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Practically it would be impossible for us to fulfil the law literally today. We have no sacrificial system and circumstances make it impossible to apply the penalties laid down in the law. Much of the law, if not all, pointed to Christ. He is the mercy-seat (Romans 3:25) and the one offering for the taking away of sins (Hebrews 10). Further, Moses prophesied of the coming of Christ, saying: “Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15; quoted in Acts 3:22). This passage in Deuteronomy, incidentally, destroys the Moslem claim that Mohammed was the prophet referred to, because although the idea that Ishmael was a brother of Isaac can be plausibly said to be in accord with the words “of thy brethren” the preceding words “from the midst of thee” cannot. Christ himself was a Jew and was born in Israel; Mohammed came from Arabia and was probably an Ishmaelite. |
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However, Christians usually maintain that the Old Testament as well as the New can be read for profit at the present time and any attempt to cut out bits because they don’t suit us would clearly be wrong; one person would then only have part of the truth, and another who cut out other bits would only have another part. The result would destroy Christian unity, as in fact it has often done. The point is to take up the Old Testament in the light of the New, which practically means taking it up in accord with Christ’s teaching. He is the one to whom we are to hearken as stated in the quotation from Deuteronomy referred to above. |
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From another point of view, as Paul says: “Law has not its application to a righteous person, but to [the] lawless and insubordinate...” (1 Timothy 1: 9-11). We should not be desirous of being law-teachers (1 Timothy 1:7). Our standard of living should so to speak be above law; we should be taking Christ as our model (1 Peter 2:21). We may also take Paul as a model, for he followed Christ (Philippians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 11:1). Strictly speaking the law was framed for the benefit of a people whose inheritance was on earth (Deuteronomy 19:14; Psalm 25:13). Our inheritance is elsewhere (1 Peter 1:4), though we live out |