Do You Believe the New Testament is God's Law for His People Today?
Do you believe the New Testament is God's law for His people today? This question is crucial for anyone seeking the God of Heaven. Why is this the case? Well, imagine if you were leaving your home country and traveling to a foreign land. You may not just be going on a vacation; you may be looking to relocate there permanently and become a naturalized citizen. All nations or kingdoms, if you will, have a process for naturalization, but one that is critical across all kingdoms is adherence to the law of the land. You simply cannot go into another nation, become naturalized (or enter illegally), and try and subvert the law of that nation. The law of the land is the expectation and requirement for all visitors, aliens, and naturalized citizens. This is true in the kingdoms of the world; it is also for the eternal kingdom of Christ (cf. Dan. 2:44).
The Old Law is No Longer Binding
From time to time, some individuals attempt to bind the Old Law of Moses on citizens of the eternal kingdom. Some New Testament Christians have been persuaded to keep the Sabbath. Others have attempted to add the Jewish feast days as well. What is wrong with that? Is it harmful to have a day of rest? No, not in itself. What about holidays, did not David and Jesus keep the three appointed feasts (cf. Deut 16:16)? Yes, those individuals did keep those feasts, but does that mean that citizens of the eternal kingdom should keep them also? Two things can be true at once: the sabbath and the former feasts, which are described under the Old Law of Moses, were binding on the citizens of Israel and all who would become naturalized to that people. However, those same laws are not binding for Christians today. Why? Because the Bible teaches that when Christ died, those things were nailed to the cross. The Bible says,
having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
(Col 2:12-15) (emphasis mine)
This passage is but one that teaches that the law of Moses (the bond written in ordinances) is no longer the law of the land for the faithful of God. Rather, it had to be taken out of the way by the propitiation of Christ Jesus on the cross. So if God says it has been taken away, must we try and subvert the eternal kingdom by finding things that are no longer valid? Absolutely not! If you were to keep reading in that passage, you might understand how relevant it was for the Christians in Colossae. There were Judaizers who were evidently trying to bind relics of that old law, such as sabbaths and feast days that were unauthorized under the law of the new and eternal kingdom. The Spirit says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s” (Colossians 2:16-17) (emphasis mine).
The Shadow Can Never Be Final
What is the Christian’s response to such attempts? To point out that they are unauthorized by the New Testament. Those former practices included some that were formerly authorized, but we recognize today that is not the law of the eternal kingdom because that law was nailed to the cross.
Consider this idea of those former things as shadows. The Hebrew letter makes this evident in Hebrews 8:4-6,
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he is about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.
This very same language is repeated in Hebrews 10:1, where the law is described as such: “For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh.” A shadow can never be the real thing. The real thing replaced the shadows.
The Old Was Replaced With the New
The Old Covenant was not the first law man lived under. There has always been a universal moral law, as evidenced in the days of the Patriarchs. We appreciate that neither Adam nor Abraham kept the Sabbath or Feast of Tabernacles. They lived under a different covenant. Later, the Law of Moses reaffirmed many of those laws, but the Law of Moses was only in effect from Sinai unto the cross. It superseded the Patriarchal covenant and took effect. But also, the Law of Moses had a definite beginning and end because a change in law demands a change in priesthood. The Holy Spirit concludes,
Now, if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
(Hebrews 7:11-12)
As an American citizen, I understand that the Constitution of the United States supersedes the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789, when the current US Constitution went into effect. There was a definite beginning and end to the Articles of Confederation, just like the Old Covenant. The Christian must recognize that we are subject to the law of Christ, that perfect law of liberty (cf. John 12:48; Gal 6:2; Jam 1:25; 2:12), not Moses nor unauthorized items from the minds of mortals. There is one law for the eternal kingdom.
