BEN F. VICK, JR.
One of the great misunderstandings in the religious world, including some in the church, is the ending of the law of Moses. The apostle Paul wrote, “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; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Col. 2:13-15.) “The handwriting of the ordinances” refers to the law of Moses. This verse affirms that the law of Moses, was blotted out. It was taken out of the way. It was nailed to the cross. Thus, the old law became null and void. This had to be done before the new covenant could go into force. The writer of Hebrews said, “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb. 10:9-10.)
In a parallel passage, Paul wrote, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.” (Eph. 2:13-17.) The “ye who sometimes were far off” is the Gentiles. But the blood of Christ made it possible for them to draw near. Jesus broke down “the middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile. The law of Moses was, in a figurative sense, the “middle wall of partition.” It was given to Israel at Sinai. No other nation received this law (Deut. 5:1-3). Thus, it acted like a privacy fence, separating all other nations (Gentiles) from Israel. Jesus abolished in his flesh (that is by his flesh) the enmity, the law of Moses, “even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” By Jesus’ death on the cross, he slew the enmity caused by the separation. Jew and Gentile could be reconciled to God in one body, the church. Thus, to abolish the law of Moses (the law of commandments contained in ordinances), denotes “to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish.” If a legislative body annuls a law, then that law is no longer valid.
Again, back to Hebrews 10:9-10. Jesus took away the first (the law of Moses) to establish the second (the gospel of Christ). If the first had not been made null and void, then the second could not have been established. If the second were not established until A.D 70, then individuals were not sanctified until A.D. 70. If that will did not sanctify men until A.D. 70, then men were not forgiven until A.D. 70. If the first has not been abolished but is still in force, then the second, the gospel of Christ, is not in force. If sins were not forgiven until A.D.70, then the blood of Christ had no power until A.D. 70. If sins were not forgiven until A.D. 70, then Paul missed it when he wrote: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7.) According to A.D. 70 advocates, he should have said: In whom we shall have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. But No! He wrote by inspiration, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. If no forgiveness of sins until A.D. 70, then no redemption until then.
The cross of Jesus is the pivotal moment in history in which there was a change in the covenants. From a national law for Israel to a universal law for all men. A change from a law that could not offer actual forgiveness of sins to a law made possible by the blood of Jesus to offer the actual forgiveness of sins. I do not mean that the gospel of Christ went into effect immediately at the cross, for we know it was not preached in fact until the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ. But then the gospel began to spread from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world.
Some think they have a verse that upholds the false idea that the law of Moses ended incrementally, ultimately ending in A.D. 70. Paul wrote, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” (Heb. 8:13.) The argument is “that which decayeth and waxeth old” is the Old Testament. “Is ready to vanish away” means, according to their reasoning, that the law of Moses was still in force. However, God made the first old. Anything old is that which is to be done away. An excellent comment is made on this statement by Ashley Johnson:
If there are two covenants, and it is positively asserted so in the word of God, in the ordinary line of thought and investigation, it will be right to investigate the First Covenant first. Therefore I address myself to the task of determining what Paul had in mind when he declared that a certain covenant or the first covenant was ready then to vanish away. That is to say, that it had finished its work, that it was no more considered obligatory on any who understood its principles, precepts and provisions, and that it was vanishing even then and there from the hearts, from the lives, from the thoughts and from the experiences of men.
—The Two Covenants, Eugene S. Smith, Publisher, 50th Anniversary Edition – 1949, p. 8.
The religious world jumps over the cross to bring various things from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant. The Seventh Day Adventist leap over the cross to get the ten commandments into the new. According to their books, the Mormons jump over the cross to bring polygamy to the present day. Though most Mormons do not practice it, their books still teach it. The Roman Catholics borrowed incense from the Old Testament, circumventing the cross. The Christian Church and others bounce over the cross to drag the mechanical instrument into the worship of the church.
The second covenant, the gospel of Christ, is in force now. All need to obey it (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).