There are certain phrases
and principles that we have seen repeated throughout our study of the Law. We
have seen that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. We
have seen that the things God considered sinful under the old covenant, He
still considers sinful under the new covenant. And if there is one more
principle that we need to understand, it is one which we have seen repeated
again and again. That is, the fact that there is but ONE Law—there
is not a “Moral Law” and a “Ceremonial Law” and a “Civil Law.” There are not
three separate Laws, but
one single Law. Nowhere, in either the Old Testament or the New
Testament, does any writer break up the Law into three separate “Laws.” Nowhere
does God ever distinguish between the various aspects of the Law. And although
there are many well-intentioned (and some not-so-well-intentioned) men who
teach that blood-bought Christians, living under the new covenant, are under
the “Moral Law” (e.g., the Ten Commandments)—nowhere does God ever say that
Christians are under any part of the Law. In fact, Paul says just
the opposite, as we saw a few weeks back, Romans 6:14
—You are not under Law but under grace. We will not
delve back into that subject; you can go back and read it again if you wish.
And today, for those who
still make the argument that these are three separate and distinct Laws, we have a section of the Law
that does much damage to that line of thinking. For in this chapter, we find
commands from all the various sections of the Law under one banner—that banner
being the one raised up at the beginning of the previous chapter, Leviticus
18:5—The man who does them shall live by them.
Remember one thing as you read your Bible—the chapter and verse divisions were
not part of the original writing. Moses did not sit down and say, “OK, that
finishes chapter 18 of Leviticus. Now, let’s start chapter 19.” This whole
book was one long scroll, with no breaks or divisions. Just one after another
of “And the LORD said.” So, really, chapter
19 is simply a continuation of chapter 18. With all that being said, let’s
begin.
Leviticus 19:1-4—1 And
the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “2 Speak to all the congregation of the
children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your
God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and
keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. 4
Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your
God.’” Now, we have previously read the commands listed here. And where
did we read them? We read them way back in Exodus 20. God is here repeating four
of the Ten Commandments. And for the one who breaks the Law into
three Laws, which “Law” do
these fall under? Civil, Ceremonial, or Moral? These would be considered part
of the “Moral Law.” Now, let’s read on.
Leviticus 19:5-8—“‘5 And
if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of
your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the
next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the
fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It
shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity,
because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the LORD; and that person
shall be cut off from his people.’” OK, which “Law” is this? Civil,
Ceremonial, or Moral? This would be the “Ceremonial Law.” And yet God lists
these commands immediately after commands from the “Moral Law.” Let’s go a step
further, shall we?
Leviticus 19:9-10—“‘9 When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of
your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you
shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your
vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD
your God.’” OK, now this really throws us a curve. Under the banner of
“If a man does these things, he shall live by them” we have this command to
leave the corners of your field ungleaned and unharvested. Would this be part
of the “Moral Law”? Not hardly. Would this be part of the “Ceremonial Law”?
Nah, I don’t think so. Well, then, this must be a part of the “Civil Law.” But
God groups this in with commands about honoring your father and mother, not
making idols, keeping the Sabbaths, and commands surrounding the Peace
Offerings. Now, if there are three separate Laws, how in the world does one cherry-pick which parts of
the Law (or is it Laws?)
still apply to Christians, of whom Paul says you
are not under Law?
The answer is simple:
there are not three separate, distinct Laws.
There is but one Law. When Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount, did He
say “I have not come to destroy the Moral Law, but to fulfill it”? Did
he say “I have not come to destroy the Ceremonial Law, but to fulfill it”?
Did He say, “I have not come to destroy the Moral Law, but to fulfill it?”
No. What did He say? Matthew 5:18—“I have not
come to destroy the Law”—SINGULAR—“but
to fulfill it”—SINGULAR. Most of those who separate the
Law into Laws usually make
the distinctions thus: Jesus fulfilled the “Ceremonial Law”; the “Civil Law”
was only for Israel. However, the “Moral Law” (The Ten Commandments) is still
binding on blood-bought Christians—Christians that Paul says are not under Law.
To go even another step further, James says that if you want to try and keep
even one small part of the Law in order to gain a right standing with God, you
must keep the ENTIRE Law—not just one command, but ALL 613 COMMANDS FROM EXODUS
THROUGH Deuteronomy. James
2:8-11—8 If you really fulfill the royal law
according to the Scripture, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin,
and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who
said, "Do
not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not
commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. Notice what he says in verse 9.
Partiality is sin. Sin is lawlessness (1st John 3:4). So
showing partiality is lawlessness. And what is the penalty for sin (lawlessness)?
Romans 6:23—The wages of sin is death.
So let’s apply this line
of thinking to the separatist (the term we will use for one who separates the
Law into three Laws). If there are three separate “Laws”, and Christians are still
(and only) under the “Moral Law”— how is it James says that showing partiality
is sin? Where is showing partiality found in the Ten Commandments? It isn't. So
then, when we tell someone that the church is still (and only) bound to the Ten
Commandments, we make James a liar, since he tells us that showing partiality—an
act of rebellion that is not found in what the separatist calls the “Moral Law”—is
sin (and sin separates us from God). Furthermore, what does James tells us it
means to fulfill the Law? James 2:8—If you
really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself." Now, which of the Ten Commandments is this? It isn't. This
command is not found anywhere in the Ten Commandments—and yet James (as well as
Paul and, most importantly, our Lord) tells us that this is one of the two most
important commands. All these tell us that one fulfills the Law—the WHOLE…LAW,
not one law out of three—by loving one’s neighbor as himself. This is the only
command that is binding on the church under the new covenant. And it is binding
only because Jesus tells us this is the only commandment He would leave us. John
13:34—“A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
Now, He did not give this command as a way of saying, “If you do this, then I
will save you.” On the contrary, what did He say in the very next verse? John
13:35—“By this all will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another.” Rather than saying “Do
this, and I will save you” He is saying “If you do this, you will show the
world that you are saved.” Just the opposite concept the Pharisees had in mind,
in all their years going around saying that one had to do the whole Law if they
wanted even a chance to be saved.
