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IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: The Mosaic Law issued to ancient Israel by Jehovah God under the old covenant and recorded in the Old Testament showed up sin and was a tutor leading to Christ. (Gal 3:23-25). But while many of the decrees that followed the Ten Commandments are still beneficial to mankind today, particularly those relating to social health, Jehovah found fault with ancient Israel because they failed to abide by the terms of that covenant. (Heb 8:6-13 NEB). That is why Jehovah God inaugurated a new covenant, one founded on better promises by the merits of The Christ's sacrifice. The decrees that followed the Ten Commandments were taken out of the way by The Christ's death, enabling the reconciliation of both Jew and Gentile into one "body". (Col 2:13,14. Eph 2:15,16). It is written that no human creation of God can be declared righteous by works of law, but only by the exercise of faith in The Christ, through spiritual "sacrifices". (Gal 2:15,16. 1 Peter 2:5). Spiritual "sacrifices" subject us to God through the Law of the Spirit according to active faith by the "Way of Holiness" that The Christ established for us to live by. (John 14:6). This "Way of Holiness" is a righteous way. (Isaiah 35:8-10). Christians do not follow it under the yoke of fear of punishment as under Mosaic Law, but under a "yoke" of freedom by the "doing of good and the sharing of things with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." (Heb 13:16. Matt 11:29,30). As flesh and blood cannot inherit the heavenly Kingdom of God, Mosaic Law was in effect a behavioural "tutor" to lead mankind toward the disposition of Christ; that by one's spirit "sacrifices" one may be made ready to inherit spirit immortality in the promised heavenly paradise of God. (1 Cor 15:50 & 53-57). To those living under the spiritual requirements of faith, the Ten Commandments from God are still applicable. (Exodus 20:3-17). For although when faith arrived we were no longer under Mosaic Law as our tutor, The Christ abolished only its "Law of commandments consisting in decrees". (Eph 2:15. Col 2:13,14). The "decrees" or judicial decisions that followed the Ten Commandments were but a "shadow of the good things to come but not the very substance of the things". (See Heb 10:1-10). The Christ is "the very substance of the things". That is why The Christ said: "Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfil". (Matt 5:17). To prove this last point, when asked, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" The Christ said: "'You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, 'You must love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets." (Matt 22:36-40). So behaviour forbidden by the Ten Commandments is still forbidden under the Spirit Law of The Christ. The "Law of commandments consisting in decrees" were provided to show up sin, but they did not dispose of it. The Spirit Law of The Christ is for the disposal of sin. Mosaic Law was a "shadow" of the reality. The Christ Jesus is that reality. 28/10/93. |
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