Keeping Which Parts of the Law?

It's important that the church doesn't try to build from the fourth floor. The rock on which the church is built, is Christ; and the foundation on which it is built is the apostles and prophets (Moses and the Law being one of the prophets). The Old Testament isn't to be regarded as being of no benefit.

But the Word needs to be rightly divided. The question is, How to do that. What part of the Law should still be observed, if any.

One popular way of dividing the Word is to pick parts of the Law which must be observed, and parts which don't need to be observed.

I would like to tell you how I divide the Word.

Paul said that anyone who seeks to keep the Law, must keep all of it - otherwise, he's not really keeping the Law at all.

He also taught that believers shouldn't allow anyone to judge them for their non-observance of the Law.

The same question existed in the early Church among the Apostles and elders. When they gathered together to address this question, their verdict was that they need not trouble the Gentiles by expecting them to keep any part of the Law at all. The only thing they decided was that Gentiles should abstain from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication - but they didn't actually quote any part of the Law in saying that.

But that's not the end of the story. Paul also said that believers fulfill the Law. He appealed to the Law for ethical support for many of the commands he gave believers. He also said that when believers produce the fruit of the Spirit, they will behave in such a way that no point of Law can condemn them.

What does this mean? In what way do believers fulfill ALL of the Law?

Christ fulfilled all of it physically, ethically and beyond that - spiritually, on the cross. And we are in Him. The righteousness credited to Jesus for having fulfilled the Law is now accredited to us, because we are in Him.

And there is an overflow of that, into every area of our life: ethical, domestic, religious, spiritual, civil, economic.

Therefore, by walking in love, we fulfill all of the ethics and all of the true spiritual meaning that was portrayed by ALL of the Law.

And therefore we don't need to divide the Law up into ceremonial, civil and moral, and ritually keep part of it. Rather, we keep ALL of it, ethically and spirituall and in true reality, in Christ.

That, I believe, is what Paul taught. However, Paul also understood that many young believers would struggle to have such a high level of confidence. Many of them would still feel duty-bound by their conscience to abstain from certain foods and to observe special days.

And Paul tells us how the church should respond to this. He said that although it isn't actually necessary to observe such things, we should make allowances for this difference in the church. We should concede that both groups are acting with personal integrity. And we shouldn't condemn one another for it.

Meanwhile, he kept trying to teach people, helping them to become as free as possible.

And like I said, Paul repeatedly drew principles out of the Law.

This view doesn't mean we are failing to build upon the foundation of the first five books of the Bible. Rather, it means we are building on the foundation of the first five books in the exact way which the Father truly intended.