In all honesty, those who still choose to live under the Old Covenant Law are actually living according to a “watered down” version. This pertains to everybody on the planet who is trying to live according to the law, including even the Jews. The reason for this is because the Old Testament Law, recorded in the first 5 books of the Bible, contained very specific instructions concerning ritual sacrifices and moral living as well as the punishments for non compliance.

Even if the Jewish temple were to be rebuilt and the ritual animal sacrifices to be reinstated, no person on the planet would ever be justified through their own level of law keeping according to the Bible:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:20 NKJV, emphasis added)

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. ((Rom 3:28 NKJV, emphasis added)

The requirements of the law are actually far more stringent than believed by those who still try to live by it. The biggest problem with trying to live according to the law, is that a person cannot pick and choose which laws they want to obey and which ones not. The law is a composite unity – breaking even the smallest one makes a person guilty of all:

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (Jam 2:10-11 NKJV)

Therefore the person found guilty of breaking even the smallest law, like telling a lie, is actually liable for the same punishment as someone who has committed an act of horrific magnitude (like murdering someone). Now who in their right mind wishes to be judged by those standards?

The REAL Standard of the Law

The Mosaic Law was not limited to just the 10 Commandments. After presenting Israel with the two tablets of stone at Mount Sinai, God continued to give Israel a total of 613 laws which they had to keep to the last letter or stand in danger of severe punishment.

Let’s take a quick look at some of these laws with the following in mind: Anybody who still argues that Christians have to live according to the Old Testament Laws, but do not practice these things to the last letter themselves, are guilty of disobeying the entire law. Let’s take a look at those laws, bearing in mind once again that the Bible is quite a visual book:

‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. (Lev 15:16-20 NKJV)

Now if people, who claim we still have to live according to the law, don’t isolate themselves for seven days during the above circumstances or wash themselves in water after having intercourse, they are guilty of breaking the law and are thereby punishable by death. Here’s another one:

Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud – that you may eat. Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: (and) the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. (Lev 11:2b, 4, 7 NKJV)

There goes that nice English breakfast with crispy fried bacon.

‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers – that you may eat. But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. (Lev 11:9-10 NKJV)

There goes calamari out the window!

And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. (Lev 24:16a NKJV)

When last did we see someone stoned for using the Lord’s name in vain? Our movies are full of it!

“And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering.” (Num 15:27 NKJV)

What about all those times we forgot to give to the poor, neglected to give our tithes (because we forgot to bring money to church), washed dishes on the Sabbath, etc? If we didn’t go out afterwards, bought a year old female goat and took it to a priest (remember the priest had to be from the correct Jewish lineage) who slaughtered it and made a sin offering for those sins, we’ve transgressed the law and became guilty of transgressing the entire law. If we were still under the Old Covenant Law, we would be liable for receiving the punishments as per Deuteronomy 28 from verse15 onwards.

Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp”. (Num 15:32-33, 35 NKJV)

Still want to do those dishes? How about going shopping on the Sabbath?

Ceremonial Law

Another belief doing the rounds among some believers (especially those who believe in tracing back their “Jewish Roots”) is that only the ceremonial aspects of the law have ended, but that the legal demands of the law still stand. They argue that all the prescribed rituals in the law have become redundant, but that the law is apparently still to be used as a moral guideline to direct our lives and failure to uphold its stipulations will cause us to fall short of God’s standards.

Jesus made it clear however that we cannot delete a single letter from the law:

For assuredly, I say to you, till Heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matt 5:18 NKJV)

Another problem with this viewpoint is that none of the ceremonial aspects of the law were against us. And the apostle Paul wrote that all the requirements that stood against us were cancelled:

…by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col 2:14 ESV, emphasis added)

Failing to adhere to a ceremony or a feast can’t cause somebody to be accused of anything. However when the law says “don’t do this” or “do that” and we fail to comply, then we can be found guilty! It is therefore clear to see that not only were the ceremonial aspects of the law cancelled, but also the entire penal side which stood against us!

Christ, the End of the Law

The truth is that for a believer the law has ended. Paul wrote how his heart yearned for the Israelites who still tried to live according to the law after Christ had died to set us free from it (and the same applies to us today):

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness [by still trying to live up to the requirements of the law], have not submitted to the righteousness of God [received by simply believing in Christ]. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. [We receive salvation and God’s righteousness not by living under the law, but through believing in Christ!] (Rom 10:1-4 NKJV, annotations added)

…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom 10:9-10 NKJV)

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 4:34 am and is filed under 10 Commandments, Christ is the End of the Law, Justified by Works, Law, Purpose of the Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.