A lot of Christians believe that there is a conflict between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ, and that is probably because the teaching on the Law among Christians has been either done improperly or inadequately.
What many Christians fail to grasp is that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM”. It was the pre-incarnate Word who wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone on Mount Sinai, and now writes them by the Spirit on the hearts and minds of those who have been born of the Spirit.
What many believers fail to grasp is that the Old Covenant (as spelled out in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) consisted of several groups of laws, some of which are eternal, and others of which were applicable only while the Old Covenant was in force.
The primary laws in the Old Covenant were the Ten Commandments. These are moral, spiritual, and eternal, and carried over into the New Covenant. While the Ten Commandments condemn sinners and drive them to Christ, the Law itself is spiritual and good, as we are told in Scripture.
JEREMIAH 31
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The Ten Commandments have been integrated into the Law of Christ, since it is Christ who summed them up and said that the two greatest commandments are to love God perfectly and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. So the Law of Love is indeed the Ten Commandments any way you look at it. The important point to note is that it is only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that a Christian can love God and love others with AGAPE love.
But there are also other groups of laws, some of which can still be applied in the civil and criminal laws of the land, some of which are moral and ethical and can still be applied in the lives of Christians, some are sacrificial, and connected with the Levitical priesthood, and have therefore become null and void through the sacrifice of Christ, and some are ceremonial, and were therefore “types and shadows” (meats, drinks, new moons, holy days, Sabbaths).
The issue of which of the laws of Moses should apply to the Church came up early in the history of the Church. And it is the Holy Spirit who ruled thus: For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; [1] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, [2] and from blood, [3] and from things strangled, [4] and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:28,29)
Some people mistakenly (or ignorantly) claim that since Paul said that idols are nothing, the first ruling does not apply. But a careful study of 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, says the exact opposite: Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, [stumble and sin] I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. (v. 13).
So, even while Christians are under grace, it is grace which requires that we follow the instructions given in the New Testament. Grace is not equal to Antinomianism. We are saved by grace so that we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Tit 2:12).
What many Christians fail to grasp is that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM”. It was the pre-incarnate Word who wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone on Mount Sinai, and now writes them by the Spirit on the hearts and minds of those who have been born of the Spirit.
What many believers fail to grasp is that the Old Covenant (as spelled out in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) consisted of several groups of laws, some of which are eternal, and others of which were applicable only while the Old Covenant was in force.
The primary laws in the Old Covenant were the Ten Commandments. These are moral, spiritual, and eternal, and carried over into the New Covenant. While the Ten Commandments condemn sinners and drive them to Christ, the Law itself is spiritual and good, as we are told in Scripture.
JEREMIAH 31
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The Ten Commandments have been integrated into the Law of Christ, since it is Christ who summed them up and said that the two greatest commandments are to love God perfectly and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. So the Law of Love is indeed the Ten Commandments any way you look at it. The important point to note is that it is only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that a Christian can love God and love others with AGAPE love.
But there are also other groups of laws, some of which can still be applied in the civil and criminal laws of the land, some of which are moral and ethical and can still be applied in the lives of Christians, some are sacrificial, and connected with the Levitical priesthood, and have therefore become null and void through the sacrifice of Christ, and some are ceremonial, and were therefore “types and shadows” (meats, drinks, new moons, holy days, Sabbaths).
The issue of which of the laws of Moses should apply to the Church came up early in the history of the Church. And it is the Holy Spirit who ruled thus: For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; [1] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, [2] and from blood, [3] and from things strangled, [4] and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:28,29)
Some people mistakenly (or ignorantly) claim that since Paul said that idols are nothing, the first ruling does not apply. But a careful study of 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, says the exact opposite: Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, [stumble and sin] I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. (v. 13).
So, even while Christians are under grace, it is grace which requires that we follow the instructions given in the New Testament. Grace is not equal to Antinomianism. We are saved by grace so that we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Tit 2:12).
