Mixing Law And Grace

After being set free in a great measure from the “fear of man,” I discovered that one of the greatest sources of confusion among all these sects was “What were the commandments or laws of the New Covenant?” In questioning these leaders, their answers varied greatly. Some believed it was actually the entire Mosaic Law except the animal sacrifices. Others believed it was portions of the dietary and moral laws of Moses. Some believed it was the Ten Commandments plus those laws to which Jesus referred in the New Testament, especially His statements in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Trying to nail down specifically which laws were binding upon a Christian and determining what the consequences were for breaking them became a futile undertaking. When push came to shove, these pastors and teachers couldn’t or didn’t want to sort out the confusion. They seemed to like keeping their standards nebulous, cloudy, and unclear. I see now that keeping the laws unclear served to their advantage. Being the “spiritual” authority in their church, this gave them the opportunity to use or create laws as the occasion required.

For example, I heard one pastor tell a new convert he must shave off his mustache or he would go to hell. The pastor quoted a Scripture which implied that Paul taught that nature tells us men should have short hair. Then told him that those Christian who do not obey their elders are in rebellion. He then proceeded to take a few passages from the Old and New Testaments which intimated that rebellious people don’t get to heaven, Christian or otherwise.

All of these systems have one thing in common—they all mix portions of the Mosaic Law and Grace. Of course, they have their Scriptures to justify this mixture. Below are a few of their favorites:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil.” (Matt. 5:17)

“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)

“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.” (1 Tim. 1:8)

These references and others are cited to tell us that the portion of the Mosiac Law they claim is still binding upon New Testament believers will ultimately judge us at the Great White Throne judgment. Violation of these commandments can cause us to receive punishments ranging from losing our rewards, being beaten with many stripes, spending time in purgatory (in some denominations) or everlasting torture in Hell. Having sat through countless sessions with church leaders trying to explain their concoction, their mixture of Mosaic Law and Grace, I am sure their motives were mixed with sincerity, lack of knowledge, and sometimes corrupt motives like greed or the desire to control people.

The confusion is done away with when we break down the components of the Old Covenant and the New. We will discover that the Law portion of the Old Covenant is not the same as the Law portion of the New Covenant. The symbol / divides the Old Covenant “shadow” from the New Covenant “reality.”

• A God—Yahweh / A God—Yahweh (I change not)
• Shekinah Glory / Presence of God, Holy Spirit, Jesus (John 1:7-9,14)
• A Two party covenant between God and man with blessings and cursings in this life time with two pillars / Two party covenant between God the Father and His Son on behalf of man with two pillars (Gen. 15:1-18; Gal. 4:21-31)
• A Mediator—Moses / Jesus (1 Tim.2:5)
• A High Priest—descendants from Aaron a Levite / Jesus from Judah, after the order of Melchizedek and no ancestry or blood line (Heb. 10:21)
• A Priesthood—Levites / Christians (1 Pet. 2:5, 9)
• A Place of meeting (Tabernacle or Temple)—wherever the Ark of the Covenant was / wherever believers are or abiding in Christ (1 Cor. 6:19, Matt. 18:20)
• An Altar sprinkled with animal blood / heavens sprinkled with Jesus Christ’s blood (Heb. 13:10)
• Jerusalem, a divinely appointed earthly city / New Jerusalem, a Spiritual City (Rev. 21:2)
• Laver for washing / the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5)
• Sacrifices of lambs, goats, bulls, birds, grain, etc. / Committed life of believers (Rom. 12:1-2)
• Pascal lamb / Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 5:7)
• Passover Meal / Bread and Wine (body and blood) of Christ (John 6)
• Feast of Tabernacles (In gathering) / Christ’s life poured out to gather in the multitudes (John 7:1,2,37-39; John 12:32)
• Incense / Heartfelt prayers of believers (Rev. 5:8)
• Lampstand in Temple / Lord God, Christ and His body (Rev. 22:5; John 1:7-9; John 8:12; Matt. 5:14)
• Sabbath day of rest (Once a week) / Rest or peace of Christ (Every day) (Matt. 11:28-30)
• Sabbaths, New Moons, Holy days / All days in Christ are holy (Rom. 14:1-12, Col. 2:16f)
• A written binding agreement—Mosaic Law, 613 fixed ordinances, statutes, rituals, etc. binding on all / Living Word and epistles of men (2 Cor. 3:6; John 10:27; 2 Cor. 3:2,3)
• Blood and ritual forgiveness / Christ’s blood and complete forgiveness (Rom 5:1, 8:1-4)
• Veil / Flesh of Christ split (Rev. 23:23,4)
• Prophets / Christ and His body (Heb. 1:1-3; Eph. 4:11)
• Kings and a Kingdom which God did not want / Christ and His body, a Kingdom He did want (1 Pet. 2:5-10)
• Old Covenant / New Covenant (Jer. 31:31,34, Heb. 8:5-13)
• Two pillar laws (Matt. 22:36-40 / Two pillar laws (1 John 3:23,24)

