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The Relation of Natural Law to Mosaic Law
According to Charles Ryrie in The Meanings and Blessings of Salvation one of the accomplishments of Christ’s death is that it brought an end to Mosaic Law.
“The fact that the death of Christ brought an end to the Mosaic law is quite clearly stated in the New Testament (Rom 10:4, Col 2:14). The importance of this fact is related to justification and sanctification, the former being much easier to see than the latter. The reason is simply that the law could not justify a sinner (Acts 13:39, Rom 3:20); therefore, if men are to be justified, another way must be provided. The law can show man his need but it cannot provide the answer to that need (Gal 3:25-25). Thus the death of Christ provided the way for justification by faith in Him alone.
But the relation of the end of the law to the sanctification is more difficult to comprehend simply because portions of the Mosaic Law are repeated in the New Testament in relation to the believer’s sanctification. Furthermore, those specifics that are repeated are not from just one section of the law (like the Ten Commandments). As a matter of fact, nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated, and other parts of the law are too (Rom 13:9). This makes it impossible to say that the law is done away with except for the Ten Commandments.
Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 states quite clearly that the Ten Commandments (that which was engraved on stones) were done away with. How do we put all these facts together? Is the Christian under Mosaic Law in relation to sanctification or not?
The only realistic solution that has ever appealed to the present author is that which distinguishes a code and the commandments contained in that code. The Mosaic Law was one of several codes that God has given throughout history, and as a code it is finished. The code under which the believer lives today is called the law of Christ (Gal 6:2) or the law of the spirit of life (Rom 8:2).
As one code ends and another is instituted, not all of the commands in the new one will themselves be new or different. The permission to eat meat in the law of Christ (1 Tim 4:3) was also part of the code under which Noah lived after the Flood (Gen 9:3). Likewise, some of the specifics that were part of the Mosaic code have been incorporated into the law of Christ and some have not. But the entire code, as a code, has been done away with.”
I find this writing interesting. I am not so much interested in the intellectual backing of natural law and its philosophical history under Roman Catholic thinkers such as Aquinas, but rather how it relates to Biblical truth. Based on my understanding Mosaic Law was a code, given to a certain people to survive in a civil society with God as its head. However there is always an underlying law for such a code and that exists today under the law of Christ. This law is unchanging; it is natural law – God’s law. It can be seen in nature and is in man’s conscience but may not be seen clearly due to our flawed conscience due to the Fall. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever – is He not? I believe His moral law is also the same yesterday, today, and forever. When Christ said He did not come to eliminate the law but to fulfill it, He was talking about fulfilling the Mosaic Law and not eliminating God’s natural law. Am I correct in this analysis?
If I could change one thing I wrote in my previous essay I would change the part about the linkage between dispensational pre-millennialism, Reconstructionism, and Mosaic Law. It seems that a proponent of postmillennialism would be the one wanting to “prepare the way” for Christ’s ultimate theocracy on earth. I need to research both eschatological views and Reconstructionism before I can say more on the subject.
I am also interested in the idea of three realms – spiritual, material, and societal. Any comments? I am convinced that natural law in the Christian sense is a true and important area of Biblical worldview. Let me know what you think.
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Posted by 4448347C on 2008-01-19 23:20:45 | Rating: | Views: 24
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