The Law of God
Some churches preach to this day that Jesus abolished the Ten Commandments when He died on the cross. They proclaim this assumption by using Ephesians 2:15 as their basis of evidence, which says. “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;…” The obvious truth here is, that the verse states that it was the Commandments contained in ORDINANCES that was abolished at the cross. Not the Ten Commandments contained in stone. The passage in Colossians 2:14-17 has also been used to preach the Commandments abolished. But if you read it you will find it was, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances”, again that is mentioned in that passage. According to the Word of God, these ordinances were “added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made” (Galatians 3:19) It’s rather clear to see here that the “commandments contained in ordinances” were added by Moses for a specific reason. If we read the passage again we see it also states these ordinances were only added TILL the seed should come. And who was this seed according to Scripture? Galatians 3:16 boldly proclaims, “thy seed, which is Christ.”
The commandments contained in ordinances were added by Moses thousands of years ago as a way to prepare the people for the FIRST arrival of Messiah. They showed their faith in the coming Messiah by keeping the ordinances on a regular basis. When Jesus died on the cross, the ordinances were no longer needed because he fulfilled them by all He did while visiting us as Messiah. So, what are these ordinances? In Colossians 2:14-17 it says… “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Right off we see the “ordinances” were a series holy days, new moons, and Sabbath days that were to be considered a “shadow of things to come.” The word “ordinance” is NOT the same as the word “commandment.”
| ORDINANCE |
| 1378 dogma {dog’-mah} from the base of 1380; TDNT – 2:230,178; n n AV – decree 3, ordinance 2; 5
1) doctrine, decree, ordinance 2) the rules and requirements of the law of Moses; carrying a suggestion of severity and of threatened judgment 3) of certain decrees of the apostles relative to right living |
| COMMANDMENT |
| 06680 tsavah {tsaw-vaw’} a primitive root; TWOT – 1887; v AV – command 514, charge 39, commandment 9, appoint 5, bade 3, order 3, commander 1, misc 4; 494
1) to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order 1b) (Pual) to be commanded |
Also notice in verse 16 of Colossians 2 it states, “…Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink…” I ask, where in the Ten Commandments does it speak of “meat and drink?” Nowhere do we find such statements in the Law of God. However, when we peer into the ceremonial law, and annual Sabbaths, or feast day rituals, or ORDINANCES of the Old Covenant church, we find it speaks volumes on meat and drink offerings that were to be used to acknowledge a future event Christ the Lord would perform in reality. It is therefore literally impossible for the ordinances and the Ten Commandments to be the same thing.
Also notice that nowhere within the Ten Commandments do we see any mention of, “holydays or new moons” as this passage additionally declares is part of the ordinances. The Old Testament people were just as much believers in Jesus as the New Testament people. The obvious difference is they looked forward to Jesus coming the first time. They acknowledged that faith in Messiah by performing the ordinances Moses was instructed to give them.
I will give one example as a way to illustrate how the feast days, or annual Sabbaths were performed as a way for the believers back then to acknowledge, or proclaim their faith in certain events prophecied to occur in Christ’s ministry while on earth walking among us.
Each family, or group of families, if the family performing the ordinance was a small one, slew what was considered a Passover lamb during the feast of unleavened bread. After they killed it they ate it along with the unleavened bread as a way to proclaim their faith in the coming Messiah. As we know, John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” in John 1:29. Paul also declared later that, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” in 1 Corinthians 5:7. With that said, we can see how the ancient believers believed the Messiah would come in the future to die for their sins. Since Christ is the Lamb who was sacrificed on Calvary 2000 years ago, then there is no need to celebrate the Passover feast that pointed forward to the coming of God’s Lamb who would take “away the sin of the world!” This is why Paul declared these ordinances were “nailed to the cross” when Christ took the “shadowy thing” the ancient believers performed on an annual basis and “made a show of them openly” before the eyes of all the nations when He hung on that cross. This was done openly to make it very clear in the hearts of those with eyes that see that the ordinances were in fact abolished on Calvary.
