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
