A dear sister in Christ asked me a great question: Because
Jesus died for my sins, and we no longer have to offer sacrifices for the
forgiveness of our sins, does that mean we no longer have to live by the
commandments that God gave Moses?
Jesus was the perfect, complete sacrifice. He said "It
is finished" (John 19:30)
because His completed, perfect work on the cross was sufficient to pay for all
the sins of all mankind, past, present and future (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2). When God looks at the
born-again believer (John 3:3-8),
He no longer sees our sins, but the perfect righteousness of His Son (Romans 3:22,25;5:18).
Jesus Christ has forever removed us from the penalty of
sin, which is death (Romans 3:25.
Animal sacrifices (Numbers 15:1-13),
which only temporarily covered sins and did not remove them, had to be repeated
often, but His perfect sacrifice only needed to be made once (Hebrews 7:26-28; 9; 1 Peter
3:18).
So we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices -- instead,
we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans
12:1). We know that we cannot perfectly keep the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 3:23), but even when we do
sin, we cannot lose our salvation (Romans
8:35-39).
But Jesus expects us to refrain from sin by yielding to the
Holy Spirit within us, Who cannot sin (1
John 3:9). When we do sin, breaking the commandments in thought or in
deed (Matthew 5:28), as we do
nearly daily by having a covetous or lustful thought, getting angry, etc., it
is because the sin nature that we still have to deal with has momentarily won
out over the Spirit (Romans 7:14-25).
Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my
commandments." (John 14:15,21).
He also summarized the Ten Commandments by saying "Love God (the first four
commandments) and love one another" (the last six commandments; Matthew 22:36-40).
So what about all of the law that God gave Moses? To
understand which laws still apply to us today, we must rightly divide the word
of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Some
of those laws were intended specifically for His chosen people at that time in
Bible history, like keeping menstruating women outside the camp (Leviticus 15:19).
Many of these laws preserved the lives of His people. In an
age when “physicians” in Egypt “treated” open wounds by rubbing animal dung in
them, the laws God gave Moses at the same period in history contain the
elements of modern day germ theory. In essence, avoid and cleanse yourself
after contact with sick people, dead bodies, unclean animals, and human waste,
and you’ll live longer (Leviticus 11;
Exodus 15:26). Only through the Holy Spirit could Moses record these
laws long before mankind even had the first clue that bacteria existed and
caused disease.
Some of the laws, such as not mixing two kinds of fiber in the same garment, are never
mentioned in the New Testament, and I think it's safe to assume that those are
not intended for God's children in the Church Age where we are now. Other laws,
such as those dealing with circumcision (Leviticus
12:3) and diet (not eating shellfish, pork, and other unclean animals; Leviticus 11) have health
benefits even today, although clearly we do not need to follow these laws to be
saved.
The early church argued about some of the laws, with Peter
and others even insisting wrongly that Gentile Christians should be circumcised
before they could be truly saved. But Paul explained that we are saved by grace
alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) through
faith alone, and the church then specifically concluded that these Jewish laws did
not apply to Gentiles who were engrafted into God’s family by their faith (Romans 11:5-25; Acts 15:1-11).
Adding a practice like circumcision to God’s perfect plan
of salvation through faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son to pay for all
our sins is like a slap in God’s face, for it implies that the ransom price
Christ paid for us was not sufficient or complete (Romans 4:1-16).
However, other laws that God gave Moses, such as laws
prohibiting homosexual acts, are repeated in the New Testament. Jesus reiterates
Adam’s statement (Genesis 2:22-24)
that one man and one woman
unite as one flesh in the sacrament of marriage (Matthew 19:4-6), and Paul specifically states that
homosexuality is a sin (Romans 1:26-30).
We are saved by grace, not by works, and Jesus Christ has
freed us from bondage to sin. Given our liberty in Him (Luke 4:18), are we not freed from the law? (Romans 7:4-6). When asked if we
can sin freely so that God’s grace can much more abound, Paul replied, “God
forbid!” (Romans 3:31; 6:1-15).
We should yield to the Holy Spirit, Who empowers us to keep
the law that is still our standard of conduct, namely the Ten Commandments and
any commandment repeated in the New Testament. But praise God, even when we do
sin, we cannot lose our salvation, and we no longer face the penalty of sin,
which is physical, spiritual, and eternal death (Romans 6:23).
Similarly, we can't earn our salvation by being
"good" or by not breaking the law (Romans 3:10-12) If we are guilty of breaking even a single
point in the law, whether in deed or even in thought, we are considered guilty
of breaking the whole law (James 2:10-13).
.Only One Person could keep the law perfectly, and that is Jesus, Who died and
rose again so that we could be freed from sin and death (Hebrews 9:14-15).
We still need the law, not for salvation (Romans 3:19-21; Hebrews 7:19),
but as a mirror to show us our sin and our need for a Savior (James 1:22-25). May we daily die
to our “old man” – our flesh that still wants to sin – put on the whole armor
of God (Ephesians 6:11-13),
and yield to the Holy Spirit Who cannot sin and Who will lead us in the path of
righteousness!
© 2015 Laurie Collett
