THE LAW OF GOD AND THE LAW OF MOSES

Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

November 28, 2017

Some believers are deceived into believing that because God abolished the Law of Moses that there are no laws binding on believers under grace. But what saith the scriptures?

Compare the following verses with each other and read carefully what Paul says about law and laws under grace in his epistles.

Ephesians 2:15  says; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Compare this with:

Romans 13:8-10 says: Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

It seems to be a contradiction in these verses. In Ephesians Paul says the law is abolished, but in Romans he says we should keep it and obey it. Did Paul contradict himself?

In Romans 6:14-15 he said: for ye are not under the law, but under grace two times, but in 1 Corinthians 9:20-21 he said: we are not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. We know Paul did not lie, but how do you explain this seeming contradiction? In Romans he says we are not under the law, but in 1 Corinthians he says we are.

In Romans 7:22 he wrote; For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. In verse 25 he wrote: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God.

Paul rebuked the Galatians for serving the law (Gal. 4:9-10) but in these verses he delighted in the law of God and served it himself. How do we answer these seeming contradictions?

The answer is this; The law Paul said we should keep in Romans 13, which he served and obeyed in Romans 7, is called the Law of God whereas the law that was abolished in Ephesians 2 is the Law of Moses. The Law abolished in Ephesians 2:14-16 were the laws and ordinances God gave to Moses on Sinai concerning such things as: animal sacrifices, feast days, holy days, dietary laws, temple worship, and the priesthood. The Law of God is the moral commandments of God that have been in force from the beginning and will never be abolished. They are the 9 moral laws of the 10 commandments. The law concerning the Sabbath day was a sign between Israel and God, (Exd. 31:14-17) but the other 9 are binding on all men in all ages.

----The law of God is the law Paul said was holy, just, good and spiritual in Romans 7:12, 14.

----It is the law he said we are under in 1 Corinthians 9:20-21, Galatians 6:2.

----Its the law he served and delighted in according to Romans 7:22, 25.

----Its the law that Christ said would never be destroyed and the one he kept and fulfilled in Matthew 5:17-18.

----Its the law God commanded us to keep in Romans 13:8-10.

----Its the law written in the hearts of men in Romans 2:14-16.

No one will ever be free from the law of God. No one will ever be free from the commandment that says;

****Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

*****Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

****Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

****Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Eph. 6:1-5)

****Thou shalt not kill.

****Thou shalt not commit adultery.

****Thou shalt not steal.

****Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

****Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (Exodus 20)

These Laws were in force long before God gave the Law to Moses on Sinai. In the first book of the Bible God said in Genesis 26:5 concerning Abraham; Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. This was said to Abraham 100s of years before Moses went up on Mt. Sinai. The Law of God has from the beginning of the world been in force and will always be in force. No one has ever or will ever be free from the moral law of God contained in the 9 commandments. It is the duty of all God's creatures to obey this law. The creature is subject to his creator and is bound to keep his law. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 says: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Arthur W. Pink said this about the Law of God: Has human nature so improved, is man so much better than he was three thousand years ago, that he no longer stands in need of the Divine law? If the covenant people of old were required to have such statutes are the Gentiles of today any less self-sufficient? Are men now so little prone to idolatry that they need not the divine command; thou shalt have no other gods before me? Has the enmity of the carnal mind been so refined that it is no longer timely to say; thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain? Are the children of the 21 century A.D. so devoted to their parents that it is unnecessary to say to them; honour thy father and mother? Is human life now held in such reverence that it is idle to say thou shalt not kill? Has the marriage relationship come to be so sacredly regarded that thou shalt not commit adultery is an insult? And is there now so much honesty in the world that it is a waste of breath to remind men that God says thou shalt not steal? Rather is it not true that in the light of present conditions these commandments need to be thundered forth from every pulpit in the land?

All that I can say to this is AMEN and AMEN. Let no man deceive you, the moral laws of God were not abolished when the Laws of Sinai were. The Law of God has and will always be binding on all men of all ages. No one has ever or will ever have freedom from these laws. They are not and will never be abolished.