Mosaic Law

Is the Threefold Division of the Law Biblical?

June 14, 2023 by wagraham Leave a Comment

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).

Upholding the Law of God by Distinguishing Law

May 18, 2021 by wagraham 10 Comments

Every Christian must uphold and maintain the law of God.

Then again: I don’t sacrifice animals or go outside the camp if I touch something dead. So it is evident that we must distinguish law or fall into deadly legalism.

Richard Hooker does just that in his first book of Ecclesiastical Polity. He knows that his work will not be popular. He writes: “This book might have been more popular and more accessible to the masses if it had merely extolled the force of laws and the necessity of good laws, and had railed against the evils of those who attack them.”

Had he simply said, “you have to obey God’s law,” people may have approved. Yet in so doing, he would engage in unhelpful rhetoric. He explains: “However, this kind of rhetoric is more liable to stir up passions than to build up understanding of the issues in question.”

He is right. The reformers lived by “we distinguish” because the lack of distinctions can kill. Are we justified by faith or by faith working through love? Is faith working through love evidence of genuine faith?

The small things matter.

And unhelpfully simplifying matters, as noted, might be rhetorically powerful but they can be deadly. In the early church, many found Arius rhetorically powerful. He convinced a lot through his simple slogans too. But he was a heretic.

So let’s distinguish law according to the reformed and Augustinian tradition because these two traditions rightly understand God’s revelation. [Read more…] about Upholding the Law of God by Distinguishing Law

Between Legalism and Antinomianism

February 14, 2021 by wagraham 3 Comments

Protestant legalism imposes the law of Moses on Christians even though it’s abrogated.

But Peter wisely says: “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ” (Acts 15:11).

Protestant antinomianism denies an ongoing role for the law in the Christian life.

But Paul rightly says: “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise)” (Eph 6:2).

Between the two extremes, the reformers emphasized the law of nature, perceived in the moral laws of Moses such as the Ten Commandments. That law still guides us to live wisely and well.

But we do not do so under Protestant legalism because Christ is the end of the law; nor do we reject the law because loving God and neighbour as ourselves marks the Christian. Instead, we live under the law of Christ, allowing the law to wisely shape our lives. [Read more…] about Between Legalism and Antinomianism

Is the Civil Law of Moses Still in Effect?

February 11, 2021 by wagraham 1 Comment

Moses proscribed the death penalty for idolatry under the Mosaic Law (Deut 13:9; 17:5). Few, if any Christians today, would advocate for the same. The reason is because when there is a change of priesthood, so also is there a change in law (Heb 7:11–12). Jesus our high priest instituted a new law, which is non-coercive and has neighbourly love as its fulfillment (Gal 5:14). This is largely because the church does not exist under a particular civil administration as a nation-state.

Given that this is so, how should Christians understand the civil law of Moses today? [Read more…] about Is the Civil Law of Moses Still in Effect?