The above list is not meant to be exhaustive. Surely, most Christians can readily see certain portions of the Old Covenant are no longer in effect. However, many sects of Christianity feel that certain portions of the Old Testament have become a part of the New Covenant. There are even a few groups that feel the New Covenant is not in effect at the present moment and that it will only affect the Jews in the future. I will not address that belief system other than to say I believe it is also wrong.

All of the components of the types and shadows found in the Old Covenant have been replaced by the reality found in the kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. The present article will only deal with the “two pillars.” Once we see how far off we have gone in even the most basic components of the New Covenant, perhaps we will then be able take an honest look to see if we have not strayed in the other areas as well. We only want to concentrate on the “two pillars” However, should the reader wish to do a little studying on the matter at this time, I’ve given you some Scripture references to help you get started. As you read these passages try to find the shadow in the Old Covenant and then look for the fulfillment in Jesus Christ and His body. I believe this study will remove many scales off many eyes allowing more of the True Light of Jesus Christ to shine in our hearts.

While almost all Christian denominations still hold to many portions of the Old Covenant, all of them have abandoned some portions of it. Even modern Jews have abandoned large portions of the Mosaic Law because it is physically impossible for them to perform certain portions of it. For example, I don’t know of any denominations still killing bulls, goats, lambs, etc., as offerings to Yahweh. Most church leaders can’t get Christians to go to Jerusalem three times a year as required by the Mosaic Law, so that’s out. With perhaps the exception of the Mormons, most sects do not believe there is still a Levitical Priesthood with authority from God. Hebrews tells us, as well as Peter, that the Levites are no longer the Priesthood, that there is a new Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. Peter tells us that we (Christians) are the new “Royal Priesthood,” and that we are the “people of God,” not physical Israel.

The book of Revelation tells us that this New Kingdom, this new city, New Jerusalem, is not the Jerusalem in physical Israel. It is a kingdom, a city, composed of saints. Most of us realize that Moses is no longer our mediator, that Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant. Most Christians do not have a problem with what I have said so far. However, there are many sects which would take issue with some of the above. In addition, many would find the dietary laws still helpful or in effect as well as other portions of the 613 laws of the Mosaic Law. Few of those sects who do these things take James’ words seriously when he says, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:13). Of course the penalty for breaking the Law of Moses is death. Let us now get to the main crux of this article. Let us bring the Mosaic Law to its simplest form. Perhaps this will unravel some of the confusion Christians have been trapped in for many centuries.

I am now going to touch the Christian Golden Cow; the cornerstone of all the abominations and misguided works the church has manifested on this earth since Jesus’ accession over 1900 years ago. This Golden Cow has been the culprit which has plunged Christendom into an idolatry unmatched by any religion known to man. It is the leading cause of the hypocrisy shown by the church to the world for the last two thousand years. What is that Golden Cow? It is the Ten Commandments, part of which is the “Golden Rule.”

Now those who cling to those rules as if they were life themselves will immediately quote the Scripture which tells us that He will write those Ten Commandments upon our hearts instead of stone. The difference between the New Covenant and the Old (they say) is where those laws are written. I hope to show the reader that this view is totally false. Furthermore, I want to prove that the above view will actually cause a believer to become a transgressor, not only of the Mosaic Law, but the New Covenant as well. (By the way, even the fact there were “Ten” commandments is a myth. See how the Jews, Roman Catholics, and Protestants break up those words written in stone. They do not agree with each other how to divide those words to get “Ten” Commandments. In other words, there are three different versions of the Ten Commandments. It is not even clear how they should be broken up. God never gave ten, He just spoke words. I use the term “Ten Commandments” because it has been so ingrained into the Jewish and Christian mind that to try to use another term would be near impossible.)

I want to show the reader a similar situation on the Old Testament to stress the importance of the subject at hand. I bring this story out only to illustrate how the importance of the subject we are looking into. During their 40 year journeying in the wilderness, Israel came into a situation where many of them were dying of snake bites. God commanded Moses to make a bronze image of a snake on a pole. Any time an Israelite was bitten by a snake, they were to merely look upon the snake and they would be healed. We find the account of this in Numbers 21:9. After Israel left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land, God changed things. The Manna stopped dropping. They now had to grow their own food, and the snake on the pole no longer served its former purpose.

