A.The Law of Moses is misused to justify certain religious practices.This misuse arises from several factors.
1.Some are ignorant of the truth regarding the Law because they have simply never learned.
2.Others misunderstand the Law because they have been taught falsehoods about it.
3.Others willfully misuse the Law in an attempt to justify their will rather than seeking God’s will.
B.Misuse of the Law of Moses can be corrected by demonstrating that Jesus has fulfilled the Law of Moses, thus rendering the Law inactive as a binding covenant over mankind today.
II.THE LAW OF MOSES HAS BEEN FULFILLED
A.Notice the words of Jesus regarding His role in the Law of Moses and the Prophets in Matthew 5:17-19.
1.In verse 17, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (NASB).
a.The word “abolish” (better translated as “destroy” in KJV, ASV) is translated from the Greek word katalyō, which means to dissolve or destroy.Jesus did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
b.The word “fulfill” is translated from the Greek word plēroō, which means to make full or complete.Jesus did come to complete the Law and the Prophets.
2.Verses 18-19 emphasize the unstoppable certainty of Christ’s mission of fulfilling the Law.
a.Jesus said, “Not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
b.Moreover, Jesus relegated those who annulled any of the Law’s commandments to least status in the kingdom of heaven, and He elevated those who kept and taught the commandments to greatness in the kingdom of heaven.In other words, those who resisted Christ’s mission of fulfilling the Law are least in the kingdom, and those who complied with His mission are great in the kingdom.
3.It is important for us to understand what these things meant at the time Jesus said them.
a.Jesus was assuring His Jewish audience that His teachings were according to the Law of Moses, for He was about to teach a series of lessons that would conflict with their traditional (but incorrect) beliefs regarding the Law (“You have heard…but I say…”).
b.Jesus was also declaring that the Law and the Prophets would be fulfilled and their purposes accomplished in Him.This meant that Jesus was the end (not the destruction or annulment) of the Law and the Prophets and the beginning of something new.
B.In Luke 24:44-48, Jesus indicated that He had indeed fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.
1.Jesus spoke these words to the apostles after His resurrection and before His ascension to heaven.
2.In verse 44, Jesus said, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
a.The word “fulfilled” is translated from the same word found in Matthew 5:17 (plēroō).
b.Notice in verse 45 that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures”, i.e., the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms which He was fulfilling.
3.In verses 46-48, Jesus declared exactly what was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
a.The fulfillment of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (the Scriptures) was Christ’s death and resurrection and the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness to all nations.
b.It was the apostles’ commission to bear witness that these things were indeed accomplished and that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms were indeed fulfilled.
4.Taken together, Matthew 5:17-19 and Luke 24:44-48 teach us that Jesus has fulfilled the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms and accomplished their purposes through His gospel.
C.Galatians 3:19-25 gives additional insight into the purpose and limits of the Law of Moses.
1.Notice that verse 19 says that the Law “was added because of transgressions…until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made.”
a.“The seed” is a reference to Christ and the promise to Abraham (see Gal. 3:16).
b.The Law defined transgressions and penalties in order to sanctify the people through whom the seed (Christ) would come (see Rom. 3:20).It was to continue until He came.
2.Now that the seed has come, the purpose of the Law is accomplished.
a.Notice verses 24-25 – “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
b.From this, we see that the time for the Law ended when Christ finished His work.
D.Ephesians 2:14-16 demonstrates that by fulfilling the Law of Moses, Jesus has made it inactive.
1.This passage tells us that Christ made the Jews and the Gentiles into one body by “abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”
a.Let us notice the terms “abolishing” and “enmity” in this passage.
i.The word “abolishing” is translated from the Greek word katargeō (not the same as “abolish” in Matt. 5:17), which means to make idle, inactive, or inoperative.
ii.“Enmity” is the term used to describe the Law of Moses because it was source of division and hostility between Jews and Gentiles.
b.So then, we may rightly understand the following truth from this passage: The Law of Moses was deactivated through Christ’s death on the cross.
2.In a similar passage, Paul wrote that Christ “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col. 2:14).
III.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
A.The Law of Moses is not binding upon anyone today.
1.Notice first that some laws from the Old Testament preceded the Law of Moses (such as marriage, capital punishment, etc.).These are the natural laws from God that are applied to all men.
2.Separate from these laws, the Law of Moses was only binding upon the Israelites (Ex. 19:1-8; Rom. 9:4).The Gentiles never were bound by Moses’ Law.
3.Today, not even Israelites (Jews) are bound by the Law of Moses, for Christ fulfilled it, accomplished its purposes, and deactivated it through what His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension (i.e., through the gospel).
4.Some commandments of the Law are explicitly revoked in the New Testament.
a.Examples of these commandments are circumcision (Acts 15:1-31; Gal. 2:3; 5:1-12) and the religious observance of days, months, and years (Gal. 4:10; Col. 2:16-17).
b.These commandments were specifically addressed because some early Christians were influenced by Judiazing teachers to obey these commands as a condition of salvation.
5.In truth, all commandments of the Law are implicitly revoked because the Law is now inactive.
B.The new covenant of Jesus Christ is not an amended version of the Law of Moses.
1.It is a common misunderstanding to consider the new covenant as the old covenant with a few changes (such as the replacement of the ceremonial laws, sacrifices, etc.).
2.It is true that some commandments of the Law of Moses (such as the ten commandments minus the Sabbath) are repeated in the new covenant, which is the Law of Christ.However, these are binding only because they are in Christ’s Law and not because they were in Moses’ Law.
3.The Bible clearly explains that when the Law of Moses was observed, it was to be observed not in part but as a whole (Gal. 5:3; Jas. 2:10-11).Now that it is fulfilled, it is not to be observed at all.
C.To observe the Law of Moses today is to turn back to an inferior covenant.
1.This is the theme of the book of Hebrews, which is summarized as follows:
a.Christ is superior to angels as a minister (Heb. 1:1-2:18).
b.Christ is superior to Moses as a lawgiver (Heb. 3:1-4:13).
c.Christ is superior to Aaron as a priest (Heb. 4:14-7:28).
d.Christ’s covenant is superior to Moses’ covenant (Heb. 8:1-10:18).
e.Therefore, let us be faithful in Christ (Heb. 10:19-13:25).
2.Because Christ and the new covenant in Him are superior in all ways to the old covenant through the Law of Moses, no one should choose Moses over Christ.The Law of Moses was merely a shadow and a forerunner of the Law of Christ.
3.Those who attempt to follow the Law of Moses should heed Galatians 5:4 – “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
