Having now preached through the books of Genesis and Exodus on Sunday mornings, I did not want to depart from them without having addressed clearly what should be our interpretive method for Old Testament narrative texts (and specifically the law) in light of the fulfillment of Christ and the coming of the New Covenant. Therefore, this is what I want us to tackle in our time tonight.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. In Leviticus 19, we read the following in verses 18-19: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. You are to keep my statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.” Now, which of these two verses do we obey today under the New Covenant? Obviously we would say that we obey that of loving our neighbor, but we do not count it as sin tonight if our clothes are some percent polyester and some percent cotton. Thus, we find ourselves saying that one should obey the content of verse 18 and not the content of verse 19.
But why?
This question has been asked for centuries and there have been a couple different answers. I want to give you tonight what has been the traditional answer to this question and then what I think is the more correct answer.
The traditional answer is that the law is divided into three parts: moral, civil, and ceremonial (though each of these categories have been given different names), and that with the coming of the New Covenant, the civil and ceremonial laws have ceased, as Christ became the fulfillment for them, but the moral laws remain. Therefore, when we read the law, we ask ourselves if it is a civil, ceremonial, or moral law. If it is of the first two categories we disregard it; if it is of the third category then we obey it.
However, I don’t think we can do this for a couple of reasons:
1. It’s makes divisions in the law where the Bible puts no divisions. That is the moral, civil, ceremonial distinction is never a division stressed by any New Testament author; rather the law is seen as a whole.
2. It doesn’t provide a clear distinction in laws. For example, the basis for not sowing two different kinds of seeds in the ground is to stress the moral provision of those who are holy not joining themselves to that which is unholy. Therefore, it seems to have a moral element, and it most definitely contains great theological truths.
Therefore, I believe we must have a different approach to answering this question. And to arrive at that approach, we must realize the following:
1. The law is part of the Mosaic covenant.
2. The Mosaic covenant is no longer valid. Hebrews 8:13 says, “When he said, ‘A new covenant,’ he made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”
3. If the Mosaic covenant is no longer valid, then the laws that made up the covenant cannot be valid.
4. The Old Testament law, as part of the Mosaic covenant, is no longer applicable over us as law. This is assured us by Paul in many places. One of them is Galatians 2. Paul writes in verse 19, “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God.” That is to say, Paul saw the law as leading him to Christ that he might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:19-26), and therefore now saw himself as dead to the law, no longer in need of a tutor. Again, in Romans 7, Paul tells us that just as a spouse dying frees one to marry, so dying to the law must occur so that we might be joined to Christ (7:4-6). Finally, though there are many other examples to choose from, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:20 that he is not under the law. Therefore, it is clear that as believers, we are not under the law.
Why do we not have to fulfill the demands of the law? Why can we claim that we are dead to the law? The answer is because Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” That is to say, Christ is the prophetic fulfillment to which the law pointed, and therefore with his coming, the Law is fulfilled.
And lest one think that he is saying here that he was only the fulfillment of the ceremonial and civil aspects of the law, verse 18 ensures us that he means all of it, as he says, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.” Therefore, Christ is the fulfillment of everything to which the law pointed, in its civil, ceremonial, and moral aspects.
Therefore, we should recognize the following:
1. We are no longer under the Law because it is fulfilled in Christ (he is the substance of that which it foreshadowed). And Christ has both given us a clearer picture of what the Law prophesied and has fulfilled its requirements on our behalf.
2. We are to obey Christ (who is the fulfillment of the Law and the final interpreter of it, sometimes intensifying aspects found in the Old Covenant, other times disregarding them).
3. We don’t obey to fulfill demands of righteousness (for they have been fulfilled by him for us), but in joyous obedience to one who has freed us from the bondage of sin and death.
Therefore, our key for interpreting texts in the law must take into account that we are dead to the law (and therefore cannot have our interpretive method put people back under the Law), that Christ is the fulfillment and final interpreter of the Law, and that we do not obey the commands of the Law so as to secure righteousness.
Therefore, my exhortation for biblical interpretation concerning the Law and Old Testament narrative texts are to do the following:
Therefore, taking Leviticus 19:19, we see that God was teaching the Israelites that holiness should have nothing to do with that which is unholy. Therefore, they didn’t intermarry, etc. He was teaching them a principle of holiness and not defiling oneself.
Again, taking our text at hand, note that this is in the framework of the Mosaic covenant, before it was replaced by the New and before the coming of Christ. It was a period where the covenant community was viewed as those who made up the nation of Israel, rather than those from every nation who repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as we go through the canon, we find that with the coming of Christ comes the new covenant so that believers are no longer under the law in the Mosaic covenant. Therefore, we are not bound to the law, but we look to Christ and the teaching of the New Testament to see an application of the principle God was teaching the Israelites in Leviticus 19. We can find it in many places, for example, in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (which is set in a context of Paul telling the Corinthian believers to have nothing to do with sexual immorality), Paul writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
And in this text, we see a richness of holiness intensified. That is to say, our holiness is now not based on what nation we belong to, but on the fact that we have been purchased by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and have had the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts so that we are now considered the temple (dwelling place) of God. And for this reason we should have nothing to do with ungodliness.
Therefore, this shows why Leviticus 19:19 is no longer applicable, but why is the truth of 19:18 still applicable to us as believers?
The answer is that we would handle it the same way, realizing, however, when we get to the new covenant that Christ has emphasized this as a command that is second only to loving God with all of one’s heart. Therefore, we obey as those who are Christ’s and new covenant believers.
This is how we must read the narrative texts and texts dealing with the Law in the Old Testament. To simply draw what it meant to its audience in the old covenant will only gather a superficial understanding of what the text means. For ultimately it must point us to Christ, the cross, and his commands to his church. And when we realize this, we should not read the Old Testament lightly, for it points us to a richer understanding of the New, who our God is, and what things are a concern to him in the lives of his people.
Grace be with you, Amen.