Law of God

  

Law of God 

I have recently encountered a number of people who interpret scriptures with preconceived theories in mind. While their theories sound good to them, I have found myself doubting whether they are correct.

Most of the time, the Spirit within me is unsettled at theories of imagination which tells me they are likely wrong.  If it is not plainly taught in the Bible, why make stuff up?  The difficult part is confronting folks with their error, because they have accepted such theories as correct.

If their theory is of minor consequence, such as one crowd I encountered that was convinced they had to use Yeshua instead of Jesus when saying the Lord’s name, I will not say anything.  To me, the wicked people who speak English prove Jesus is an acceptable translation. 

Why, because they will use Jesus’s name in vain when swearing, which proves to me that they subconsciously both hate and have a witness to Jesus’s existence.  It will be interesting to see those who cuss using the name of Jesus or God stand before the judgement in doubt.  Why wouldn’t God point out all the times they cursed in His name. 

Anyway, the following topic concerns the Law of God and the Law of Moses, and are they different.  I will start with two inquiries:

1.     Is the Law of God only the Ten Commandments written by God on two tables of stone and therefore separate from their appearance in the Book of the Law with the additional Laws written by the hand of Moses in the first five books of the Bible?

2.     If the first question is true in the sense that only the Ten Commandments are God’s Law; has the Law called the Law of Moses been abolished?  Note: investigating this may prove that no other commandments, statutes, judgements, and testimonies from God through others would be enforceable.

My belief is that the whole Bible is authored by the Holy Ghost (God) through others, and contains God’s commandments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies, judgments, et cetera.  So, that means that I believe that all the laws in it are from God, and where specific covenants are involved, they are still in effect.  My primary witness for this belief is:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.  2Ti 3:16-17.

Therefore, my evidence in answering my inquiries is going to be from the perspective of my belief.  I have chosen this approach based on the theoretical nature of the opposing view point that the laws (except for the Ten Commandments), have been done away with since this theory is absent any teaching to this effect in the Bible.

Additionally, one must bear in mind that the earliest New Testament canon did not occur until almost 400 AD by the Roman Catholic Church.  So, for the first church in Acts and for 400 years after that, the Old Testament was the only Bible.  That means that anywhere in scripture that you see references about scripture (including the New Testament), it only means the Old Testament, and that incorporates my primary witness written above from 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Proofs of Inquiries:

First (and to me this is definitive in itself), there is no verse in the Bible that says only the Ten Commandments are God's Law.  You can search until you are blue in the face, but you will not find one verse that says that only the Ten Commandments are God’s Law.  Also, no one in the Bible even taught this as doctrine.

You will find the two phrases, “Law of God” and “Law of Moses,” but not that only the Ten Commandments are God’s Law and the rest of the commandments only came from Moses; or even the intent that when the two phrases are used one is referring to just the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God and the other to the commandments, statutes, judgements, and testimonies written only by Moses’ hand indicating they are not from God.

Having said that means those who see the two as separate are working from the perspective of a theory that has no biblical foundation.  And while the theory that they are separate sounds good to them, if it can be proven to have flaws (such as the glaring fact that there is no teaching in the Bible to this effect), then it is unsound. 

Therefore, if there is no verse that says that God's Law is only the Ten Commandments, are there other meanings equally valid for calling them by different names?  As a matter of fact, there are other reasons.

Here is a reason of fact.  If you are an accomplished sixth grader with an Authorized Bible, it will not be difficult for you to prove that every time the Ten Commandments are mentioned collectively by that nomenclature, they are never referred to as God’s Law but as the Covenant God made with Israel.  God made a Covenant with the children of Israel at Sinai, and that Covenant was the Ten Commandments:

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.  Exo 34:28.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.  Deu 4:13.

When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.  Deu 9:9-11.

And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.  2Ch 6:11.

Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;  Heb 9:4.

Are the Ten Commandments also laws of God?  Of course, that is why they are also written in the Book of the Law.  However, those who assume that the Law of God is only the Ten Commandments, and which they say will last forever (an impulsive interpretation of another passage without the full text), also teach that the Law written by Moses in the book has been done away with. 

First, the impulsive interpretation:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Mat 5:17-18.

Those who see the Ten Commandments as the only law that is God’s Law claim Matthew 5:17-18 only refers to that law never being destroyed.  Yet, that verse does not state this, and it also adds, “or the prophets.”  When the phrase, “the law, or the prophets” appears in the Bible, it is most likely talking about the whole Old Testament which is proven later below under Additional Proofs.

