The Town Hall Archives

Jared · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject:

There are three aspects of the law as handed down in the Pentateuch.

MORAL LAW
Encapsulated in commandments five through ten and a variety of other passages, these laws stand for all time.

CIVIL LAW
The laws and customs of the nation of Israel, for that nation alone. Even those who claim that the law has not been fulfilled tend to ignore much of civil law; when was the last time you heard of a child being stoned, for example? Read through the laws of the nation of Israel and see how many of them are met by those touting the law. (Not many.)

CEREMONIAL LAW
The covenant symbolism. These laws revolved around the concept of future atonement, e.g. the sacrificial system and the various rituals and customs. On what would become the Temple Mount, Abraham told Isaac that God would provide himself a lamb. Abraham sacrificed a ram that day, but when the fullness of time had come, God provided Himself, the Lamb of God whose shed blood washes away our sin.

The law doesn't save. The law never saved. If the law could save, Christ's sacrifice would be in vain. If the law could save, what need would we have of grace? If the law could save, then why end the sacrificial system?

Because the law doesn't save. Never has, never will. None of us are perfect before God, which is what the law requires. The blood of rams and goats isn't powerful enough to cleanse us. Feasts and remembrances cannot justify us. Even under the Old Covenant, the just were saved by faith. The law showed them that they were unworthy, provided the ideal, provided a "type" of Christ, set them apart from the other nations and provided visible, tangible proof of their faith. But it was the faith itself that saved.