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The Law is Good And There Are No Buts

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
12/28/2014 / Christian Living


There are some people who believe that the Ten Commandments, the Moral Law that was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, were some how inadequate, some would even say that they were bad; because they made demands without offering the necessary assistance to perform those demands.

Let us dispel that myth.

The Ten Commandments were excellent, and the people for whom they were intended, the Jews, had they adhered to them as the moral code for the nation of Israel, and followed them assiduously, delightfully and faithfully, then Israel would have been the nation and people of whom God would rightly be proud.

Christians are not deluded by the whims of secular zealots who think that the God of the Old Testament was cruel and demanding, and the God of the New Testament and of Jesus Christ was compassionate and caring.

Nothing in Scripture affirms that, and there is no evidence whatsoever to support such disrespectful and errant views of God.

Some people look at the Old Testament, and they see such widespread cruelty, and slaughter, they even quote the case in Exodus 4:24 where God tried to kill Moses; because he failed to circumcise one of his sons.

People often forget whom God was dealing with. The Jews were exceptionally arrogant, stiff-necked and wayward, and the fact that God preserved them through time to enable them to give us Jesus Christ, the promised redeemer, was nothing short of miraculous.

People like the Jews could have gone the way of the Philistines, or the Akkadians, for they were similarly warlike and virtually uncontrollable.

The fact that the Jews stayed more or less as a coherent nation is due, in large measure, to the laws given by Moses and in particular the Ten Commandments.

It is so easy to forget that God, through Moses, gave Israel many laws that defined her culture, nutrition, worship and morals. The Rabbis of old have searched the Torah and identified that God gave Israel 613 laws, 248 of them were positive and 365 were negative.

The ceremonial and civil laws were important but none could compare with the Ten Commandments, for these were written by God himself on tablets of stone and given to Moses.

To suggest therefore that the Ten Commandments were bad would be an enormous misunderstanding of the mind of God and the intent of the Ten Commandments.

So many people forget that God does things for a purpose. To misunderstand that purpose is the fundamental reason some people blunder in their beliefs and indulge in wrong practices.

It is erroneous to believe that God gave the Ten Commandments to all people for all time. Such was never God's intention.

God laws, as given by Moses, were good, but good only in the context of their original intention.

The intention of God's laws as given to Israel was to preserve a people who would in due course give us the saviour of the world, the redeemer or Massiah.

We know this for sure because the Apostle Paul in Galatians made this powerful and defining statement; "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3:24-25)

Paul made it clear that believers are not under the law. The law did its job as intended by God. It brought us to Jesus Christ, for it was the conduit to lead us to our redeemer, and because of that it was good.

Paul acknowledged this essential truth when he said, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Romans 7:12) The law worked excellently for the purpose for which it was intended, and all believers should celebrate that awesome fact.

The law, however, was never intended for Christians. Believers are misguided in their belief that the Ten Commandments apply to Christians.

No one should dispute that the law was good or that it did marvellously in channeling the seed of Abraham through a torrid journey to produce the redeemer of the world; Jesus Christ.

The law did its job, righteousness no longer depend on adherence to instructions in the Ten Commandments as it once did. That is past and under the new covenant Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the law. Paul stated it like this, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:4)

Many people misunderstand what Jesus meant when he said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matthew 5:17)

Jesus was here referring to the Moral Law (the Ten Commandments) and he was not abolishing them, he was fulfilling them, and by accepting them every Christian is living them and obedient to them.

Because the law is good, Christians live them daily but under the NEW COVENANT of grace and freedom in Christ.

It is worth repeating. Christians live the moral laws of God daily but under the NEW COVENANT of grace and freedom in Christ.

All the laws and obligations contain in the laws of Moses, their intent and practices are now embodied in Jesus Christ, and Christians who are saved through faith by acceptance and commitment to Jesus Christ should know that they are in full compliance with the requirements of Almighty God.

What then about the keeping of the Sabbath?

The early Christians, as under the New Covenant, worshipped on the Christian Sabbath.

This Sabbath was endorsed and hallowed by Jesus Christ in that He appeared to his disciples again and again as they broke bread and communed on the first day of the week. References to worshipping of God or meetings on the first day of the week are Acts 20:7, John 20:19, John 20:26, Acts 2:1, Revelation 1:10.

Paul dismissed charges that the Jewish Sabbath was relevent to Christians when he said, "Those who think one day is more important than other days are doing that for the Lord. And those who eat all kinds of food are doing that for the Lord. Yes, they give thanks to God for that food. And those who refuse to eat some foods do that for the Lord. They also give thanks to God." (Romans 14:6)

Yes indeed, believers are in full compliance with God's laws, but we do so under the relationship of the New Covenant of Grace with the understanding that the old is passed, or as Hebrews puts it, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:15)

Enough said.

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Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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