I want to share another fact that people are not able to comprehend when it comes to moral law.  No moral law of God can ever be done away with.  Man, because of sin, will do away with morality, but not God.  God’s Law is, and the Bible calls the law holy, just, and good.  It can never be done away with, only fulfilled.

When something is fulfilled, it may no longer be needed.  For example, the Seventh Commandment of the Ten Commandments says, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.  The Law of God, as some teach being only the Ten Commandments and the only one they say will last forever, would have no need of the Seventh Commandment in eternity because Jesus plainly told us that there is no marriage in heaven (Luk 20:35).  When that law reaches its fulfillment, it will no longer be needed.

Some laws may never be fulfilled in the sense that they are no longer needed whilst they may be fulfilled in practice.  How about the two commandments that Jesus said were the greatest?  They are not even part of the Ten Commandments and it seems reasonable that we would need to do them forever:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.  Mat 22:37-40.

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  Deu 6:5.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.  Lev 19:18.

How can these two commandments be done away with?  So, the Ten Commandments written on stone were referred to as the Covenant God made with the children of Israel and placed inside the Ark of the Covenant as a testimony.  The Book of the Law (which also contained the Ten Commandments) was placed outside the ark purposefully to be used which seems logical. 

Rectification:

Those who see the laws as separate also theorize that because the testimony of the Covenant (the Ten Commandments) was placed inside the ark and the Book of the Law was placed on the outside, that this also proves they are separate despite the inclusion of the Ten Commandments in the Book of the Law. 

The Bible gives purposes for this placement, and still nowhere in the Bible can one find the theory that this was done because the two are separate laws.  You can find reasons to why this was done, just not the theories the others claim.  One purpose for their placement was for a witness:

And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.  Deu 31:24-26.

Another purpose for placing the Book of the Law on the outside of the ark was so that it could be used to teach from:

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.  Deu 31:9-11.

And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.  2Ch 17:8-9.

And another purpose for placing the book of the law on the outside was so that the King could make a copy from it for himself:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:  Deu 17:18-19.

I want to discuss another theory which also concerns the placement of the two articles in question and a primary verse used to say the Law of Moses has been done away with.  The theory is that because the Ten Commandments were placed inside the ark and the Book of the Law was placed outside, that when the ark was sprinkled with blood by the Levitical priests for the sin offering, the Ten Commandments were not sprinkled but the Book of the Law was sprinkled with blood.

The significance of this action (to those who hold to theory) has to do with Colossians 2:14.  I have included verse 13 below for clarification:

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;  Col 2:13-14.

The theorists claim that the Old Testament action of sprinkling the blood on the ark foreshadowed the crucifixion.  For them, as a result, verse 14 in Colossians 2 must mean that all the ordinances themselves have been blotted out by Christ’s sacrifice, but because the Ten Commandments were inside the ark they have not been blotted out.

Wow, and I do not mean to be crude, but if you cannot see that teaching this interpretation is just a theory then, Watch out for that ditch.  No one in the Bible or in the early church, or none of the early church fathers, ever taught this as a doctrine.  Some claim it was just the ordinances; but who decides which laws are merely ordinances and not commandments, statutes, testimonies, or judgments?

You cannot take a verse and inject conjecture without considering the context in which it was written.  Verse 13 plainly describes our existence before Christ, dead in sin.  The law brings the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), but the law is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12).  When one repents and receives Christ, they are spiritually circumcised, and the body of sin is put off (Colossians 2:11).  The trespasses you committed are now forgiven (Colossians 2:13).

The law could not forgive sin, and ceremonial animal sacrifices could not forgive violation of God’s moral law.  The only way this could be accomplished was by a man, a mediator who could justly condemn sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3) by keeping and vindicating the law, and take the punishment for those who violated the law because the law itself can never be done away.  It is your transgressions that are redeemed not the law:

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.  Heb 9:15.

No other being could justly approach God (the righteous judge) and redeem man out from under the bondage of the law.  Only Christ could condemn sin, vindicate the law and God’s justice, and as a man and mediator between God and man, take the punishment we deserved.  Christ crucified the body of sin, and we are to do the same:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  Rom 6:6.

I want to compare Colossians 2:14 to Acts 3:19:

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;  Act 3:19.