Looking back 2000 years, we realize all this has been done as prophecied in many areas of the Old Testament. As Christians, we now await His second coming of Messiah today. All the “meat, drink, holy days, & sabbaths,” or feast days as most call them today were abolished at the cross. Jesus fulfilled their purpose perfectly 2000 years ago.
This passage in Colossians also called these sabbath days a “shadow of things to come.” Each of these annual feast days spoke of future events in the life and work of Messiah, as I illustrated in the previous explanation of the Passover feast day. The weekly Sabbath of the Lord can in no way be a shadow of something future. All the “shadowy things” were instituted long before Christ came and pointed forward to His arrival as Saviour on the cross as an offering for mankind’s sin.
Many believe the Law never existed before Sinai simply because it was then the Law was etched in stone. However, there are 2 ways to prove the Law valid in the Garden of Eden, and one way to prove it in force before Sinai and after Eden.
IN EDEN…
#1 Had the Law not been in force at that time, the sin Adam and Eve committed would not have been able to force them from the Garden. As we know, sin is not allowed in Heaven. In Revelation 21:27 when speaking of the Heavenly city of God, it says, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” This is also why Jesus said in Luke 10:18 that He, “…beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Satan sinned and he could no longer reside in Heaven. Adam and Eve sinned as well, “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” – Genesis 3:23-24 Since the Word of God says, “…sin is the transgression of the law.” in 1 John 3:4, then the Law had to have been in force in Eden..
#2 According to Genesis 2:3, “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” When the Law was later etched in stone by the finger of God and given unto Moses to give to the people, the Sabbath commandment was already considered part of the Law, and placed right there upon those tablets of stone proving the same holy day that was sanctified in Eden, was still valid when it was etched in that stone. Had the Law not been present in Eden, that sanctified Seventh day would never had been part of the Edenic experience as Genesis 2:3 proves it was.
AFTER EDEN AND BEFORE SINAI…
Long before the Jewish nation ever came into existence, it is declared in Genesis 26:5, “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
The feast days pointed FORWARD to a future event. The Seventh Day Sabbath points actually BACKWARD to the ultimate event. Creation. Not only does the very first word of that Sabbath commandment denote a REMEMBRANCE of the work of Creation. We find that within the words of that commandment itself, it speaks of that which the Lord did in creation week, including the fact He sanctified that seventh day long before sin was ever an issue. Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Read Leviticus 23:24-38 and you will find that the sabbaths mentioned in Colossians chapter 2 are again confirmed to be the “annual sabbaths” that the Lord instructed the people to keep. Make special note that it even says in Verse 38 of Leviticus 23 that these annual sabbaths are BESIDES the Sabbath of the Lord. That of course referring to the weekly Sabbath. Jesus Himself confirms the fact He did not come to abolish the Law 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
Notice the “sabbaths” of Leviticus…Count them and you will find they come too frequently to be considered WEEKLY Sabbaths. You will find 5 sabbaths within a 15 day period. This proves beyond a doubt they cannot possibly be the weekly Sabbath of the Lord.
Leviticus 23:23-38, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, (sabbath #1 day #1) a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, (sabbath #2 day# 10) and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.(sabbath #3 day #9) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.(sabbath #4 day #15) Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.(sabbath #5 day #8) These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.”
Did you notice the meat and drink offerings mentioned in this passage? This confirms they are the same sabbaths spoken of in Colossians 2:14-17. Fact is, If this “law contained in ordinances” is the same as the “Law contained in stone” then I ask for all those that preach such a thing to please share with me the commandment that is written within the Ten Commandments that speaks of “meat and drink” offerings. Biblical fact is…
Hebrews 9:1,10 “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”
What does the term in Colossians 2:17 mean where it said those ordinances are, “…a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”?
When I stand in front of a light source I cast a shadow correct? Now, if you find that shadow I cast and follow it you will eventually come to my body, correct? Does my shadow continue on behind me? No, it stops at the body does it not? All those feast days are shadows of things that Jesus did in reality. When you follow those shadows you will eventually come to rest before the body of Jesus Christ on that cross. There is no shadow beyond the cross. The ordinances were nailed to that cross, and that body on that cross is in fact Christ. He did EXACTLY as those shadows depicted He was to do.
