The Decalogue contrasted with the Law of Christ, examined in Ten Points.
The Decalogue is tied to the Mosaic Covenant.
In
four places in Scripture (listed below), the Decalogue is described as the
Mosaic Covenant. While it is not the sum total of everything given to ethnic
Israel (see Ex 34:32), the Decalogue is certainly the Tablets of Testimony of
that covenant (Ex 25:16; 31:18, 32:15, 34:29).
Exodus
34:28 (HCSB) Moses was there with the
LORD 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of
the covenant, on the tablets.
Deuteronomy
4:12-13 (HCSB) Then the LORD spoke to you
from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there
was only a voice. He declared His
covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He
wrote on two stone tablets.
1
Kings 8:20-21 (HCSB) The LORD has
fulfilled what He promised. I have taken the place of my father David, and I
sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the temple for
the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. I have provided a place there for the ark, where the LORD’s covenant is that He
made with our ancestors when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
2
Chronicles 6:10-11 (HCSB) So Yahweh has
fulfilled what He promised. I have taken the place of my father David and I sit
on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the temple for the
name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. I have put the ark there, where Yahweh’s covenant is that He made with the
Israelites.
There are two versions of the Decalogue, and they differ in ways not
explained by textual variances. Which version is authoritative? Secondly, the
Decalogue, being carved in stone tablets and called "the Ten Words"
would not fit on stone tablets if all the words found in the Exodus 20 or
Deuteronomy 5 versions were counted as these ten words. If you see the
Decalogue as God's "Moral Law" how do you derive what that
"moral law" is? Which version of the 4th word is authoritative?
Consider Exodus 20:5-6 (ESV) You shall not bow down to them or serve
them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and
the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to
thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Is this part of
the "moral law" - being smack in the middle of both versions of the
Decalogue? How do we conclude what words spoken by Moses were carved in stone?
If the Decalogue is the eternal, unchanging moral law of God, why did YHWH
repeal the vengeance found in Ex 20:5 in Deuteronomy 24:16? Fathers are not to be put to death for ⌊their⌋ children or children for ⌊their⌋
fathers;
each person will be put to death for his
own sin.
The Law of Moses was given to National Israel,
alone.
Deuteronomy
5:1-5 (HCSB) Moses summoned all Israel
and said to them, “Israel, listen to the
statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and
follow them carefully. The LORD our God
made a covenant with us at Horeb. He did not make this covenant with our
fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today. The LORD spoke to you
face to face from the fire on the mountain. At that time I was standing between
the LORD and you to report the word of the LORD to you, because you were afraid
of the fire and did not go up the mountain.
Deuteronomy
5:12-15 (HCSB) Be careful to remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the LORD
your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or
female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner who
lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you
do. Remember that you were a slave in
the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong
hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you
to keep the Sabbath day.
This
reissuing of the covenant and law provided the historical context ethnic Israel
needed to ground them in their identity with YHWH. They, not others, were His
covenant people. This version of the 4th word aligns with the introduction,
clearly showing this law was given, as part and parcel of the covenant, to only
those who were on Mt Horeb when YHWH gave the law and covenant to the infant
nation of Israel. Moses makes it very clear that this law was not given to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, but to them who were on the mountain on that day.
Nehemiah
9:13-14 (HCSB) You came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions, and good
statutes and commands. You revealed Your
holy Sabbath to them, and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction through Your servant Moses.
John 7:19
(HCSB) Didn’t Moses give you the law?
John
8:17 (HCSB) Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.
Romans
9:4 (HCSB) They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.
In
both Old and New Covenant passages, the law of Moses is described as being
given to ethnic Israel; not to the world and not to the saints.
The Law of Moses is a unit, not divisible into different
categories.
Galatians
3:10 (HCSB) For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it
is written: Everyone who does not
continue doing everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
Galatians
5:3 (HCSB) Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that
he is obligated to keep the entire law.
James
2:10 (HCSB) For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of ⌊breaking it⌋ all.
The
law is consistently spoken of as a unit - keeping one point obligates one to
keep every point; failing on one point is being guilty of the whole law. Every
law given by God is moral, for He is pure morality. The covenant context
reveals how and to whom His specific laws are to be kept. Those in Adam are
bound to God's Universal Law (called the law of nature or law of conscience by
some); those who were in the Mosaic community were bound to the Mosaic Law;
those who are in Christ are bound by the Law of Christ. All of these laws have
points in common for they all come from God.
