Is the Law of Moses Our Spiritual Guide? (Part 1)

Is the Law of Moses Our Spiritual Guide? (Part 1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

Many people turn to the Old Testament for their authority for modern religious practices. The most commonly defended practices are those of tithing, Sabbath observance, burning of incense in worship, instrumental music in worship, infant church membership and a separate priesthood. This raises an important question: Are we under the Law of Moses today? Should we seek to justify today’s religious practices by appealing to the Law of Moses? Let us consider some important reasons why we should not.

1. People are often accused of “not believing in the Old Testament” when they teach that the Old Testament is not our standard of authority. However, there is a difference between inspiration and authority. “All Scripture is inspired of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16), and the apostle Paul made it clear that this includes both Old and New Testament “Scriptures.” He wrote, “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:18). The first quote is from Moses (Deut. 25:4). The second quote is from Jesus (Luke 10:7). Paul classified both as “Scripture.” It should also be noted that Jesus broke the Old Testament “Scriptures” down into three parts: the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44, 45). No true Bible believer denies the inspiration and legitimacy of the Old Testament. All “Scripture” must be believed, accepted, and considered as “profitable for salvation” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). The question is not whether or not one should “believe in” the Old Testament, for he must! The question concerns the present purpose and place of those Scriptures. That is, do they constitute an authoritative religious guide for people today?

2. The Law of Moses was given to the Jewish people under a theocratic form of government. This is often overlooked by religious people of today. They fail to consider that many of the Mosaic laws had to do with maintaining the purity of the Abrahamic lineage and the peculiarity of the Jewish people. After summoning the Israelite people, Moses said to 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 alive here today” (Deuteronomy 5:2, 3). This was the nation that God had earlier delivered from Egyptian slavery (Deut. 5:6). Non-Jews before the cross were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,” and “strangers to the covenant” (Eph. 2:12). Their acceptance required a change of laws (Eph. 2:14), hence the inauguration of the New Covenant. (more to come…)

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.