So… what did Jesus Himself think of the Royal Law of God His Father? Did He preach they were to be abolished one day? Or did He preach them as eternal in nature? Jesus Himself said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” -John 15:10
Some still hold to their beliefs that the Law is abolished because this was said by Jesus BEFORE the cross itself. So what did the Holy Spirit indwelt Apostles of Jesus Christ believe AFTER Jesus died and resurrected? Did they keep and preach the Ten Commandments as Truth? Upwards of 60 years after the cross of Christ John the Apostle said in 1 John 3:22, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” 1 John 5:2 also states, ” By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.” 1 John 5:3 declares, ” For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” If you do a study on this you will find literally dozens of New Testament Scriptures proving the early Christian church indeed KEPT the Ten Commandments in loving obedience to their Heavenly Father. These three I just quoted should be all the Christian needs. Why? They are IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE and the Apostles themselves penned those words as inspired Truth for all those after them to embrace.
Yes I am very aware it is impossible for us to keep the Ten Commandments on our own because the flesh is weak. The events surrounding Mt. Sinai proved that nicely. That’s my entire point! We have proven to God that we cannot keep the Ten Commandments in our fleshly bodies. We are too weak to do it alone. We need the Lord to help us. If you believe His Word, then you believe the following verses as Truth.
- Hebrews 8:10 …I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts
- Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
- Romans 8:3,4 …God sending his own Son… That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We can’t do it without the soul steering help of Jesus. Jesus walked as we should have walked, and then He died the death we deserve. He did it all for us, and He is still there for us to this day. For He also said, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:20
Let’s take that statement Jesus made, “lo, I am with you alway, even to the END OF THE WORLD” and further drive home the reality of what He’s actually saying here. Since the Word tells us that His Law has been placed in our minds and hearts, and we can do all things through Christ, we then know the righteousness of the Law can be fulfilled in us if we choose not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit. And since He declared He will be with us always till the end, we have that assurance that we will be victorious as long as we walk closely with Him. After all, He did say in Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Isn’t it good that He will be with us till all be fulfilled to walk as He needs us to walk?
By the way, for those skeptics out there that still believe the Law passed away at the cross. Jesus just said in Matthew 5:18 that nary a speck of His Law will pass away till heaven and earth pass and all is fulfilled. With that said, I must ask, is heaven above and the earth beneath still here? And have all prophecies been fulfilled wherein we are in the city of Heaven? No? Then this means His Law is still binding no matter what you may think or have been taught. There is no getting around the simplicity of that statement made by Christ in Matthew 5:18 In fact, how do those that claim His Law was abolished at the cross answer to the New Testament Scriptures that are mostly penned after the cross that speak of His Ten Commandments as still being valid?
| Old Testament | New Testament | |
| Commandment # 1 | Exodus 20:3 | Matthew 4:10 |
| Commandment # 2 | Exodus 20:4-6 | 1John 5:21 & Acts 17:29 |
| Commandment # 3 | Exodus 20:7 | 1Timothy 6:1 |
| Commandment # 4 | Exodus 20:8-11 | Hebrews 4:4,8,9 (The word “rest” in verse #9 = “sabbatismo” = “A keeping Sabbath” in Strong’s #4520 |
| Commandment # 5 | Exodus 20:12 | Matthew 19:19 |
| Commandment # 6 | Exodus 20:13 | Romans 13:9 |
| Commandment # 7 | Exodus 20:14 | Matthew 19:18 |
| Commandment # 8 | Exodus 20:15 | Romans 13:9 |
| Commandment # 9 | Exodus 20:16 | Romans 13:9 |
| Commandment # 10 | Exodus 20:17 | Romans 7:7 |
How’s it possible to say we need not keep the Ten Commandments when it’s found in both the Old and the New Testaments? How’s it possible for some denominations to preach it’s sin to keep God’s Ten Commandments after the cross of Christ? They make this claim as if to say we keep the Law as works towards salvation. But the Word was plain we could never keep the Law to get saved because we can only keep it after Christ is present to help us. In other words, we don’t keep the Law of God to get saved, we keep it because we are saved! Before Christ came into our lives, as the Old Covenant proved, mankind was literally too weak to keep His Law on their own. We needed a better covenant, or a New Testament. This is why Christ came. “But now hath he (Christ) obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, (mankind) he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” – Hebrews 8:6-10
Now that we have His Law in our minds and heart thanks to His Holy Spirit, it’s far easier to, “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” Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” James 2:12
