Making Sense of Old Testament Law - How Does it Apply Today?

Geoff Ashley:

Many have traditionally pointed to distinctions between civil, ceremonial and moral elements of the law and posited that the former two were abrogated, while the latter is binding. Though there is perhaps some value in such distinction, it is somewhat arbitrary and does not find solid biblical support. For example, are Sabbath regulations moral, civil or ceremonial? I think a better option remains than attempting to apply the three-fold dimensions theory.

As Christians reading the Old Testament, rather than simply applying the literal content of the law (or certain aspects of the law) or dismissing it entirely, we should instead seek a better approach consisting of a few steps:

1. By diligent study of the text and context, interpret the original intent of the law to the original audience to whom it was directed.
2. Determine the various substantial (not merely superficial) differences between the original audience and modern audience.
3. Determine the underlying universal principle from the prescription or prohibition.
4. Filter this principle through the progressive revelation of the gospel and New Testament clarity.
5. Apply the modified universal principle to life today.

Read the rest.

Recommended resource: 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law by Thomas Schreiner

Reflecting on a Challenging OT Passage

R.C. Sproul Jr.:

Among the countless nuggets of wisdom I have received over the years from my father is this bit of gold- when you are reading your Bible and you come across something that makes you uncomfortable, resist the temptation to simply move on to something else. Where the Bible makes us uncomfortable is precisely where we need to slow down. It is compelling evidence of a specific weakness. When our thoughts or feelings bristle under God’s Word, He is right and we wrong. 

That said, it is understandable that so many would recoil from God’s command that every living person in Canaan would be put to death as His people conquer the land. No mercy for those women and children, no compassion on the aged, God’s instructions were as clear as they were brutal. 

Many outside the faith have planted their flag here, arguing that our God is immoral, monstrous. Many on the fringes of the faith perform sundry exegetical gymnastics to wiggle out from under the account. Many faithful believers are simply puzzled and embarrassed. The God we worship, however, the true and living God, did in fact give this command, and rightly so. If we would rightly worship Him, even here we would praise His name. 

There are at least two reasons why God did this. 

Read the rest.

How The OT Law Does and Does Not Apply Today

Mark Driscoll with a helpful illustration:

My current preaching series on the Ten Commandments is expressly dealing with what is referred to as “the Law.” While most everyone would agree that at least some of the laws in the Old Testament should apply today—no one wants to be robbed and then killed, for example—the controversial question is whether or not all Old Testament laws are binding on Christians today.

This issue is timely, as it has become popular to mock Old Testament laws as outdated, for example, whenever the issue of homosexuality arises in the media. The common way this plays out on television talk shows is simple: The Christian says that the Bible forbids homosexuality. The non-Christian then says that the Bible also forbids eating crab and wearing a poly-cotton blend shirt. Everyone laughs, the Christian loses, and the audience goes home to watch porn. 

Further on...

...perhaps a simple illustration will help. In high school there are a lot of rules/laws/requirements that I needed to abide by in order to get an acceptable report card and graduate. Once graduated, some of the laws at my school remained binding upon me while others were fulfilled and are no longer binding. For example, in my school I was not supposed to stab people, blow up public property, or pull fire alarms. Even though I have graduated, those laws remain binding upon me for the rest of my life.

There were other laws, however, that are no longer binding because the requirements were fulfilled. For example, I had to show up a certain number of days for a certain number of hours, I had to sit in class, and I had to take tests and pass them. Now that I have graduated, I no longer have to do any of those things because the demands of the law were fulfilled, which culminated in my graduation.

Similarly, Jesus went to school for me. He got straight A’s in life without ever sinning. He passed every moral test he took. He met every requirement of the law. And, by grace he is my report card. He has given me his GPA/righteousness and because of that I have graduated from the law and am no longer bound by its demands as I once was (Gal. 3:24–26).

However, Jesus is also my Lord and he has chosen some moral laws to remain binding upon me for his glory, and for other's good. So, I can eat shellfish while wearing a poly-cotton blend but I still cannot murder my neighbor or steal from my employer. Jesus wants me to obey these laws not for my righteousness, but from my righteousness in him and out of love for him and my neighbor.

