ViaCrucis
Confessional Lutheran
- Oct 2, 2011
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Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of confusion in terms:
While the Torah is Law, not all Law is Torah.
The Torah refers to 613 mitzvot ("commandmetns") which God gave to the Israelites as part of the covenant He established with them at Mt. Horeb through Moses. Included among these 613 mitzvot are the Decalogue which were written on the two tablets of stone. God did not give the Torah to any other people, as Scripture itself states,
"And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, 'Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD.'" - Deuteronomy 5:1-5a
"He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know His rules. Praise the LORD!" - Psalm 147:19-20
These commandments were given exclusively to the Israelites, and to no other people, as part of the covenant God established with Israel, through Moses, at Mt. Horeb in Sinai.
This is not the covenant we have today, because we have received a new and better covenant, in Christ.
"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ... In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." - Hebrews 8:6,13
The Apostle, condemning those who forced the yoke of the Torah on Christians, especially Gentile converts, writes thus:
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." - Colossians 2:16-17
The Apostle goes so far as to say he would that those who teach such things should go ahead and go all the way,
"I would that they who trouble you would cut the whole thing off!" (Galatians 5:12)
Yes, he really does mean what it sounds like he means.
What none of this, however, means is that there is no law at all, or that lawlessness rules. Just because the Torah does not apply to us, does not mean God's Law does not apply to us. Because God's moral law is not a particular law to a particular people, it is what is lawful, right, and just.
Murder did not become wrong when Moses brought forward the tablet of stone on which it was written, "Thou shalt not murder", it was always wrong.
So those who would say, "If Torah does not apply to us we can go and murder" don't know what they are saying. Murder did not become wrong when it was given to Israel, but was always wrong--and for everyone.
Do not, therefore, confuse Torah (the particular law given to Israel) with God's Law in the broad sense. All Torah is Law, but not all Law is Torah.
Look at our own civil laws: Murder is illegal according to the laws of our nations, but not every nation has the same laws. The United States penal codes apply to me, as an American; and included in those laws it says that murder is wrong. That murder is also wrong in other parts of the world, indeed, in every nation across the globe, does not mean that the citizens of other nations are subject to the penal codes and laws of the United States. I am subject to them because I am a citizen of the United States, but a Canadian, an Australian, or someone from China, Japan, or Laos is not. Even though we would all agree to the wrongness of murder.
-CryptoLutheran
While the Torah is Law, not all Law is Torah.
The Torah refers to 613 mitzvot ("commandmetns") which God gave to the Israelites as part of the covenant He established with them at Mt. Horeb through Moses. Included among these 613 mitzvot are the Decalogue which were written on the two tablets of stone. God did not give the Torah to any other people, as Scripture itself states,
"And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, 'Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD.'" - Deuteronomy 5:1-5a
"He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know His rules. Praise the LORD!" - Psalm 147:19-20
These commandments were given exclusively to the Israelites, and to no other people, as part of the covenant God established with Israel, through Moses, at Mt. Horeb in Sinai.
This is not the covenant we have today, because we have received a new and better covenant, in Christ.
"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ... In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." - Hebrews 8:6,13
The Apostle, condemning those who forced the yoke of the Torah on Christians, especially Gentile converts, writes thus:
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." - Colossians 2:16-17
The Apostle goes so far as to say he would that those who teach such things should go ahead and go all the way,
"I would that they who trouble you would cut the whole thing off!" (Galatians 5:12)
Yes, he really does mean what it sounds like he means.
What none of this, however, means is that there is no law at all, or that lawlessness rules. Just because the Torah does not apply to us, does not mean God's Law does not apply to us. Because God's moral law is not a particular law to a particular people, it is what is lawful, right, and just.
Murder did not become wrong when Moses brought forward the tablet of stone on which it was written, "Thou shalt not murder", it was always wrong.
So those who would say, "If Torah does not apply to us we can go and murder" don't know what they are saying. Murder did not become wrong when it was given to Israel, but was always wrong--and for everyone.
Do not, therefore, confuse Torah (the particular law given to Israel) with God's Law in the broad sense. All Torah is Law, but not all Law is Torah.
Look at our own civil laws: Murder is illegal according to the laws of our nations, but not every nation has the same laws. The United States penal codes apply to me, as an American; and included in those laws it says that murder is wrong. That murder is also wrong in other parts of the world, indeed, in every nation across the globe, does not mean that the citizens of other nations are subject to the penal codes and laws of the United States. I am subject to them because I am a citizen of the United States, but a Canadian, an Australian, or someone from China, Japan, or Laos is not. Even though we would all agree to the wrongness of murder.
-CryptoLutheran
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