Why do some Christians who know and teach the gospel say that the Ten Commandments are the moral law of God, the written expression of His character, and the guide to moral behavior for the church—while other Christians teach that the Ten Commandments are the actual words of the Mosaic covenant that is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, and now the church is under a new law—the Law of Christ? Why do some people argue that those who believe the Ten Commandments are no longer applicable to the church as a guide for moral living but that we are under a much more stringent moral authority—the indwelling presence of God Himself—why are they called “antinomian”, or lawless?
How did the Ten Commandments become equated with the natural law of God that He placed in each person as part of His image in us? Romans 2:14 describes this natural law when Paul says that some gentiles, who never had the law, nevertheless do the deeds of the law because that law is on their consciences. How have some conflated the natural law God imprints in humans with the Ten Commandments?
The answer lies in the way one reads Scripture. Without going into hermeneutical details explaining the different theological systems that shape the way Christians organize and interpret the Bible, I will summarize the issue this way: many Christians, especially in the Reformed tradition, explain Scripture from a more typological perspective. They see the New Testament as an interpretive lens explaining the Old Testament and giving it new meanings that were not revealed before Jesus came to earth. This perspective also relies heavily on the tradition of theologians throughout church history to lend validation to understanding Scripture this way.
A significant number of theologians, though, along with us at Life Assurance Ministries, read Scripture like a book paying attention to context and to the actual words God has given us.
A significant number of theologians, though, along with us at Life Assurance Ministries, read Scripture like a book paying attention to context and to the actual words God has given us. We do not interpret the Old Testament as a document of “types” realized in New Testament anti-types. We do not see, for example, the Old Testament tabernacle where God placed His presence on earth as a type of the womb of Mary that brought the presence of Christ into the world. We do not see the Ten Commandments as a tangible “type” of the eternal moral law and character of God. Rather we see the Ten Commandments as being exactly what Exodus tells us they were:
So he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.—Exodus 34:28 LSB
So, if we believe that the Ten Commandments were the very words of the Mosaic covenant—a conditional covenant made between God and the nation of Israel—what do they mean for us?
Fortunately, Paul has been explicit. First, in Romans 3:21,22 he says:
But now apart from the Law [the] righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even [the] righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
In other words, the Law was a witness of the righteousness of God in Christ—the personal righteousness that was not based on law-keeping but was the actual nature and character of God. When that Righteous One would appear, the Law would reveal that He was the promised Righteous One, the One whose righteousness fulfilled and surpassed the commands of the Law. For all of us who have lived since the Lord Jesus appeared incarnate on the earth, the Law remains as a primary witness that He was who He said He was. The Law was like a “glove” that only Jesus could fit. Only He could touch lepers and dead people and not be defiled but rather bring life and wholeness to them. Only He had authority OVER the Sabbath as its LORD. Only He could declare all foods clean (Mark 7:19). Only He could be the Perfect Sacrifice and the sinless Priest who established a new priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the Law.
When Jesus fulfilled the Law by being the Perfect Sacrifice for human sin, for dying and fully atoning for sin with His blood, and by shattering the Law’s curse of death by rising from the tomb on the third day, the Old Covenant—including all of its laws and ordinances—made between God and Israel was fulfilled. Like a Living Trust is finally fulfilled when the trustor dies and the provisions in that trust are distributed according to the trustor’s wishes, so the Mosaic Covenant was fulfilled, and a new covenant based on new terms—an UNCONDITIONAL covenant in Jesus’ eternal blood—was inaugurated. We no longer live under any aspect of the Law—but we are not without law! Rather, when we believe and place our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus, we literally pass from death to life (John 5:24) and become citizens of a new kingdom. God transfers us out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
The Ten Commandments no longer apply to us because they were the heart of the conditional covenant that Jesus fulfilled. But setting aside the Ten Commandments as having authority over the church does not mean we set aside God’s directive to His church to live moral lives.
The Ten Commandments no longer apply to us because they were the heart of the conditional covenant that Jesus fulfilled. But setting aside the Ten Commandments as having authority over the church does not mean we set aside God’s directive to His church to live moral lives. The Ten do not equal the eternal moral law of God. Rather, they were derived from God’s eternal moral character. God gave that Law to Israel and made them a nation based on its requirements.
That Law was not comprehensive. Jesus told the Jews in Matthew 5 through 7 that true righteousness was much more than the Law demanded. True righteousness demands transformed thoughts and desires. The unseen feelings of our hearts must be righteous, not merely our behaviors. In fact, the New Testament is FULL of laws for the church. In fact, the New Testament commands far exceed the commands of the Law, including the Ten—and the New Testament commands are only applicable to those who have believed in the Lord Jesus and have been born again.
When we read the Bible in a straightforward manner, believing the words mean what the words say, knowing that context matters and that we can’t reinterpret any part of Scripture to mean something new from our perspective, we see that the church is under a much higher law than the Mosaic Covenant. According to Hebrews 10:1, the Law was a shadow of the good things to come. We now live in the reality of those good things: we are indwelled by God Himself. The Author of the Law holds us accountable to reflect His character and morality in the most deep and personal ways.
Ironically, we now see how true Paul’s words were to the Galatians when he warned them not to place themselves under the law because they now live by the Spirit. He said this in Galatians 4:29,30:
But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh was persecuting him [who was born] according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? “CAST OUT THE SERVANT-WOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE SERVANT-WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”
When we realize that a plain reading of Scripture declares that the Law—including the Ten—is not for the church but that the Spirit Himself indwells, purifies, changes, and unifies us as the Body of Christ, we realize that clinging to the Law places us OUTSIDE of God’s new covenant blessings. We are not lawless—we place our minds and hearts under the living authority of the Holy Spirit Himself and trust Him to conform us to every New Testament imperative for God’s people. “Antinomian” does not describe a true believer in the Lord Jesus. We live in Him and follow His laws. †
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