~
Introduction to “The Law: Questions” Series ~
The
Big Picture ~ The entire Bible is about Jesus Christ—The
Messiah. In the Old Testament God’s
people looked forward in faith to the coming Messiah. In the New Testament God’s people look both
back to The Messiah’s coming, His life, His death, and most importantly His
resurrection. His believers today look
forward in faith to the return of Jesus Christ to take His people home to be
with Him forever.
Scripture ~ The
Key Passage in this series is: “Do not think that I [Jesus Christ] came to
destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did
not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
The
Law Defined ~ When we read the term “Law” in Scripture it has various meanings—just like many other
words. Here are some examples:
1)
The Ten Commandments.
2)
The Pentateuch—the first five books of
the Old Testament.
3)
The entire Old Testament.
4)
A principle for life.
5)
Civil laws from governing political
figures.
In the most basic form the “law” in Scripture refers to
principles and rules which God has given man regarding how to live. With that in mind, the law began in Genesis
when God instructed Adam to tend the garden and to eat freely except from the
forbidden tree. In this series of posts
the term “The Law” refers primarily to the Pentateuch.
The
Scope of The Law
~ There are literally hundreds of
commands (over 600) associated with the Old Testament
Law. Someone calculated that there are 365
(one per day?) negative commands and 248 positive commands making a total of
613 specific commands.
The Purpose of The Law ~
“Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the
faith which would afterward be revealed.
Therefore the law was our tutor to
bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor” (Galatians 3:23-25). A
clear statement that today we are not under The Law.
Basic Elements of The Law ~ The
various laws are often broken out into three broad categories: (1) Moral
Law governing the moral aspects of life and how to interact with other
humans and with God (i.e., The Ten Commandments), (2) Social Law governing secular living such as the political, social,
and economic aspects of life, and (3) Ceremonial
Law governing the spiritual side of life such as behavior in the
Tabernacle, sacrifices, the priesthood, and relationships with both God and
man.
Comment ~ Today,
when we speak of The Law we are referring to the time of the pre-incarnate
Christ and His people seeking to obey The Law as a way to gain acceptance with
God. In my decades of Christian
experience I have never been able to keep The Law even for a 24-hour
period. For example I have never
experienced that long of a period where I have “Loved the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Reference ~ You
may be interested in a previous “Abundant
Life Now” 14 post series entitled “10
Commandments Today” (from March 1 to June 28, 2018). “Abundant
Life Now” also posted a 12-post series entitled “Law vs. Grace” (from January 22 to December 24, 2013).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
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