Read the rest.

You Have to See Your Need

One of the great faults of the contemporary church is the tendency to soft-pedal sin and judgment. Like false prophets we 'heal the wound of God's people lightly' (Jer. 6:14, 8:11). This is how Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: 'It is only when one submits to the law that one can speak of grace... I don't think it is Christian to want to get to the New Testament too soon and too directly.' We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history. 

Is this not why the gospel is unappreciated today? Some ignore it, other ridicule it. So in our modern evangelism we cast out pearls (the costliest pearl being the gospel) before swine. People cannot see the beauty of the pearl, because they have no conception of the filth of the pigsty. No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth. 

Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for the Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven.

- John Stott, Galatians, p. 93

How Were People Saved in the Old Testament?

From man’s point of view we see the Scriptures unfold a step-by-step process until the gospel is reached as the goal. But from God’s point of view we know that the coming of Christ to live and to die for sinners was the pre-determined factor even before God made the world. We must not think of God trying first one plan and then another until he came up with the perfect way of salvation. The gospel was pre-ordained so that at the exact and perfect time God sent forth his Son into the world.

In the meantime, until that perfect ‘fulness of time’ should be reached, God graciously provided a progressive revelation of the Christ event. These prefigurements of the gospel had two purposes. First, this progressive revelation led man gently to the full light of truth. Secondly, it provided the means whereby the Old Testament believer embraced the gospel before it was fully revealed. The Old Testament believer who believed the promises of God concerning the shadow was thus enabled to grasp the reality. It was by Christ that the saints of Israel were saved, for such is the unity of the successive stages of revelation that, by embracing the shadow, the believer embraced the reality. Only in this way can we account for the ‘unity expressions’ of the New Testament which speak of Old Testament believers as hearing the gospel, seeing Christ, or hoping for a heavenly Kingdom. 

- Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom, 125-126.


(HT:  Yancey)

How Do We Read or Preach a Text Like Psalm 15 in a Gospel Way?

Dane Ortlund gives a great lesson on how to understand the OT in light of the NT using Psalm 15. 

   1  A psalm of David. O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?

         Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

   2  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right

         and speaks truth in his heart;

   3  who does not slander with his tongue

         and does no evil to his neighbor,

         nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

   4  in whose eyes a vile person is despised,

         but who honors those who fear the LORD;

       who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

   5  who does not put out his money at interest

         and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

      He who does these things shall never be moved.

The Gospel as Middle and Better Way

Jared Wilson:

These are polar opposites: legalism and license, Pharisaism and hedonism, religion and anarchy, self-righteousness and unrighteousness. They are each more alike in essence than they appear, but between these polarities lies the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the middle and better way.

The gospel is the middle way because it provides the centering of God’s powerful grace, freeing us from the condemnation of works righteousness on the one hand and the condemnation of disobedience on the other.

But the gospel is the better way because it takes the excesses of the hedonistic polarity and applies them in Spiritual power to the aims of the religious polarity. Here’s what I mean...

Read the rest for some helpful insight.


Jared's Books:

• Gospel Wakefulness
• Gospel Deeps
• Your Jesus is Too Safe

Outlawing Circumcision?

Denny Burk:

Modern liberalism is upside down. On the one hand, it supports the right of a woman to kill her unborn child in utero for whatever reason or no reason at all. On the other hand, it opposes a parent’s prerogative to have their baby undergo a safe procedure that incorporates them into a community of faith. Does that make sense to you? Me either.

Good point.

Read the rest.

Old Testament Law and The Charge of Inconsistency

Tim Keller:

I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because “they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.” What I hear most often is “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what they want to believe from the Bible?”

It is not that I expect everyone to have the capability of understanding that the whole Bible is about Jesus and God’s plan to redeem his people, but I vainly hope that one day someone will access their common sense (or at least talk to an informed theological advisor) before leveling the charge of inconsistency.

Read the rest. Very important stuff here folks.



