Truth: "Works of the Law"

Truth: Bible Truth

"Works of the Law" - Page 14

So it seems that the "Jewish problem" was not, in essence, a reliance on rituals, but a warped mentality which believed that just because God blesses you means that he owes you, and that because of His obligation toward you then you are secure forever no matter what you do.

And isn't that the problem with the Gentiles too? How can we deny it when Paul says that it is the case? And if it is, then that is the reason the "Jewish problem" will never die, and that is the reason the New Testament is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.

But aren't we supposed to obey the moral law?

So now let's answer the question we posed earlier: If the moral law is included with the ceremonial law as that which condemns mankind, how does that square with the fact that we are supposed to obey the moral commands of the Old Testament, but not obey the ceremonial commands?

The answer is very simple. We are not obeying the moral laws of the Old Covenant. We are obeying the principles of the moral laws found in the Old Covenant. More than that, we are obeying the much improved moral laws, which God placed in the New Covenant. The New Covenant of Jesus Christ borrows from the good laws of the Old Covenant and makes them better. As Hebrews 8:6-7 says:

"But now he hath obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament which is established on better promises. 7 For if that former had been faultless, there should not indeed a place have been sought for a second."

That is why, for example, we find Jesus saying in Matthew 5:21 "You have heard it was said 'You shall not commit murder,' but I say unto you that everyone who is even angry with his brother shall be liable for judgment." Jesus is taking the principle of the Old Covenant law and expanding on it for those who will be His followers in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, Jesus is our Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12). He is the one who gives us our ceremonial, moral and civil laws. In order to do so, He must set aside the Old Covenant ceremonial, moral and civil laws, for the Church cannot have two competing systems.

But notice this important point: It is the WHOLE system of the Old Covenant that must go, not just a part here or there. Those who teach that "works of the law" refers only to the ceremonial law are essentially teaching that only PART of the Old Covenant was set aside.

What about the ceremonial law? Isn't it true that we are not to obey the ceremonial law any longer, and didn't Paul make that clear in, for example, Colossians 2:16; while also teaching in Romans 13:9 that we are to obey the moral laws?

Well, we already answered the "moral law" question above. We are obeying the principles of the Old Covenant decalogue, but we are no longer under the Old Covenant itself.

As for our not obeying the ceremonial laws any longer, that is true, but it is true in the same way that we are no longer obeying the moral laws of the Old Covenant. Rather, we are obeying the principles of the Old Covenant ceremonial laws.

The ceremonial laws we have now are represented by our seven sacraments, Baptism, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Sacrament of the Sick. Hence, just as the New Covenant improved on the moral laws of the Old Covenant (i.e., the Sermon on the Mount), so the New Covenant improved on the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant and gave us the sacraments.

Paul summarizes this principle in Romans 7:6:

"But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."

And he had already introduced it in Romans 6:14:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."

Here we see that we have been "released from the Law" and that we are "not under Law but under grace." This means that we have been taken out of the whole system of Law (the ceremonial, civil and moral laws of the Old Covenant) and are now placed in the system of Grace. In that system Paul tell us that we are not to function based on the "oldness of the letter" (which is another way of saying the "letter of the law") but "we serve in the newness of the Spirit," that is, the Spirit of God guides our actions. The Spirit takes the principles of the Law, and infuses them, with Himself, into our being. That is the power of the New Covenant.

"Works of the Law" - Page 14

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