ARE WE STILL UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW - LESSON 7

TAKE A QUIZ

Are we still under the old testament law? Yes No

There are some in the religious world that require we be bound to the Old Covenant God made with Israel. This series will demonstrate that we are under a new and better covenant, the New Testament. It begins by showing to whom the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses was given. It proceeds to consider those texts in the New Testament that declare we are not under the Law of Moses. This “route” may be used to show that we are not justified by the Law, that we are not obligated to keep the Sabbath, and that we are not allowed to return to the Law of Moses as the primary source of authority in religion.

DEUTERONOMY 5:1–5

5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

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COMMENTARY

We are specifically told in verse 1 that God “called all Israel” and spoke to them. He did not make this covenant with their fathers (that’s every from Adam to the third generation of the Egyptian bondage) but with those present and alive at Sinai that day (v. 3). A covenant is only binding on the parties to it. It does not affect any others. The Law was between God and Israel, no other nation or race was included in it.

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NEHEMIAH 9:6–14

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.

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COMMENTARY

God gave Israel His judgments, laws, statutes, precepts and commandments, including the Decalogue, from Heaven at Mt. Sinai by the hand of Moses. Note the distinction that made between the Law and the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12.

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JEREMIAH 31:31–34

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

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COMMENTARY

God says the day is coming when He will make a New Covenant with Israel and Judah. It will NOT be the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt (which included the Decalogue). This New Covenant would have two distinct features: (1) faith as a prerequisite to admission to the covenant people (John 6:44–45; Hebrews 11:6; cf. Genesis 17:10-14), and (2) complete forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 16:29-31; Hebrews 10:1-4; 9:28; I John 1:7).

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EZEKIEL 16:60–63

60 yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

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COMMENTARY

The covenant of the “days of their youth” was the Law given at Mt. Sinai (cf. 16:1-8); however, God intended to enter into a new and everlasting covenant with Judah. There is a clear distinction between their covenant (the Law) and God’s New Covenant (the Gospel). This covenant would require faith and repentance which would result in the forgiveness of their sins.

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GALATIANS 3:16–19

16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

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COMMENTARY

Paul gives the timetable scheduling when the Law would be superseded by the New Covenant: “till the seed should come.” Thus, the Law was never intended to be permanent. Rather it was “added” and would endure only till God’s purpose through Christ was effected.

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ACTS 3:18, 25–26

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

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COMMENTARY

Peter affirms the promise to Abraham concerning the “seed which is Christ” was fulfilled with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, the New Covenant was in place with the ascension of Christ to God’s right hand which was first preached on Pentecost.

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EPHESIANS 2:14-16

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

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COMMENTARY

Jesus abolished in His flesh by death on the cross “the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” What is this “law of commandments contained in ordinances”? It’s the Law of Moses including the Ten Commandments (see: Leviticus 18:3-5; 2 Chronicles 33:8; 2 Kings 17:36–37).

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COLOSSIANS 2:14

14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

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COMMENTARY

Jesus by His death on the cross took “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” out of the way. What are these ordinances? They are the ordinances about meats, drink, holy days, new moons and Sabbath days (cf. Leviticus 23:37,38).

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HEBREWS 7:11–14

11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

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COMMENTARY

Paul shows that the Law of Moses must be superseded by a New Covenant in order for Christ to function in His capacity as High Priest. The forgiveness of sins was not possible under the Law and required a new priest after the order of Melchisedec (see: Genesis 14:17–19; Hebrews 7:1–10; Psalm 110). That the Law could not continue is evident in that it makes no provision for any priest other than those from the tribe of Levi (Hebrews 8:1-4). We cannot have Christ as our High priest if we are under the Law of Moses.

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HEBREWS 8:6-13

6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

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COMMENTARY

Verses 8-12 are a quotation of Jeremiah 31:31-34. The Hebrew writer quotes these verses as proof of his premise that Jesus is the mediator of “a better covenant” (8:6). Consequently, the first covenant (the Law of Moses) is “old” and “ready to vanish away.” What else would the Holy Spirit have to say to prove that we are not under the Law of Moses?

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ROMANS 7:1-4

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? 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.

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COMMENTARY

Paul uses the illustration of marriage to establish that the Christian is not under the Law of Moses but the Law of Christ. Just as a woman cannot be married to two men at the same time without committing adultery, neither can a believer be under two covenants or laws at the same time without committing “spiritual adultery.” In order to be free from the husband, he must be dead. In order to be free from the Law of Moses, it must be dead. We are “become dead” to the Law of Moses through the death of Jesus.

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2 CORINTHIANS 3:11

11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

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COMMENTARY

Paul says something is done away in order that something else might remain. What is done away? It is “that which was made glorious” (v. 10), “the ministry of condemnation” (v. 9), “the ministration of death written and graven on stones” (v. 7), “the letter [that] killeth” (v. 6). It is “that which is abolished” (v. 13) the “Old Testament” (v. 14). Whereas, it is “that which remaineth” that is “the New Testament” (v. 6). We can know without doubt that the Law of Moses was superseded by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.

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