Is the Threefold Division of the Law Biblical?

While some people (today) disagree with the threefold division of mosaic law, all it is really saying is:

(1) The law regulates priestly service and rites (Hebrews says these are fulfilled in Jesus)

(2) The law regulates Israel’s political ordering, as God’s chosen people.

(3) The law contains eternal truths (e.g., the Ten Commandments) that are not temporary arrangements for Israelites like levitical rites and ceremonies or specific political arrangements for ancient Israel (like the ransom census of Exodus 30).

Basically, if you read Hebrews, you have to affirm #1. And #2 and #3, I’d argue, help us to order our thoughts to understand what the mosaic law is doing.

Put another way, we need to distinguish law—minimally of levitical rites and sacrifices from other kinds of law—to rightly obey biblical law.

In the words of Ambrosiaster, “The person who uses the law correctly is the one who can distinguish the things which were given for a time from those which are eternal” (Comm. 1 Tim 1:8).