Why the Law of Moses was given.
Romans
5:20 (HCSB) The law came along to multiply the trespass.
Galatians
3:19 (HCSB) Why then was the law ⌊given⌋? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the
promise was made would come.
Galatians
3:22-23 (HCSB) But the Scripture has
imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus
Christ might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned
until the coming faith was revealed.
Romans
7:7 (HCSB) What should we say then? Is
the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example,
I would not have known what it is to
covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
Many
claim the law was given to restrain sin - I find that taught nowhere in
Scripture. It provides the basis for punishing law-breakers, For
the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
Romans 4:15 (HCSB)
The Law of Moses was for a time.
Matthew
11:13 (HCSB) For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John;
Luke
16:16 (HCSB) The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed,
When
John came, as the herald of the promised Seed, the Law's prophetic purpose
ended.
Romans
7:1 (HCSB) Since I am speaking to those
who understand law, brothers, are you unaware that the law has authority over someone as long as he lives?
Romans
7:4 (HCSB) Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the
law through the ⌊crucified⌋ body of the Messiah, so
that you may belong to another—to
Him who was raised from the dead—that we may bear fruit for God.
Romans
7:6 (HCSB) But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what
held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the
old letter of the law.
Galatians
2:19 (HCSB) For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might
live for God.
The
Jews who were dead to Christ and alive to the law were under that law. Those
Jews who were made alive in Christ were put to death in relation to the Law. They
serve in the new and better way of the Spirit of God, not in the old letter
that brought death. Paul goes so far (in Gal 2) as to say that in order to live
for God one must die to the law. This lines up with what he wrote in Romans 7 -
and it aligns with other Scripture that says if you live by the law you must do
all of it and will be cursed when he does not. Far better to die to the law and
be alive in Christ!
Galatians
3:19 (HCSB) Why then was the law ⌊given⌋? It was added because
of transgressions until the Seed to whom
the promise was made would come.
When
the promised Seed came, the law as regulation ended - along with its covenant.
Galatians
3:22-26 (HCSB) But the Scripture has
imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus
Christ might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were
confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. The law, then, was our guardian until
Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
The
law was the guardian (not tutor as some translations say - this is a modern
definition which was not in use when Paul wrote this passage) for national
Israel. The law kept, guarded Israel until the promised Seed came. Since Christ
came, the law ceased in that function as well. No longer prophetic, no longer
regulation, no longer guardian. Something new has come!
The Law of Moses was abolished.
Romans
10:4 (HCSB) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The law was ended, set aside as law,
for all who believe in Christ.
Ephesians
2:15 (HCSB) He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in
regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two,
resulting in peace.
2
Corinthians 3:11 (HCSB) For if what was fading away was glorious, what
endures will be even more glorious.
Here
we see the Mosaic Law, inclusive of the commandments written on stone, was
abolished, annulled, ended, set aside, fading away (Strong's G2673 - destroy,
abolish). This is not the same word found in Matthew 5:17, which is G2647; they
are similar. The law was abolished, destroyed as law (Eph 2, 2 Cor 3) but not
destroyed as revelation.
Jesus
fulfilled the law, which all throughout Matthew does not mean
"confirmed" or "kept" but means filled up, complete;
brought to its intended end. The word "fulfilled" (pleroo) is used 16
times in this gospel; by far the preponderance of the appearances of pleroo are
'eschatological.' By this is it meant not that they have reference to the
Second Coming, but that from the Old Covenant perspective they represent a
future work of God tied to a particular age (i.e. the New Covenant). The
fulfillment has to do with how the Old Covenant prophetic word is taken up in
the person and work of Christ. One example is: When [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night
and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Out of
Egypt I called My Son.' It is with this fulfillment in particular that we
catch a glimpse of Matthew's vision with regard to the profound nature of
Christ's fulfillment of prophecy. Throughout this gospel,
"fulfillment" is part and parcel of the shadow/fulfillment process
found throughout the redemptive story; it is not testimony of Jesus keeping the
law.
Keep
the law. tēreō (5083): from
teros (a watch; perhaps akin to <G2334> (theoreo)); to guard (from loss
or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon.
Fulfill
the law. plēroō (4137): from
<G4134> (pleres); to make replete, i.e. (literal) to cram (a net), level
up (a hollow). As one author put it: “That which was empty, sketchy, has become
filled up, filled out, and thereby glorified.”