And speaking of the
Pharisees, even they knew there was but one Law, and that the Law was not
simply the Ten Commandments. Consider the answers of two separate Pharisees
when confronted by Christ. In Mark 10:17-22, in the account of the Rich
Young Ruler, the man asks the Lord how he may gain eternal life. Mark
10:18-20—18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that
is, God. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not
murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor
your father and your mother.'" 20 And
he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from
my youth." Are the Ten Commandments part of the Law? Of course. Are
they the entirety of the Law? No. Are they even a summarization of the entirety
of the Law? NO. Where do we find the summarization of the Law? We find one in
Leviticus (in the very chapter we are currently studying), and the other
doesn't come along until we get to Deuteronomy. In fact, we see another
Pharisee give Jesus the proper answer to the question of “Which is the greatest
commandment”—and the man does not even crack the Ten Commandments. Luke
10:25-28—25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood
up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?" 26 He said to him, "What is
written in the law? What is your reading of it?" 27 So he answered and said, "'You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 And He said
to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will
live." One Pharisee agreed that the Ten Commandments were part of
the Law, the other Pharisee agreed that the Law went far beyond the Ten
Commandments. They were both right in that respect. And, like any “good”
Pharisee, they wore broad phylacteries, containing pieces of parchment upon
which was written the greatest commandment—none of the ten—but rather, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.” Even
the Pharisees knew that there were not three separate “Laws”, but rather one LAW.
Now, we come to a section
that contains commands which may seem to us to be arranged in a rather
miscellaneous order. I don’t know why God chose to arrange these commands in
this order, but He did, and He had a very good reason for doing so. And since
there are so many, and some are rather self-explanatory, I think we would do
good to give a cursory discussion on each. So, Leviticus 19:11-12—“‘11 You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to
one another. 12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you
profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” OK, quick—are these civil,
ceremonial, or moral? They are moral, right straight out of the Ten
Commandments. These would be, respectively, the fifth, eighth, and third
commandments.
Leviticus 19:13—“‘You
shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall
not remain with you all night until morning.’” How many of us work for
an employer that does NOT violate this command? Unless you are a day laborer,
you work for an employer that breaks this command on a regular basis. After
all, unless you are a day laborer, do you get paid the same day for the labor
you provide? No. You and I get paid either weekly, or bi-weekly, or even
monthly. Now, let’s talk a little about this command. Is this civil,
ceremonial, or moral? It’s obviously not ceremonial, so is it civil or moral?
Actually, it’s a little bit of both. And it is commands like this that trip up
the separatist. Because this is a civil command that is actually an expansion of
a moral command. Here, God equates holding back wages until morning with theft.
God considers that to be robbery. “But it’s a civil ordinance!” says the
separatist. See how hard it is to cherry-pick the so-called “Moral Law” out
from in between the civil commands? And furthermore, disobeying the civil/moral
commands brings about the ceremonial. I hope this continues to become clear.
Leviticus 19:14—“You
shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall
fear your God: I am the LORD.” Doesn't the fact that God felt He needed
to give men this command speak to the need for men to have this command? Does
this not show that man is a morally depraved creature? And that there are some
who derive pleasure from mocking and putting additional burdens on those who do
not have all their physical faculties? But this command is one that has more
ominous overtones if we consider them. And when (or, if) we get to that section
in the book of Numbers, we will see God become angered against Balaam for
trying to curse Israel, and put a stumbling block before them (and will see
that Israel did indeed stumble over that block).
What God commands here is that we not make
life more difficult for those who cannot see and/or hear. But the apostles add
a spiritual dimension to it in their epistles. Paul says in Romans 14:6, 14-15—6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and
he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who
eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to
the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks…13 Therefore let us not judge
one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a
cause to fall in our brother's way. 14 I know and am convinced by the Lord
Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers
anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved
because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with
your food the one for whom Christ died. He tells the church at Corinth
the same thing in 1st Corinthians 8:9-12—9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a
stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have
knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is
weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your
knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you
thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against
Christ.
Consider the ominous
warning He gives at the end of Leviticus 19:14—“You
shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but
shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” If you cause the blind or deaf
to stumble, God will avenge. And if we put a spiritual stumbling block before
our brother, rather than pick him up in a spirit of meekness when he stumbles,
God will avenge. 1st Corinthians 5:1-6—1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality
among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that
a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather
mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you…5
deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you
not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Galatians 6:1—Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who
are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering
yourself lest you also be tempted. We who possess the fullness of
physical capacities should never do anything to harm those who cannot see the
danger in front of them, nor hear the reviling of those who curse them. Rather,
we should do all we can to assist them in their days on earth. Even more
importantly, spiritually speaking, we who are trained in the Scriptures should
do all we can to assist those who do not know the truth—either the new brother,
or the one who has sat for years under false teachers—that their eyes may be
open to the truth, and that their ears may be opened to hear the truth, that
they may turn from the danger of Hell before them and walk instead into the
kingdom of God and the Son of His love.
Part 2 next time
