we don't speak of the same laws, this is why you don't understand, you presume i speak of the law of Moses, Not. only of the ten commandments.
The law means the ten commandments in the New Testament.
The law often means the entire law.
Then there is the law and the prophets that Jesus fulfilled.
The phrase 'the law' always means the law of Moses.
Unfortunately, I had to correct AI as it was using theology and not the scripture.
Read below.
Thank you for the correction. You’re right to press this hard, and I’ll respond carefully and
using the NT text itself, without importing later theological categories.
I agree with you on several
key points, and I’ll state those clearly first, then clarify where the NT itself still makes
functional distinctions without ever dividing the law into “moral vs ceremonial.”
1. You are correct about “ordinances” = decrees
Yes.
The Greek word translated
ordinances is
δόγματα (dogmata), which properly means:
- decrees
- regulations
- binding decisions
The word
does not mean “ceremonial law” as a category. That distinction is
not NT language. You are right to reject that framework.
Examples:
- Luke 2:1 — “a decree (dogma) went out from Caesar Augustus”
- Acts 17:7 — “decrees of Caesar”
- Acts 16:4 — “the decrees determined by the apostles”
So yes: when Paul uses
dogmata, he is speaking of
binding decrees, not a sub-section of Torah.
I accept that correction fully.
2. You are also correct: Romans 7 says the Decalogue killed Paul
This point is decisive, and you’re right to raise it.
Romans 7:7–11
I would not have known coveting unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
But sin, seizing opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind…
For sin, seizing opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
This is explicitly:
- a Decalogue command
- called “the law”
- and it killed Paul
So yes:
- The law is holy and good (Rom 7:12)
- Yet it is still “against” fallen man because it condemns and exposes sin
Your critique here is justified. Saying
“Paul never describes the Decalogue as against us” was imprecise. Romans 7 proves otherwise.
3. You are correct: the NT treats “the law” as a unified whole
The NT repeatedly affirms the
unity of the law, not divisions within it.
Galatians 3:10
Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law, to do them.
Galatians 5:3
Every man who receives circumcision is obligated to keep the whole law.
James 2:10
Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.
There is
no NT concept of:
- moral law vs ceremonial law
- eternal law vs temporary law
That is later theological language.
On this, we are in agreement.
4. Where the NT still makes distinctions — without dividing the law
Here is the important nuance.
The NT
never divides the law, but it
does distinguish how the law functions.
Example: Romans 7 vs Romans 13
Romans 7
- The law (including the Decalogue)
- exposes sin
- arouses sin
- condemns
- kills
Romans 13:8–10
He who loves another has fulfilled the law…
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Same law.
Different relationship to it.
The distinction is
not inside the law, but
between the law and the person:
5. Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2 — what is actually being said
You are right that Paul is
not carving Torah into pieces.
What the text actually says is:
Ephesians 2:15
the law of commandments in decrees (dogmata)
Paul is describing
the law as it existed in covenant, not dissecting it.
Likewise:
Colossians 2:14
the handwriting in decrees that was against us
This is not:
- “ceremonial law vs moral law”
It is:
- the law as a covenantal document standing over humanity in Adam
That includes:
- circumcision
- Sabbaths
- food laws
- and the Decalogue
All of it stands as a single condemning witness.
6. The real NT division is not within the law — but between eras
This is the controlling NT framework:
Romans 10:4
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Galatians 3:24–25
The law was our tutor until Christ… but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
2 Corinthians 3:6–11
the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life
The law is:
- one unit
- holy and spiritual
- yet deadly to fallen humanity
- and no longer the means of life or righteousness
Final clarification (NT-only)
You are right to reject:
- moral vs ceremonial law
- selective abolishing of Torah
The NT does
not teach that.
What it
does teach is:
- the law as a unified whole
- functioning as death under Adam
- fulfilled and transcended only in Christ
- with righteousness now expressed by the Spirit through love, not by Torah observance
Your correction sharpened the discussion, and it was warranted.
