LAW IN THE BIBLE

 Law in the Bible

The Bible has a lot to say about the law, which some lawyers may be unfamiliar with, because it is understood in the theological sense. Lawyers speak about the law all the time, so theoretically when the law is mentioned in the Bible, the embodying legal principle of power and authority is essentially similar in the secular understanding of law. 

God is the God of order. From the beginning of time God designed all creation with order, harmony, and ordained the laws of nature and by His Sovereign power sustains all things. (Hebrews 1:3) 

In dealing with His chosen race, the Hebrew people, God ordained the Law that would govern His people. Unlike the legal systems that we have where laws are legislated or decreed by man, God is the Source of this Law, made known to the great Patriarch Moses. 

The law of Moses or what is described as Mosaic Law  is the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah (Hebrew for “law”), also called the Pentateuch (Greek for “five books”). More strictly speaking, the Law of Moses refers only to the 600-plus commandments and regulations in the second through fifth books of the Torah. We often refer to the commandments as “the Law of Moses”; of course, they are actually the Law of God. Moses was the one through whom God gave Israel the law.

The Law of Moses has three general applications: Moral Laws, Civil Laws and Ceremonial Laws. . 

Moral laws declare God’s holy, unchanging character. The moral laws included the Ten Commandments.

Civil laws were regulations on the day-to-day life of the Hebrew people. It deals with pragmatic aspects of civil order to preserve the nation until the coming of the Messia. These laws govern persons and their interpersonal relation like such things as marriage and divorce, sexual conduct, and property rights and set the penalties for various crimes ranging from theft to kidnapping to slander.

Ceremonial laws related to the manner that the Israelites were to worship God. The ceremonial laws instructed on the proper way to offer sacrifices, perform rituals, and celebrate festivals. The laws governing what was “clean” and “unclean” were in this category.

The Mosaic Law was given specifically to the nation of Israel (Exodus 19; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 9:4). 

The purpose of the Mosaic Law among others was to accomplish the following: 1) Reveal the holy character of the eternal God to the nation of Israel (Leviticus 19:2; 20:7–8). 2) Set apart the nation of Israel as distinct from all the other nations (Exodus 19:5). 3) Reveal the sinfulness of man (cf. Galatians 3:19). Although the Law was good and holy (Romans 7:12), it did not provide salvation for the nation of Israel. “No one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin” (Romans 3:20; cf. Acts 13:38–39). 4) Reveal to humanity that no one can keep the Law but everyone falls short of God’s standard of holiness. That realization causes us to rely on God’s mercy and grace. When Christ came, He fulfilled the Law and with His death paid the penalty for our breaking it (Galatians 3:24; Romans 10:4). By faith in Him, the believer has the very righteousness of Christ imputed to him.

Israel was never to be saved by keeping the Law (Romans 3:20). The Law was meant to govern their earthly lives, to define sin, and to point to the coming Savior. Neither did the Law change the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant. 

Obedience to this law was commanded’ of God’s people as they attempted to merit His favor and blessing. After all, Israel was His special people, and they were bound together in a solemn covenant with Him. So the laws are not just some rules but essentially covenantal. When the law was transgressed, the covenant was broken, and so was the relationship with God! That’s why the law occupied such a huge place in the life of Israel. In order to restore the broken relationship, sacrifices were required and penalties were prescribed. Yet all these sacrifices were really inadequate. They have to be done repeatedly every time the people transgressed the law which they often did. 

This sacrificial inadequacy was later fully satisfied when the Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for the just punishment of man’s sin.

In the New Testament we find the phrase “the law and the prophets”. The phrase the law and the prophets refers to the entire Old Testament, which comprises the Torah (the first five Books) and the rest of the Old Testament described as the Prophets. 

Jesus made reference to “the law and the prophets”. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus remarkably pointed out that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

On the Emmaus Road, Jesus taught two disciples “everything written about himself in the Scriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets” (Luke 24:27, CEV). 

It is clear that the Old Testament comprising the two fold division: “the law and the prophets,” pointed to Jesus. 

When Philip invited his friend Nathanael to meet Jesus, he referred to the whole of Hebrew Scripture in its two-fold division: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth” (John 1:45, NET). 

Philip was right that all of Scripture has a common theme: the Messiah, the Son of God, who is Jesus. 

Jesus fulfilled the moral requirements of the law: He perfectly obeyed all the commandments, showcasing an unblemished character and establishing the perfect example of how humans should live according to God's will.

Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial aspects of the law: He served as the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, rendering the animal sacrifices and rituals prescribed by the Mosaic Law unnecessary. His death and resurrection opened a new way for humanity to be reconciled with God.

Jesus fulfilled the prophetic aspects of the law: Throughout the Old Testament, numerous prophecies pointed to the coming of a Messiah who would redeem and fulfill God's plan for salvation. Jesus was the fulfillment of these prophecies.

The llife, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished what the law could not. Through faith in Christ and his finished work, believers are no longer bound to the requirements of the Mosaic Law, but instead find salvation, forgiveness, and righteousness in him.

Christ is the perfection of the law. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses in every respect (Matthew 5:17). With the coming of Christ, the Law of Moses had achieved its purpose (Galatians 3:23–25), and now that Old Covenant of animal sacrifices is replaced by the New Covenant of faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14). “We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6).  “Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10:4).