rules.