Is the law of Moses also valid for Christians?

385 is also the law of Moses for ChristiansWhile Tammy and I were waiting in the lobby of an airport to board our imminent flight home, I noticed a young man sitting two seats down, glancing at me repeatedly. After a few minutes he asked me, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Joseph Tkach?" He was pleased to strike up a conversation with me and told me that he had recently been disfellowshipped from a Sabbatarian church. Our conversation soon turned to the law of God - he found my statement very interesting that the Christians understood that God gave the law to the Israelites even though they could not keep it perfectly. We talked about how Israel truly had a "troubled" past, in which the people often strayed from God's law. It was clear to us that this came as no surprise to God, who knows how things work out.

I asked him that the law given to Israel through Moses comprised 613 commandments. He agreed that there are many arguments as to how binding these commandments are for Christians. Some argue that since they all come "from God," all commandments must be kept. If this were true, Christians would have to sacrifice animals and wear phylacteries. He acknowledged that there are many opinions as to which of the 613 commandments have spiritual application today and which do not. We also agreed that the various Sabbath groups are divided on this issue - some practice circumcision; some keep the agricultural Sabbaths and the annual festivals; some take the first tithe but no second and third; but some all three; some keep the Sabbath but not the annual festivals; some heed the new moons and sacred names—each group believes their “package” of doctrines to be biblically correct while the others do not. He remarked that he had been struggling with this problem for some time and had given up the old way of keeping the Sabbath; however, he worries that he is not holding it correctly.

Surprisingly, he agreed that many Sabbatarians are mistaken in not realizing that the coming of God in the flesh (in the person of Jesus) set up what Scripture calls the "New Covenant" (Hebrews 8,6) and thus represents the law given to Israel as obsolete (Hebr. 8,13). Those who do not accept this basic truth and seek to follow the rules of the Mosaic Law (which was added 430 years after God's covenant with Abraham; see Gal. 3,17) do not practice the historical Christian faith. I believe that a breakthrough came in our discussion when he realized that the view (held by many Sabbatarians) that we are now "between the old and the new covenant" (the New Covenant would only come with Jesus' return). He agreed that Jesus was the true sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 10,1-3) and although the New Testament does not specifically mention the abolition of thanksgiving and expiation sacrifices, Jesus also fulfilled them. As Jesus taught, the scriptures clearly point to him and he is fulfilling the law.

The young man told me that he still has questions about keeping the Sabbath. I explained to him that the Sabbatarian view lacked the understanding, namely, that the application of the law had changed at Jesus' first coming. Although still valid, there is now a spiritual application of the law of God - which fully considers that Christ has fulfilled the law given to Israel; which is based on our in-depth relationship with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit and reaches into our deepest interior - our hearts and our minds. Through the Holy Spirit we live in obedience to God as members of the Body of Christ. For example, if our hearts are circumcised by the Spirit of Christ, it does not matter if we are physically circumcised.

Christ's fulfillment of the law results in our obedience to God being brought about by His deeper and more intense work through Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, our obedience comes from what was always behind the law, which is the heart, spirit, and great purpose of God. We see this in Jesus' new commandment: "A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another as I have loved you" (John 13,34). Jesus gave this commandment and lived according to it, knowing that God, in and through his service on earth and through the power of the Holy Spirit, would write his law in our hearts, fulfilling the prophecies of Joel, Jeremias and Ezekiel.

By instituting the new covenant, which fulfilled and ended the task of the old covenant, Jesus changed our relationship with the law and renewed the form of obedience that we have accepted as His people. The underlying law of love has always existed, but Jesus embodied and fulfilled it. The old covenant with Israel and the associated law (including sacrifices, tassels, and decrees) required special forms of implementation of the underlying law of love specifically for the nation of Israel. In many cases, these peculiarities are now obsolete. The spirit of the law persists, but the prescriptions of the written law that required a particular form of obedience no longer need to be obeyed.

The law could not fulfill itself; it could not change hearts; it could not prevent its own failure; it could not protect against temptation; it could not determine the proper form of obedience for every single family on earth. Since the cessation of the work of Jesus on earth and the mission of the Holy Spirit, there are now other ways in which we express our devotion to God and our love for our neighbors. Those who have received the Holy Spirit can now better receive the Word of God and understand God's purpose for their obedience, since obedience was embodied and revealed in Christ and transmitted to us through his apostles, for us in the books, which we call the New Testament, has been preserved. Jesus, our great high priest, shows us the heart of the Father and sends us the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we can respond to the Word of God from the depths of our hearts, testifying by word and deed to God's intention to spread his blessing on all families on earth. This surpasses everything the law has been able to do, for it goes far beyond God's purpose, which the law should do.

The young man agreed and then asked how this understanding affects the Sabbath. I explained that the Sabbath served the Israelites for various purposes: it reminded them of creation; it reminded her of her exodus from Egypt; It reminded her of her special relationship with God, and gave the animals, servants and families a time of physical rest. From a moral point of view, it reminded the Israelites of their duty to end their evil works. From a Christological point of view, it pointed to the need for spiritual rest and fulfillment through the coming of the Messiah - putting their trust in salvation on him better than their own works. The Sabbath also symbolized the completion of creation at the end of the age.

I shared with him that most Sabbatarians don't seem to realize that the statutes given to the people of Israel through Moses were temporary—that is, only for a specific period and place in the history of the nation of Israel. I pointed out that it wasn't difficult to see that "keeping one's beard unshorn" or "putting tassels on the four corners of one's robe" does not make sense for all times and places. When God's purposes for Israel as a nation were fulfilled in Jesus, He spoke to all people through His Word and the Holy Spirit. As a result, the form of obedience to God had to do justice to the new situation.

With regard to the seventh-day Sabbath, authentic Christianity has not come to adopt the seventh day of the week as an astrological unit, as if God had placed one day of the week above the others. Instead of setting aside just one day to profess his holiness, God now dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, thereby sanctifying all of our time. Although we could gather any day of the week to celebrate God's presence, most Christian congregations gather for worship on Sunday, the most recognized day on which Jesus rose from the dead and thus the promises of the old covenant fulfilled. Jesus expanded the Sabbath law (and all aspects of the Torah) far beyond the temporal limitations that the verbal law could not do. He even upgraded the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" to "Love one another as I have loved you." This is an unbelievable kindness of love that cannot be captured in 613 commandments (not even in 6000!). God's faithful fulfillment of the law makes Jesus our focus, not a written code. We don't focus on one day of the week; he is our focus. We live in it every day because it is our rest.

Before embarking on our respective machines, we agreed that the spiritual application of the Sabbath law is to lead a life of faith in Christ - a life that is sustained by the grace of God and the new and deeper working of God Holy Spirit in us, is changed from within.

Always grateful for God's grace, healing us from head to toe.

Joseph Tkach

President

GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL


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