When compared to Acts 3:19, and verse 13 is read in Colossians 2, one can easily see that it is the sin that is blotted out.  Again, no moral law can ever be done away with, only fulfilled.  The ordinances were against us because we broke them, not because the ordinances were evil, but because we were by breaking them.  Jesus’s sacrifice was not in order to nail the law to His cross, but our sins.  Jesus plainly says He did not come to destroy the law in Matthew 5:17-18.

If you walk after the flesh you cannot keep the law.  The only way to fulfill the righteousness of the law is to walk in the Spirit:

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Rom 8:3-4.

My point is that those who theorize that moral law has been done away with are most likely walking in the flesh.  And since it is impossible to fulfill the righteousness of the law by walking in the flesh (because flesh cannot please God and violates His Law), they interpret scripture with a bias in order to claim promises in spite of their proclivity for serving sin:

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.  Joh 8:34.

Colossians 2:14 does not do away with God’s moral laws, that is impossible.  That is why the sacrifice of Christ was needed, to remove our transgressions of the law, you know, taking them out of the way (the sins were in our way not the law) and nailing them to His cross.  If the law was in the way, what point was there in Christ keeping it?  Burning Bibles does not forgive sin.

I could go on with why Christ’s sacrifice is so priceless, but it was not to save us from the law but from our sins against God’s Law.  A major problem those who see the Ten Commandments as the only law that is God’s Law and separate from the Book of the Law (and the one they say has been done away with); what they encounter is that they cannot justly do away with moral commandments which are not part of the Ten Commandments. 

How do you preach against the sins of the flesh when you have thrown out the law which brings the knowledge of sin?  Well, some pick and choose, which is why we have so many denominations, sects, and cults of religion; and others just decide on antinomianism which is why the visible church is in such a polluted state of existence, because moral law is no longer enforceable on sinners because of their false doctrines.  The law was not made for the righteous:

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;  1Ti 1:9-10.

Additional Proofs:

From this point on I am going to survey many passages in order to provide the additional reasons for the differences in the names used when referring to the law.  In this survey I will also show that the Law of Moses is called such because he received it from God to give to the people, that other terms are used when referring to the law, that the Law of Moses is also called the Law of God, that the whole Old Testament may be referred to as law, as well as show that there is only one law.

The Book of the Law, or Law of Moses contained commandments (including the Ten), statutes, ordinances, testimonies, and judgments.  Those laws were constituted on the Covenant of the Ten Commandments meaning, if you violated the laws you broke the Covenant.

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:  Lev 26:14-15.

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.  Isa 24:5.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.  Heb 8:7-12.

That which is called the Law of Moses was not Moses’s creation, but he received it from God:

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.  Mal 4:4.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?  Deu 4:5-8.

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:  1Ki 2:3.

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:  Deu 8:11.

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.  Deu 11:1.

These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.  Lev 26:46.

One of the reasons it is called the Law of Moses is because after the children of Israel heard the voice of God declare the Covenant of the Ten Commandments, they removed themselves and told Moses to speak to them and not God for fear that they would die.  God acquiesced to this request and it became the pattern, that is, to relay His word to the people through prophets. 

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.  Exo 20:18-19.

According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.  Deu 18:16-18.

As a result, the laws were written down by the hand of Moses (another reason for the name distinction) as he received them from God (they were still God’s Law).  They could now be taught by the priests and by the prophets:

When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.  Exo 18:16.

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.  Jos 1:7.

And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:  Neh 8:14.

And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:  Neh 9:14.

They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;  Neh 10:29.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  Joh 1:17.

But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.  2Ki 14:6.

God would have spoken all the laws to the people had they not desired Him to speak only to Moses:

For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.   Deu 5:26-31.

Another reason for the distinction between the Law of Moses and the Law of God, or by others just saying written in the law is similar to our use of the Bible today.  Many times when we quote scripture we refer to the place where it is written to let the hearer know where it is found.

           

Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?  Mat 12:5.

He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.  Luk 10:26-27.

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  Luk 24:44.

But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:  Act 24:14.

And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.  Act 28:23.

Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?  1Co 9:8-9.

Sometimes, and I am getting a little ahead of myself because I will also show that there is only one law, the two phrases Law of Moses and Law of God are synonymous:

And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.  Luk 2:22-24, 27, 39.

A number of times, the Book of the Law is mentioned without the designation that it is the Law of Moses.  The reason I point this out is because it presents a problem which will make sense after the following passages supporting this point:

And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.  Jos 8:34.

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.  2Ki 22:8, 11.

Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.  2Ki 23:24.