According to these faithful verses, the Ten Commandments are not only the “Whole duty of man,” but the standard of JUDGMENT used to determine our worthiness of Heaven. To further solidify that fact in the heart, the Word is plain when speaking of the Ten Commandments as that which was to be kept from the beginning. The apostles John was moved by the Lord to declare, “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it .” 2 John1:6
Many are also taught to proclaim that Commandment keeping is for the Jew and Jew alone. In saying this they un-knowingly condemn all non-Jewish Christians to hell in one fell swoop. This is evident because of what has been written in the book of Revelation for all Christians who trust His Word to read…”Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” (Revelation 22:14) That city IS HEAVEN. If only Jews are to keep the Commandments, then they are proclaiming only Jews enter Heaven. If this is so, then why does Paul say in Romans 2:10,11, “But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” And in Romans 10:12,-13, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
When do most Christians feel the judgment is to occur? Thanks to all the world wondering after the beast and it’s spurious doctrines, universal belief in all denominations that don’t understand the theology of the prophecied “investigative judgment” believe it’s a far into the future event right? Even if they do understand the prophetic facts regarding the investigative judgment; thanks to Rome’s ability to twist the Truth on this out of context, Ecclesiastes chapter twelve appears to them as a way to confirm the “final” judgment is indeed prophecied as a future event for every human that is still being judged today. With that in mind, ask them to read Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 so as to get a better view of the truth here.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “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.”
Have them make special note that they should consider the statement that “God shall bring every work into judgment” in that passage. First it is mentioned in this passage that the whole duty of man is indeed keeping the Ten Commandments. Directly after making that statement the Bible declares mankind is judged by how he performs his duty. The question then arises, what is that duty that is to be judged? It is written in that passage that mankind must, “Fear God, and keep his commandments” In blunt easy to understand terms, the Bible says the whole duty of man is to keep the Ten Commandments because the judgment is based on how man performs that duty. And since the reward that judgment brings is indeed a future event, the Ten Commandments are STILL valid today! For it is written in Revelation 22:12, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” The reward is based on how we are judged. If we are judged worthy, our reward is eternal life. If we are judged unworthy, our reward is eternal death.
As intimated earlier, many still feel the Ordinances abolished at the cross are the same as the Law contained in stone. With that said, is there Scriptural evidence that can put this fallacy to rest that shows the apparent difference between God’s Law contained in stone and Moses’ law contained in ordinances?”
| MOSES’ LAW “Contained in Ordinances” |
GOD’S LAW “Contained in stone” |
| Called “Law of Moses” Luke 2:22, “And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;”
|
Called “The law of the Lord”
Isaiah 5:24, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” |
| Called “Law contained in ordinances”
Ephesians 2:15, “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;” |
Called “The royal law”
James 2:8, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:”
|
| Written by Moses in a book.
2 Chronicles 35:12, “And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.” |
Written by God in stone.
Exodus 31:18, “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Also see Exodus 32:16) |
| Placed on side of the Ark.
Deuteronomy 31:26, “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” |
Placed inside the ark.
Exodus 40:20, “And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:” |
| Ended at the cross.
Colossians 2:14, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (Also see Ephesians 2:15-16)
|
Will stand forever.
Psalms 111:7-8, “The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Luke 16:17, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” |
| Added because of sin.
Galatians 3:19, “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” |
Points out sin.
Romans 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” (Aso see Romans 3:20) |
| Contrary to us, against us.
Colossians 2:14, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” |
Not grievous.
1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” |
| Carnal.
Hebrews 7:16, “Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.” |
Spiritual.
Romans 7:14, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” |
| Made nothing perfect.
Hebrews 7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” |
Is perfect.
Psalms 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” |
| Judges no one.
Colossians 2:14,16, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; ..Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: “ |
Judges all people.
James 2:10-12, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” |
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