It’s quite natural for man, being a creature of habit, to live in the past—to rely on what worked in the past. Israel was no exception to the rule. Several hundred years after their entry into the Promised Land, we find Israelites bowing down to Moses’ snake on the pole. We find this account in 2 Kings 18:4. The principle here is vitally important for us to understand. God’s word to Israel regarding looking at the snake in the wilderness gave them life at one time. But that same word and that same image in another time and place became death to them! Idolatry was punishable by death in the Old Testament.

In the same way idolatry was punishable by death in the Old Testament, Spiritual idolatry under the New Covenant produces spiritual death. Those who embrace the Ten Commandments and try to force them upon others, whether they be Christians or not, are committing spiritual idolatry and even worse. They are actually committing spiritual adultery! The consequences of this idolatry and adultery have been devastating. Now that I have sounded a loud warning of the seriousness of what we are dealing with, I hope that the reader will give me a real heart-to-heart hearing. I am not over-exaggerating regarding the seriousness of this blight in Christianity.

I’m sure it has not been too difficult for most of you to see that most of the components of the Old Covenant were in fact replaced with the reality of what the original rituals and ordinances pointed to. They merely acted as shadows, as pointers to the reality found in the New Covenant and in Jesus Christ. The shadows are not the present reality! Equally, the Laws of the Old Covenant were merely shadows of the Laws of the New Covenant. Let us see how they differ. Let us also see that mixing the two together is like mixing the blood of a lamb with swine’s blood or mixing wool with linen, both of these were forbidden in the Old Covenant. I believe the above Mosaic illustrations pointed to the unlawfulness of mixing Mosaic Law (works/wool which causes sweat) with Grace (gift/linen which absorbs sweat, no works of men).

May I bring Paul the apostle into the courtroom as my first witness in defense of what I am saying? I can already feel the heat coming from the nostrils of some great zealot defenders of the faith. I’m sure the stones are not far behind. But perhaps Paul, the apostle to the gentiles (that’s you and I), can cause the zealots to hold back their stones for a few more minutes. He was stoned several times for speaking the following words. Those who “hear” Paul today also suffer with him when they make plain his teachings to modern Pharisees and Christian zealots. He speaks of those sacred words written in stone in the following manner:

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. 3:5-17)

Here we clearly see that the laws written in stone, (the Ten Commandments), were a ministry of death, a ministry of condemnation. One might ask “How can condemnation be glorious?” Very simple: when we put someone else down or think we are closer to God than they are based upon our law-keeping, we exalt ourselves at that other person’s expense. We inwardly begin to think we are better than they are because we keep the law better than they do. The problem is, we all use the Law of Moses deceitfully. We hold others to standards and condemn them while we do the very same thing and pardon ourselves. Why do I say this? When we use any of the Law of Moses, we use them unlawfully. Actually the Law of Moses says that if one is guilty on one part of the Law (all 613 laws) one is guilty of it all (James 2:10). As I said, under Moses, the penalty for breaking the Law was death. That is why Paul called it the ministry of death. Its purpose was never to justify us. Its purpose has always been to “kill” us. Having been brought to death by the Mosaic Law, we then have need for a Savior, someone who would deliver us from the sentence of death.

Another purpose of the Mosaic Law was to keep the Seed preserved until the fullness of time. The Law was a guardian, a custodian of Israel, until the times of refreshing were appointed. Some translations in translating “paidagogos” as “schoolmaster” in Galatians 3:24, have done the body of Christ great disservice. This word “paidagogos,” in no way implies one who teaches. It was used as a title for one who escorted a child to school to keep him safe from possible harm by devious persons.

The Mosaic Law also served as a tool for those whose eyes have been spiritually enlightened to be able to test their spiritual senses and grow in the knowledge of Christ. The Law is full of types and shadows pointing to spiritual realities. When one enters those realities, the types and shadows in the Mosaic Law testify to those realities.

Finally, the Law of Moses was written in such a way that only Jesus the Messiah could fulfill all the requirements of it as well as the prophecies found in the Prophets and the Writings. Yahweh printed a perfect blueprint which would help us identify all counterfeit messiahs and counterfeit structures posing themselves as the kingdom of Yahweh. The laws dealing with “seeds” of men were carefully constructed to reveal to those who have been given spiritual eyes that Yeshua (Jesus) was, in fact, the Seed Who would crush the serpent’s head. We see then, that the Mosaic Law was Holy, indeed. But it was never meant to be an instrument to justify individuals nor to glorify them. Yet religious men and women, both Jew and Christian, have used the Mosaic Law (or portions of it) for many purposes for which it was never designed.