And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law: Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God:  Neh 10:34, 36.

Here is the problem for those who hold the theory that the Law of God is only the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Law written by Moses is separate.  What happens when the Book of the Law is also called God’s Law?

If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.  Deu 30:10.

Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.  2Ki 17:34, 36-37.

To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;  1Ch 16:40.

And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.  2Ch 17:9.

He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.  2Ch 31:3.

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.  Neh 8:8.

Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.  Neh 8:18.

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.  Neh 9:3.

It is not uncommon to see books of the Old Testament referred to as law although they are not part of the first five books written by Moses:

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?  Joh 10:34.  This quote comes from Psalms, but Jesus says it is written in the law.

The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?  Joh 12:34.  There are a number of places where the Old Testament says Christ will live forever, just not in the books written by Moses; yet, this passage says it is in the law.

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.  Joh 15:25.  Again, Jesus says this word is written in the law but it is from Psalms.

In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.  1Co 14:21.  Paul claims this quote is written in the law, but it comes from Isaiah.

Having the understanding that collectively the whole Old Testament may be considered Law reinforces the fact that others besides Moses wrote commandments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies, and judgments from God:

And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.  Jos 24:26.

 

Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.  2Ki 17:13.

And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;  Jer 26:4-5.

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.  Dan 9:10.

The use of the word law in the Bible can be both a collective description of the complete work, and an individual description of a specific law:

This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;  Num 5:29.

Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.  Lev 12:7.

And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:  Num 6:13.

God gave commandments, statutes, and laws to men prior to the Book of the Law or the Ten Commandments and men kept them and pleased the Lord:

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.  Gen 26:5.

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation…And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.  Gen 7:1, 5.

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.  Heb 11:5.

And, there is only one law:

One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.  Exo 12:49.

Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.  Lev 24:22.

Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.  Num 15:29.

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.  Num 15:15-16.

Veracity:

Now the truth about why others want to do away with God’s Law.  It is because they are not in Christ but merely following their preferred choice of Christian religion.  Just as Judaism regressed into a system of rule following when Christ came the first time (the Jews having lost the true form of religion); today, Christianity has backslid into a show that pleases flesh not God.

If you are a willful sinner, then you are under the law.  The law was made to expose the sins of the flesh.  The only way to not be under the law is to be dead in Christ.

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.  Rom 7:4-5.

God’s Law cannot be done away with (or fulfilled), because people continue to sin against the law.  The Law of Christ is higher than the laws contained in the Bible.  If you are willfully violating the moral laws contained in the Bible, then your flesh is not dead and therefore subject to those laws which it cannot keep:

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  Rom 8:5-8.

There is a change of the law in Christ.  That change through Christ is meant for us to fulfill the righteousness that the law aimed for but which we could never attain having broken those very laws. 

You see, once you have broken any law of God, you can never unbreak it; that made the law absolute and without mercy and grace and thus it demanded justice.  The enmity created from our violation of the law meant we could never be righteous, or in right standing with God.  The only verdict, death.  So, God changed it, through Christ:

For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law...For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood...Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life...For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God...Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;  Heb 7:12, 14, 16, 19, 25-26.

It is difficult to get people to understand that in Christ you walk in a complete righteousness without the works of the law through your faith (Gentile) or by your faith (Jew).  You cannot attain to the righteousness that the law demands because of your violation of it.  However, you are expected to achieve that righteousness in Christ.  The most succinct place I can describe this from using the Bible is in Romans chapter three:

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Rom 3:19.

It does not matter who you are or who you think you are, even if you call yourself Christian; if you are willfully violating God’s moral laws contained in the Bible, you are under the law.  Notice above that Romans 3:19 says, “all the world.”

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.  Rom 3:20.

The law can never justify you because you learned of your sins from the very violation of that law.  That means you can never be righteous by now keeping the laws you broke, or righteous by continuing to break them.  It is not a catch-22, but a rebirth, a spiritual walk that denies the sins of the flesh.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  Rom 3:21-22.

Here is a key, the righteousness of God that comes by/through faith in Christ is now available without the law.  The law and the prophets are the witnesses of the righteousness that we could not attain to.

Now, because of Christ’s obedience which secured the righteousness of the law, God can forgive our transgressions of law justly, having placed the punishment for those violations upon Christ.  Repent through Christ and you are forgiven, go and sin no more and you achieve the righteousness the law and the prophets witnessed to.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Rom 3:23.