Books by Tim Keller:
The Prodigal God
King’s Cross
Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything
The Reason for God 
Counterfeit Gods 
Generous Justice

The World Is Full to the Brim with Law

TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN:

The world is full to the brim with law. Not just laws of Scripture, laws of science, and tax codes, but lesser, subjective laws. And they cause us enormous grief. Indeed, identity is an area of life frequently mired in legalities: “I must be __________ kind of person, and not ___________ kind of person if I’m ever going to be somebody.”

An environment of law, as we all know, is an environment of fear. We are afraid of the judgment that the law wields. Or as the poet Czeslaw Milosz describes in his poem “A Many-Tiered Man”: “[Man] frightened of a verdict, now, for instance, or after his death.” We instinctually know that if we don’t measure up, the judge will punish us. When we feel this weight of judgment against us, we all tend to slip into the slavery of self-salvation: trying to appease the judge (friends, parents, spouse, ourselves) with hard work, good behavior, getting better, achievement, losing weight, and so on. We conclude, “If I can just stay out of trouble and get good grades, maybe my mom and dad will finally approve of me; If I can overcome this addiction, then I’ll be able to accept myself; If I can get thin, maybe my husband will finally think I’m beautiful; if I can make a name for myself and be successful, maybe I’ll get the respect I long for.”

Read the rest.

A Muslim Student Challenges Ravi Zacharias

Great interchange here.



(HT: Challies)

A Great Discussion on Sanctification

Dustin Neeley:

I am very thankful for much of the dialogue that has been happening recently around the role of the Gospel in Sanctification.

I believe it has been needful and helpful and should continue as its implications are vast.

Like many of you, I tried to follow some of the dialogue but amidst all of the “point counterpoint” and the rest of my priorities in life, I just simply got overwhelmed in all the posts and had to stop.

My assistant, Tyler Miller (shout out!) however has come to the rescue!

He has taken ALL of the posts that Justin Taylor recently pointed too in a “summary post” and copied and pasted them into a PDF (complete with citations) that I (and you) can now read on the treadmill.

All 47 pages of them.

So, I will tell Tyler you said “thank you” and we would appreciate it if you retweet and link to this so we don’t feel like we wasted our time ; )

Seriously, we hope it helps.

Click below to get it.

Law and Gospel Info

Don't Neglect The Old Testament

Tyler Kenney:

The more I read the OT, the more I see how indispensable it is for fostering the encouragement and faith I need to thrive in my walk with God. And my challenge to you in writing this post is that you would approach the OT as a complete, competent, and relevant work for you in its own right.

The OT is not a deflated sail that needs NT air to get moving. Sure, there is more revelation beyond Malachi, and yes, we shouldn't try to just forget the NT when reading the prophets. But let’s not use what we know from the apostles to reinterpret or silence what the prophets themselves have to say to us. They were writing for us in the first place, you know (1 Peter 1:12).

Again, don’t make the prophets punt to the apostles. Read them for their own strong messianic and gospel hope, and let that set the stage in revelation history and in your heart for Jesus to come and prove the Father right and gloriously fulfill all of his great and precious promises.

Read the rest.  

You Have To See Your Need

"One of the great faults of the contemporary church is the tendency to soft-pedal sin and judgment. Like false prophets we 'heal the wound of God's people lightly' (Jer. 6:14, 8:11). This is how Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: 'It is only when one submits to the law that one can speak of grace... I don't think it is Christian to want to get to the New Testament too soon and too directly.' We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history.

Is this not why the gospel is unappreciated today? Some ignore it, other ridicule it. So in our modern evangelism we cast out pearls (the costliest pearl being the gospel) before swine. People cannot see the beauty of the pearl, because they have no conception of the filth of the pigsty. No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.

Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for the Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven."

- John Stott, Galatians, p. 93

The Christian and Old Testament Law

Thabiti Anyabwile answers this important question: “How should a Christian relate to Old Testament laws?”

There is a ton to say here and books have been written on this subject, but I think his brief response below. Read the short article to see his answers fleshed out. This is crucial information for understanding how to read the Bible. He writes:

We should relate to Old Testament laws like Christians! That is to say, we relate to the Law in a few ways:

1. Acknowledging that Christ has fulfilled the Law for us.

2. Remembering we are not antinomians (lawless people with no moral code).

3. Using the Law evangelistically.