In short, the laws in the OT are specific to Israel at that time. They had the purpose of setting them apart as unique from the rest of the world (thus making them a light to the world). Furthermore, the law was meant to have some other affects.
1. As a "tutor" to preserve them until the Messiah would come to be the only faithful one to fulfill the law entirely (Gal. 3:24-25).
2. As a judge against even those in covenant with God as being guilty before God, and in need of His grace and salvation (Rom. 3:19-20; 7:7; Gal. 3:19)
3. And ironically enough, to trap sin up in the covenant people, so that when the Messiah would come, He would bear it up entirely, and be the faithful Israelite who bore the curse, defeated the curse, to forever reign and live. He then is the climax/end of the law (Rom 10:4).
So this is the role of the law. As far as Christian doctrine goes, this law was specific to one time. It has been completed/finished/fulfilled in Christ, who is the climax (telos) of the law.
It once served as a demarcation of Israel from the world. Now Christ, the faithful Israelite Himself is our identity, and our belonging to Him, our demarcation.
So there is no selective picking and choosing of laws. Israel's laws were all unique to them. They had death penalty laws that were never applied to other nations, nor would I try to set those up now. That is a misapplication of what those laws were all about, and in fact is a denial of the role and accomplishment of the Messiah.
Rather, the MORALS of God are universal. In the New Testament, we still see that God still judges the hearts of men, and how those hearts are expressed.
Moral law still exists, as we see in the NT. But the legislation around those have ceased because Christ is the end of the law. Furthermore, the dietary laws, cleanliness codes, etc were all particular to Israel. The New Testament is chalk full of this point, as they evangelized to the non Jewish world, telling them that they were not obligated to a law that was never established for them, and in fact was finished in Christ even for Israel that it was constituted from.
So there is a difference between the law of National Israel, and the moral law that is universal.
- fanofnothing 2012-05-09 12:39:22 (153 views)
- bongo 2012-05-11 16:20:01 (71 views)