The New Covenant laws
We
in the New Covenant are not without law; but we are not within the Law of
Moses. New Covenant passages describe this new law as the Spirit's law of life, the law
of Christ, the perfect Law of Liberty,
and the Royal law. This law is based
on the two great commandments, to love God and neighbor - not as taught by the
Mosaic Law but as taught and modeled by the Lord Jesus, in light of the power
of the Holy Spirit.
Romans
8:1-2 (HCSB) Therefore, no condemnation
now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the
law of sin and of death.
Galatians
6:2 (HCSB) Carry one another’s burdens;
in this way you will fulfill the law of
Christ.
1
Corinthians 9:21 (HCSB) To those who are
without ⌊that⌋ law, like one without
the law—not being without God’s law but within
Christ’s law—to win those without the law.
James
1:25 (HCSB) But the one who looks
intently into the perfect law of freedom
and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does ⌊good⌋ works—this person will be blessed in what he
does.
James
2:8 (HCSB) Indeed, if you keep the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your
neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
This phrase, love your neighbor as yourself, is the second great command, taken
from Lev 19:18. It is the other side of the coin which also conveys the
greatest command: You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,
cited from Deuteronomy 6:5. On these two commands, neither taken from the
Decalogue, hang the Law and the prophets – all the scripture then in hands of
man. This shows us that while the Law of Moses is not our master, certain
truths that apply to all of God’s people are found in His books. Jesus draws
out two and declares them to be supreme to the Old Covenant, the essence of the
New Covenant – love for God and one another; love as defined and portrayed in
the Bible, not as our culture as deceitfully defined it these past few
centuries.
Contrasting Old and New Covenant laws
As Moses went up into a mountain to get the old Law, so Christ went up into
a mountain to give the new Law (Mat
5-7; cf. 2 Cor 3).
John
1:17 (HCSB) for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. Just as there is a distinct contrast between law and gospel,
here John reveals a distinct contrast between law and grace & truth. The
covenant given through Moses was a law-based covenant, with all the criminal
sanctions for violations. The covenant made with the blood of Christ is a
grace-based covenant, with forgiveness for sin and no legal code hanging over
the heads of those within it.
In
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted the ethics of His kingdom with that
of the kingdom of Israel, quoting two of the Ten Words exactly, showing how the
law of His kingdom is a higher standard not found in the Mosaic Law. "Do
not murder" does not teach "love others as I have loved you;"
"Do not commit adultery" does not teach "love your wife as
Christ loved the church." "Love your neighbor and hate your
enemy" was not part of the Decalogue, but it was the way ethnic Israel
lived - as they applied the Levitical law (cities of refuge, etc.).
The
parable of the Good Samaritan shows that the Jews had the wrong idea of who
their neighbors were - they thought only fellow Jews were their neighbors. That
parable also showed how they hated their enemies, as the Pharisee crossed to
the other side of the street to avoid the unclean person in the ditch. If the
injured man had been a Jew, the Pharisee would have helped him; he wasn't a
Jew, so he was a "dog" - an outsider and enemy of Israel. Jesus said,
"Love your enemies, pray for them;"
He was teaching that in His kingdom, everyone you come in contact with is your
neighbor and we are to do good to all, especially those in the household of
faith. Different mindset than in the
Mosaic community; one based on love rather than a legal code.
Christ
teaches those things which Moses did not. How could the Decalogue be our law if
Jesus gave us a higher, better law?
Acts
15:5 (HCSB) But some of the believers
from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses!” Acts 15:10 (HCSB) Now
then, why are you testing God by
putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have
been able to bear? The light yoke of Christ is light because Christ is the
"lead ox" but also because there's a different load being pulled. Not
the tablets of stone but the law of Christ. Telling saints they must keep the
law of Moses is testing God! This passage is not restricted to justification as
the controversy was about justification and how Gentile Christians were to
live. The charge from the Pharisees, the discussion, and the letter all reflect
this larger scope.
2
Corinthians 5:14 (HCSB) For Christ’s love compels us. Law
keeping is not what gives us love nor the ability to obey; the love of Christ
does this.
Romans
8:1-2 (HCSB) Therefore, no condemnation
now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law
of sin and of death.
Since
Paul declared the law chiseled in letters on stone to be "the ministry of death" how can that
law be the law of the New Covenant, wherein all is life? How can the Decalogue
be for the saints when the Spirit's law of life in Christ has set us free from
it?