Although this verse is well understood, and everyone admits to the knowledge that all have sinned, I want to stir something else within you.  The fact that you now keep laws that you once violated does not make you righteous in the law.  The life that you now lead is in Christ and is to be shared as you received it.

It is disheartening to encounter Christians who label sinners by derogatory titles meant to demean the sinner while also using the word of God to condemn them.  Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it.  You are not walking in the love of God by doing this.

A true Christian is offering their witness to something the sinner could never have because of their transgressions against God’s Law.  That witness is God’s mercy and grace that is now available through Christ. 

We are not to testify falsely that the law is no longer in effect and therefore you can violate it at will.  We testify that your violation of the law has been forgiven in Christ when you repent (confess and forsake sin), and your past sins will be forgiven (forgotten by God, the only thing He forgets); and now through the Spirit you can achieve the righteousness the law aimed for.  All through God’s grace:

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  Rom 3:24.

You will never be righteous by keeping the law or violating the law willfully.  God’s way through Christ, is the only way to be redeemed and righteous:

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.  Rom 3:25-26.

What we are seeing today in the visible church is the result of over a century of false doctrines that teach people who are willfully sinning against God’s Law that they are not under the law.  The Bible plainly teaches that if you are violating the law you are under the law (Rom 3:19, 1Ti 1:9-10, Gal 3:19).  This extreme is producing so-called Christians who are embracing sins of the flesh, while at the same time attempting to claim the promises of God.

On the other hand, we also have those who are beating others over the head with their violations of the law (which this group keeps with pride now as if it will save them), and demanding that the others follow the commandments or they will be lost.  These blind hypocrites cannot see that their hatred and ridicule of the other group is the greater sin.

The only thing that will save you is the faith we preach.  You cannot be justified by keeping or breaking the law.  You must die to the flesh and become a new creature that lives and walks in the Spirit which is the only way to achieve the righteousness the law witnessed to:

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.  Rom 3:27-28, 30.

Before I share the last verse of Romans three, I want to state that you cannot understand why the law is or see the truth of faith, of mercy, or of grace walking in the flesh.  This is what happens to people when they come to God in the Christian religion.  They return to the beggarly elements of the world (and of the flesh), and they will gravitate to either the extreme of no law, meaning they believe it is okay to violate the law; or the extreme of trying to keep the law and demanding that others do the same.  Even in the latter group, they will become selective in the laws they keep, and/or try and wrest meanings contrary to the Bible that condemn their pet sins in order to allow their own willful violations of law.

Those who are true Christians become doers of the law not hearers (Rom 2:13, Jas 1:22-23), because that is what is now in their hearts (Rom 2:15, Heb 8:10).  They do not do this as a form of justification, it just becomes what they naturally desire to do with joy when they are walking in the Spirit and mortifying the deeds of the flesh.  Through Christ, they are now the righteousness that the law aimed for.

We now establish the law:

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.  Rom 3:31.

If you are a Christian who worships the Bible and teaches others that they must follow rules in order to be saved, then you have missed the mark.  You can only achieve right standing in God through Christ by faith, and that faith will establish the law.  More, it will witness to the righteousness the law describes but flesh is unable to attain.  You become the righteousness of the law.

Conclusion:

There are many theories of imagination out there when it comes to the word of God.  It is best to stick with the simplicity of faith that is available through Christ.  However, men will always be trying to impress other men in order to flex their intelligence and similitude of spirituality.  Hey brainiac, knowledge does not originate with man, and lies come from the Devil.

There is no teaching in the Bible that indicates that only the Ten Commandments are the Law of God.  Similarly, there is no teaching that the Laws written by Moses are not God's Law as well.  In fact, there is proof that even though there are times the Book of the Law is referred to as the Law of Moses, it is also referred to as the Law of God and singularly as just the Law concluding that it is all God’s Law.

The moral laws throughout the Bible can never be done away with, only fulfilled.  If men continue to serve sin, the knowledge of those sins will always be needed.  Those who continue to sin against the moral laws of God are under the law.  You cannot claim the promises available through faith in Christ if you are still under the law, that is, a willful sinner.

For passages in the Bible that claim the law is changed, or we are under the law to Christ, or even passages that indicate we are under grace and not the law; these must be understood spiritually.  You cannot walk after the flesh and achieve the righteousness available through Christ and/or through the Holy Ghost.  You must become a new creature walking in the Spirit where love (benevolent love) toward God and others fulfills the righteousness the law witnesses to.