Caller: I really appreciate your ministry Doug. I wanted to ask you a question about the Law.
Pastor Doug: Ok.
Caller: It’s obvious that Paul talks a lot about the fact the ceremonial law was a shadow of Christ, and Christ as a reality in the New Testament. Obviously, the Ten Commandments are still in effect, contrary to popular belief I guess but what about the rest of the moral law? I’m having a hard time finding anywhere in the Bible where it actually comes out and, you know, specifically says in the New Testament that the rest of the moral law was somehow shoved aside.
Pastor Doug: Well when you say the moral law, are you talking about the Ten Commandments? There are a number of laws.
Caller: I’m talking about the rest of the moral law besides the Ten Commandments.
Pastor Doug: Ok because there were civil laws – they had civil laws – if your neighbor’s donkey wandered away, you were to bring it back. There were health laws. There were the ceremonial laws, which would encompass some of the feast days. And of course, there were the Ten Commandments.
Caller: What about all the other moral laws beside the Ten Commandments? For example, one that Jesus quoted when He was talking about the two greatest commandments. One was actually not even part of the Ten Commandments. It was, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ – and that’s actually not even among the Ten Commandments. And then there are also numerous other laws about, you know, for example, homosexuality and things like that, which obviously are not right. But my basic question is where do you draw the line at, because there are a lot of laws in Exodus and Leviticus that are obviously moral laws…
Pastor Doug: Ok well let’s pause for a second. First of all, I think we should give it the priority that God gives it. When God gave the Ten Commandments – let’s start here. When He gave the Ten Commandments, He did something unique to show that it was foundational.
He spoke it with His own voice, which He did not do with the other laws. He wrote it with His own finger in stone as a symbol of its unchanging nature.
And of course, I think it’s very sad that this whole issue they had with the Ten Commandments displayed at a courthouse back East, that would be back East for us friends and they’ve got the Ten Commandments on the Supreme Court building. It’s right there. I’ve seen it. And so, you know I thought that was really strange because they are foundational to all other law.
Now the two great commandments of loving the Lord and loving your neighbor, I’m summarizing them, are found first in the Old Testament. They are a summary of the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments were on two tables of stone. The first four Commandments are encompassed in loving God. The last six are encompassed in our relationship with our fellow man.
Then beyond that, underneath those Ten Commandments, you’ve got a whole spectrum of civil laws, and even some of the health laws have to do with ‘Thou shalt now kill,’ and that would include yourself.
And so you can find most of the moral law falls under the Ten Commandments, whereas the ceremonial laws were shadows – and that’s why it says in Colossians chapter 2, ‘certain laws that were shadows.’ For instance, Passover, when they kill the lamb, that lamb and that whole ceremony and that feast was a shadow of when Jesus, the Lamb of God, would come. So once Jesus came, the Bible says He is now our Passover. So it’s going backwards now for us to observe the shadow and ignore the reality.
So the health laws, civil laws, moral law, they would all be practical even still. A lot of those laws are very practical in nature whereas the ceremonial laws – they revolved around the Exodus, the Sanctuary and its services, circumcision, these are all things that had a spiritual meaning. And then it tells us in the New Testament this was now fulfilled through the Lamb. It’s now circumcision of the heart, so forth.
Caller: Right.
Pastor Doug: It’s a big study to give you in four minutes, but go ahead. I’m sorry.
Caller: Ok. I’ve been listening to you for about four years, and it has always been – correct me if I’m wrong – but it was always my understanding that basically you taught that the Ten Commandments were still in effect, which I believe that too. But I’m having a problem with where you draw the line because, I understand the ceremonial laws were just shadows of Christ, but if you look in Exodus and Leviticus, there are an awful lot of, you know, laws that would pertain to personal moral issues and that’s where I’m trying to determine where you would actually draw the line.
Pastor Doug: Well you specifically mentioned a minute ago laws, for instance, regarding sexual purity. Those, I believe, would still be in effect. But then they had some laws that had to do with sacrifices at the temple, whether you give birth to a baby boy or a baby girl. Well those are ceremonial because it’s in connection with sacrifices in the temple.
Caller: So in the nutshell, you believe that all those laws that wouldn’t be classified as ceremonial are still binding on modern-day Christians correct?
Pastor Doug: Yeah well let me make one little caveat to that. For instance, it says if a man and woman commit adultery, they should be stoned.
Caller: That’s right.
Pastor Doug: I think everyone listening agrees that adultery is still wrong, but we do not live in a theocracy so I’m hoping church members don’t get together with a wheel barrel full of rocks and stone the adulterers.
Caller: Well yeah I wasn’t speaking so much as a penalty, but, right.
Pastor Doug: Yes so the principle is of course still in effect. How we would deal with it is different because we are now under a different government.
Caller: Would you include the civil laws then as being still binding?
Pastor Doug: Yes, as long as, like I say, they’re not the ones that are theocratic in nature.
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