There are two separate and distinct classes of law repeatedly referred to in the Bible. The Lord promised to bless Israel on condition that they “...observe to do according to all THAT I HAVE COMMANDED them, and according to all the law that my servant MOSES COMMANDED them.” II Kings 21:8. God spoke the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all Israel, and then wrote them on tables of stone, and delivered them to Moses, Deuteronomy 5:22 "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." He then later commanded Moses to “...stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the COMMANDMENTS, and the STATUTES, and the JUDGMENTS, which thou shalt teach them.” Deuteronomy 5:31. So it is very evident that more than one law was given. The Bible repeatedly uses the plural form of L-A-W-s. (See Leviticus 26:46 "These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses."; Psalm 105:43-45 "And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; That they might observe his statues, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.", etc.)
Now the question is: Did Christ abolish all these laws, or only a part of them? Christ himself declared: “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law (not laws) to fail.” Luke 16:17. Then He immediately shows what constitutes adultery, which was forbidden by one of the Ten Commandments. Thus He makes it plain that He had no intention of changing any part of that law; not a jot or a tittle. The Apostle James declares that we have broken the whole L-A-W (not laws) when we break any one of the Ten Commandments. James 2:10-12. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."
But Christ did abolish the law that regulated the Jewish forms of worship. Daniel foretold this when he declared the Messiah would “...cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” (Daniel 9:26-27. "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.") Paul tells us that Christ did take away these sacrifices when He came as the true sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:8-10, "Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." and that He “...abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the LAW (not laws) of commandments CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES.” Ephesians 2:15. So these “Ordinances” meaning rites, or ceremonies, were abolished and blotted out. Therefore we should allow no one to judge us “in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME; but the body is of Christ.” Colossians 2:14-17.
Some think the seventh-day Sabbath was included in that which was abolished. That is not possible, for it is not a shadow of something to come, but a memorial of creation. Read Exodus 20:8-11. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Genesis 2:1-3. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested not the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." The things contained in the law that regulated the sacrificial system were shadows of things to come through Christ: “For the law HAVING A SHADOW OF GOOD THINGS TO COME, and not the very image of the things, can never with THOSE SACRIFICES which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect…For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Hebrews 10:1, 4. That law, containing only shadows of good things to come, not only dealt with sacrifices, but also with holy days, new moons and sabbath days, which came on specified dates, regardless of the day of the week. Every seventh year was a sabbath. Leviticus 25:1-4. "And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard." The 1st, 10th, 15th, and 22nd days of the seventh month were yearly sabbaths. Leviticus 23:23-39. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever thoughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath." Many of the things in this “law of commandments contained in ordinances” were shadows that pointed to Christ as our true Redeemer. For instance, the sacrificial lamb foreshadowed the death of “the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world;” the seven-branched candlestick in the tabernacle pointed to Christ, the light of the world; the fresh shew-bread brought into the tabernacle every sabbath pointed to Christ, who declared Himself to be the bread of life; and so on with the various ordinances. Wesley says, “All these types and shadows were abolished when He to whom they pointed came and died on the cross.”
The sacrificial laws were added because of transgression, till the seed (Jesus) should come, to whom the promises were made. Galatians 3:19. "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." But if there were no Ten Commandments before the ceremonial laws were added, there could have been no transgression. It is clearly understood that they were added because of transgression. This proves two distinct laws. The ceremonial law was written by Moses; but the moral law, the Ten Commandments, was spoken by God, and written by His finger on two tablets of stone, which stands today and forever. We will be judged by the Ten Commandments. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." There could be no judgment to decide right and wrong without the Ten Commandments. Our civil courts could not punish the outlaws, or criminals without the Ten Commandments. Therefore the Ten Commandments are written in the constitution of America. America cannot exist one day without the Ten Commandments. All prisoners would be released. No law against stealing and killing. It is silly to say the Ten Commandments are not for this age.
The ritual of ceremonial law, delivered by Moses to the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances which related to the old sacrifices and services of the temple, our Lord did indeed come to destroy, to dissolve, and utterly abolish…but the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away. It was not His intention at His coming to revoke any part of it.
Originally published by:
CHURCH OF GOD, BODY OF CHRIST
Mocksville, NC