I am now coming to the most important part of this article. The subtle differences between the next two Scriptures are the difference between life and death. The difference is ever so slight, yet to understand the difference one must be able to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh.

When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus replied,

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets.”

Please understand the “Law” in this passage refers to the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law is not the New Covenant. Please look at these two commandments. Have you not heard them a thousand times in the context of the Christian message? And yet, as we just saw, the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that no one will be justified according to the Law of Moses. Striving to meet these two single commandments, the summary of the Mosaic Law will not justify one, yet we continue to stand upon these two commandments as being the foundation of the New Covenant. Please understand, these two commandments could only be fulfilled by one man, the Man, Christ Jesus. Please hear this. This is vitally important. One cannot deeply love someone unless they know them intimately. Of all the men and women born into this world since Adam, only Jesus Christ could lay claim to this intimacy. He was the only Man who came down from the Father. Jesus could say He loved the Father because He intimately knew Him as Father. Moses, not born of God, could not make that claim. No one born under the Law of Moses, except Jesus the Messiah, could make that claim.

So then, it was quite impossible for Israel or anyone for that matter to even think they fulfilled this requirement, yet prideful men and women of all ages have felt they met the requirements. There are countless millions of Christians who have deluded themselves that they meet these two commandments or at least, they say, they are trying to meet them. This is a great error.

The second commandment of this duo is quite easy for anyone to fulfill in one sense. Love your neighbor as yourself. Most people are self-condemned. Self-condemned people will often find strange ways to punish themselves. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, contains a host of pilgrimages, indulgences, various forms of penance, etc., to “pay” for or to receive as punishment for sins believers feel they have committed. They punish themselves and then subconsciously feel they have the right to hold others to the same standards and punishments. Some are quite masochistic. Many monks in ages past used to “flagellate” themselves for their sins (whip themselves). People who severely punish themselves usually punish others as hard or harder. They may just use forms of punishment which will not cause one to end up in prison. They are condemned by the law as transgressors of the law and so they judge others as transgressors also. They are loving their neighbor as themselves. They are self-condemned and so they condemn others.

Oh, if we could just remember, the purpose of the Mosaic Law was to kill us, not make us righteous! It was to bring to the conscience what was latent (hidden) in our members…sin. Its purpose was to show us we need a savior. We were incapable of solving this problem through any effort on our part, regardless of how good the system was. Paul expressed this thought in Romans 7:4-13:

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not? On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not. But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

I realize this is a difficult passage of Scripture to understand. Some of Paul’s writing, especially in the Book of Romans requires more than surface reading. The purpose of the law, according to Paul, was to reveal sin in the body. The Israelites would not have known sin unless God created a magnifying glass. The Mosaic Law was that magnifying glass. But the magnifying glass could not cure the problem, it could only magnify it so that it could be seen. The remedy for sin is not the Mosaic Law. The remedy is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I would like to bring out another point regarding what Paul called the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of death. It’s quite easy to fulfill the ministry of condemnation in one sense. It’s easy to condemn people. It is very natural to us. But Moses demanded that it must be perfectly administered. When we practice condemnation, we generally are more favorable to ourselves than to our neighbor. Therefore we do not usually give equally “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life.” We are quick to plead for mercy for our own transgressions toward others, but we are not usually so quick to plead for mercy for those who transgress against us. When it comes to storing up offenses in our hearts, we are more likely to remember a sin against us, than we are to remember one of our own transgressions against another. We do not practice the law fairly. We use one set of stones to measure out transgressions against us and then bring out a different set of stones when measuring out justice against those we have offended. The Law of Moses demanded perfect equality, an eye for an eye. We, as well as Israel, are quite incapable of judging righteously using the Mosaic Law system.

The last thing I want to say about the ministry of condemnation, the Mosaic Law, is this: This Covenant, this Law was given only to a specific people. It was not given to the Romans, Greeks, American Indians, Chinese, or any other people. It was given to the nation of Israel alone! When the genealogical records, the Temple, the Priesthood, etc. were destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, that system was buried, never to be resurrected again. The Judaism practiced by modern Jews is not what Moses commanded. It is quite removed from the Mosaic Law found in the Bible.