The Ten Commandments – a ministry of death and condemnation
Before we start let's get the meaning of these two words
- Abolish means to put an end to a system, practice, or institution. It’s about completely doing away with something.
- Fulfil, on the other hand, means to complete or accomplish something. It’s about meeting a requirement, demand, obligation, or expectation.
In other words, to abolish
is to erase/ delete, while to fulfil is to achieve or realize an
objective or promise
Read this: 2
Cor 3:7-9
But if the ministration
of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses
for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away:
The ministration of death is an expression Paul used to point to the Jewish religious system, this was fulfilled by Jesus’ death and could no longer grant life to those who practiced it. Paul names the commandments “the ministration of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:9).
Important to this issue is Acts 15. The Law of Moses is a “yoke” (which Israel could not bear) which is NOT ENFORCED on the New Testament believer.
PAUL COMPARES AND CONTRAST THE LAW OF MOSES AND THAT OF JESUS.
Paul writes about
·
Moses, the tablets of stone, the letter,
and the old covenant—all ways of talking about the law.
·
Jesus, tablets of human hearts, the
Spirit, and a new covenant—all ways of talking about the gospel.
Paul calls the law “the ministry of death” (2 Cor. 3:7) and “the ministry of condemnation” (2 Cor. 3:9). He tells us “The letter kills” (2 Cor. 3:6) and that it “has come to have no glory at all” (2 Cor. 3:10).
The gospel is
a “ministry of righteousness”
(2 Cor. 3:9).
For us to obtain
righteousness, we should look to Jesus Christ who will lead by the Spirit,
rather than looking to Moses and being led by the law.
The law cannot give us any
access to the glory it reveals. Paul is clear in 2
Cor. 3:7–11 Paul states that, the law did come with glory, but it also came
with a veil to hide that glory lest the people be consumed.
Sad to say BUT that veil remains to this day (2 Cor. 3:14).
Jesus Christ is the only
one who can remove the veil to give us access to the glory of God.
Galatians 3:17-25
The Law is a temporary
schoolmaster leading to Christ. Since his coming, the Law’s tutelage has ended.
Galatians 4:9-11
Turning to the Law of
Moses is choosing to be enslaved to “weak and worthless things”.
Galatians 5:2-4
Submitting to part of the
Law obligates you to the whole Law and cuts you off from Christ.
Galatians 5:18
“If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law”.
Hebrews 7:11,12 Since
the Law and the Priesthood are inseparable, and Jesus Christ’s priesthood is
not in the priesthood of the Law, He has done away with both the Levitical
priesthood and the Law.
Look at this.
This is a passage for the
truth that the Law of Moses has been done away.
NB: If the Law were still in effect,
then Christ cannot be our High Priest.
The only part of the Law of Moses which was engraved on stone tablets was the Ten Commandments. This whole section which states that the Law of Moses to have been replaced by the Ministry of the Spirit has here a direct reference to the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are the first ten of the 613 commandments given by God to the Jewish people. They form the foundation of Jewish ethics, behaviour, and responsibility.
These commandments are
mentioned in order twice in the Torah - once each in the Book of Exodus and the
Book of Deuteronomy.
God 613 commandments known as the Mosaic Law to the
Israelites (the Jewish people) not the Gentiles.
The Gentiles who were
grafted in as believers were never meant to live under any part of the Law but
only under grace.
Galatians 3:24 specifically shows us that the Law was a tutor to bring us unto Christ so that we might be justified by faith. And after faith came, we would no longer be under the tutor of Law.
Galatians 3:19 reveals that the law was given to “shut up everyone under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
Jesus’ fulfilment of the law was not only his living a
sinless life in perfect submission to the law but also his submitting himself
in our place to the law as a ministry of death.
Every believer who are united to Jesus Christ by faith, the law’s ministry of condemnation and death was ended by Jesus’ death in our place. Consequently, as Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all tell us when Jesus died, the veil separating the Most Holy Place from the rest of the world was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45).
In 2 Corinthians 3, is literally, about of life and death. We cannot achieve anything with the law.
We cannot preach the law.
·
honestly enough to bring life.
·
boldly enough to bring righteousness.
·
gently enough to lift the veil.
“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6)
In our daily life, we need the Spirit. For righteousness, we must hear the gospel. To have the veil lifted, we must go to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:11
For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Means that the law on tables of stone is no effect today But the Sprit of the
heart is now in effect.
Are Christian to keep the
law of Moses?
The Gentiles (Christians)
are not bound by the Law of Moses, but the Law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 clearly
states, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ.” Therefore,
Christians are called to obey the Law of Christ.
Question: What then is the Law of Christ?
Answer: is LOVE.
Jesus gave commands to His
followers to love God and love others in Matthew 22:40 it states that,
“On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Love has always been the
guiding principle for God’s people.
Let us as believers in
Jesus Christ rejoice that we are no longer under the old Law but are under
grace because of Jesus Christ!
Reference
https://biblearchive.com/blog/the-law-of-moses-has-been-done-away-with/
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