November 7, 2019
READING TIME: 3-5 MINUTES
Dave, could you please explain the relationship of a Jewish believer to the Mosaic Law?
I will answer this question in two parts. First of all, I will discuss the purpose of the Mosaic Law.
The Purpose of the Mosaic Law
1. Introductory comment: God made five covenants with the Jewish people (Abrahamic, New, Land, Davidic, and Mosaic); the first four are eternal and unconditional and the last one is conditional and temporary (compare Jeremiah 31:31ff).
2. Notice the contrast in Jeremiah 31:31ff. between the “old” and “new.” Jeremiah makes it very clear in 31:31ff. that the New Covenant was NOT like the covenant God made with their fathers (v. 32).
3. Acts 15:1-29: The Law of Moses is an external “yoke” on the neck of a saint in the Tanakh and should not be imposed on the New Testament Church age believers (Schmidtbleicher).
4. In Romans 7:1-6 Paul formulated an analogy based on the law concerning marriage. He discussed the relationship of the believer with the Law. Paul said that marriage is a lifelong commitment, but if one partner dies, the other is no longer bound by the Law and is free to marry someone else. In effect, we have died to the Law and it no longer has dominion over us. Earlier in Roman 6:1-10 Paul had explained that we have died to our flesh. As Warren Wiersbe explains (in his comments on Romans 7:1) death to the law “simply means that the motivation and dynamic of our lives do not come from the Law: it comes from God’s grace through our union with Christ.”
5. 2 Corinthians 3 – The Mosaic Law had no defects; it was only intended to be temporary. In verse 7, the Mosaic Law is the ministry that produced/led to death and in verse 9, the ministry that produced/led to condemnation. Paul explains the problem was not with the Law; the fault was with the sin of the people trying to keep the Law. The Law was never intended to bring righteousness (see Romans 9:30-10:4). The Law was good in and of itself (cf. Romans 7:7ff.; 1 Timothy 1:8; Psalm 119).
6. The reason God had to cut a new covenant was the old Mosaic covenant was only able to show Jewish people their inability to live up to God’s standards. The Old Covenant gave them an accurate diagnosis of their sin, but it could not provide the cure (Harless).
7. Galatians 3:17–25: the argument here is that the external written Law of Moses was a temporary “schoolmaster” to protect and lead to the coming of Yeshua. Since His coming its purpose has been removed (Schmidtbleicher).
8. Ephesians 2:14-15 is in harmony with Jeremiah’s words. Paul says that God destroyed the “wall of partition,” when He nullified/rendered inoperative in His flesh the law of commandments. The Law was the wall of partition (v. 15; keeping the Gentiles from enjoying Jewish spiritual blessings) separating the Gentiles from the Jews. Now they are part of one body (also Ephesians 3:6) and that wall (the Law) has been taken down and done away with (Fruchtenbaum). Yeshua fulfilled all the demands of the Mosaic Law. When He did that, He ended this Law as His rule of life for the Jewish people.
9. If the Law of Moses was still in effect, we would still have this wall of partition keeping Gentiles separated from spiritual blessings originally intended for Jewish people. Gentiles do not enjoy the physical blessings originally intended for Jewish people, but believing Gentiles do enjoy the spiritual blessings (Fruchtenbaum).
10. The author of Hebrews said in 8:13 that when Jeremiah spoke of the New Covenant, he made the first obsolete, then he adds the comment, “now what is growing obsolete / out of date and aging is about to (or, “ready/near to”) disappear/vanish away.” When the New Covenant was enacted, the first / Old / Mosaic / Sinai covenant’s time of usefulness was over and its termination was imminent.
11. The author of Hebrews also stated in 8:7, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.” The fault of the Mosaic Law was that it could only reveal sin; it was powerless to remove sin. The problem was that the people could not obey the Law (see Rom. 7:7–12). The fact that Jeremiah (see 31:31-34) predicted the coming of a New Covenant clearly shows the inadequacy of the Old (Mosaic) Covenant.
12. Hebrews 7:11 — the Levitical priestly order was inferior because it was replaced by the order of Melchizedek represented by Yeshua. Similarly, if the Mosaic covenant was sufficient in itself to redeem us, it would not have been necessary to replace it with a new covenant.