How can the Decalogue be part of the
Law of Christ when it is starkly contrasted with it in 1 Corinthians 9:19-21? For though
I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win
more of them. To the Jews I became as a
Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law
(though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the
law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
Paul described himself as being without - not having - the Law of
Moses; he merely behaved as though he was under that law so his freedom would
not distract Jews from his gospel. He made clear his true status in verse 21-
not under the Law of Moses but under the law of Christ. How could the Law of
Moses (its capstone - the Decalogue) be part of or equal to the law of Christ
when Paul sets that against one another in several places?
Galatians 3:2-6 (ESV) Let me ask you only this: Did you receive
the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now
being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain — if
indeed it was in vain? Does he who
supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the
law, or by hearing with faith — just as Abraham “believed God, and it was
counted to him as righteousness”? Having been given life by the Spirit,
maturing in Christ is NOT by works of law-keeping!
Hebrews 7:11-13, 18, 19 (HCSB) If then, perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the
people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to
appear, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the
priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. For the One these things
are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. ... So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and
unprofitable (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is
introduced, through which we draw near to God. Law is tied to covenant. The
Mosaic Law was based on the Mosaic Covenant, administered by the Levitical
priesthood. When the New Covenant came, the priesthood changed - and this
mandated a change of law as well. The law of the Old Covenant was annulled as
law, it was not translated into the New Covenant as law. The Spirit provides a
better hope, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 10:1 (ESV) For since the law has but a
shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these
realities, it can never, by the same
sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. The Law of Moses had its
purpose in its time. It was unable to save and unable to make perfect anyone as
it was mere shadow while the substance
is Christ (Col 2:17).
John 15:12 (ESV) This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:17 (ESV) These things I command you, so that you will love one another. This
is the Law of Christ - the rule for Christian living is not the Law of Moses,
not the "moral Law of God" as the Decalogue is called by man.
Romans 13:8 (HCSB) Do
not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:10 (HCSB) Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the
law.
Galatians 5:14 (HCSB) For
the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
There are some who claim Christians
must live under the Decalogue as a rule of life or we will think murder is OK.
Christians are indwelt by the Spirit of God and we have been shown that selfish
anger at a brother is the same as murder, and we do not un-hinge the Old
Testament from our theology. We read about how wicked murder is and see our
anger at others is of the same sinful attitude. We read how we are to love one
another as Christ loved us and see how great indeed the two Great Commandments
are. We are not lawless, we are within the Law of Christ!
Great Commission: Teaching them all I have commanded you.
Where did Jesus teach that His disciples are to keep the Decalogue? Jesus told
His disciples the greatest commandment was to love God - something not taught
in the Decalogue. He also told us the second greatest commandment is to love
one another as He loved us - something not taught in the Decalogue.
How can the Decalogue be in the law of
Christ when it doesn't command or teach us to LOVE? The Decalogue teaches what
sin is.
Paul
teaches that the Law is good and that it is the ministry of death. The best way
to reconcile his statements is to see that the Law serves as revelation from
God, and this is very good; it also serves as regulation for those under the
law covenant, and this is very heavy. This is clearly seen in Romans 3:21 But now, apart from the law [as regulation], God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the
Prophets [as revelation].
One rule of hermeneutics that is very helpful.
Law
exists in Scripture as Regulation and Revelation. John Owen recognized this,
saying, "The law is taken two ways: 1. For the whole revelation of the
mind and will of God ... and 2. For the covenant rule of perfect
obedience."
Law
as regulation is given in context of the covenant to which it belongs.
Violations of law bring consequences, which are spelled out in that covenant.
There
is no exception to this, in that laws with punishments do not spill out of
their covenant.
Since
all of God's Word is Revelation, it is good for us if applied properly. This
goes for law and narrative.
This
is why a principle is seen in more than one law in more than one covenant -
it's all from God. Don't confuse that with the papist fable of
"trans-covenantal law."
Summary
Man
is naturally wired for works righteousness. Having a codified list of
"Do"s and "Dont"s satisfies our natural desire to prove
ourselves. This is not how we, who are dead
to the law and alive in Christ, are to live - for love does not keep records of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5). The Mosaic Law
was not given as a rule for life for those indwelt by the Spirit of God. Christ
has taught us and shown us how to love, He has given us His Spirit and His Word
so we would not be left to figure it out on our own. And He has given us to one
another so we can practice loving one another in spite of our differences and
disagreements. May it please the Lord our God to continue to pour out His love
and grace on us so we would shine as lights in this wicked world.
