(This series will be updated roughly semi-weekly until complete)

In churches across the world nuances of resistance are beginning to emerge from pulpits, Sunday School classrooms and private conversations at the church water fountain.  The subject of this movement seems always tied to someone’s reluctant (and less than systematic) foray into the world of the Old Testament.  Continue reading →

Definition:  The Law

“The Law” and “the Law of Moses” are common phrases throughout the Bible.  The Law is referenced well over one hundred times in both testaments, and is actually referenced more in the New Testament by one of these titles than in the Old.  As such, clearly the Law is a continual reality throughout biblical testimony.  It is not a theme that withers and goes away. Continue reading →

Divisions of The Law

Being that it is impossible for modern day believers to adhere to certain parts of the law, such as the legal portions, which cannot be enforced, then if one attempts to render the law operational today, one must divide the law into the part(s) which are obeyed by believers and the part(s) which are not. Continue reading →

The Purpose of The Law

In order to come to terms with the role Law of Moses in the lives of New Testament believers, the New Testament itself must be the beginning of knowledge.  We call ourselves “New Testament Christians” because of the very fact that the New Testament, or the New “covenant,” fulfilled much of what had been formerly introduced, prophesied or practiced and established itself as the next step in God’s progressive revelation to man.  While some New Testament believers proclaim the necessity to continue to obey parts of the law, such claims – to a New Testament believer – should be established firmly in the doctrine of the New Testament itself, as the New Testament is a new chapter of understanding and spiritual insight.  To obey the law on the grounds of the Old Testament, while ignoring New Testament teachings on the subject is not to be Christian at all, but to be Jewish. Continue reading →

To serve as a guardian until Christ arrives

Gal 3:15-25 (NIV)¹⁵ Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸

The Law is Made Inoperative in Christ

The previous section notes clearly the biblical depiction of the law of Moses as a “guardian” or a “tutor” in the lives of God’s people until the time when Christ arrived, and maturity was accomplished through him.

Just as the authority of a tutor becomes null and void upon the graduation to “adulthood” by his student, so scripture teaches that the law- as our tutor- has become inoperative to the adults in faith who have found their proper identity as disciples of Christ. Continue reading →