The Mosaic Law: From The Hand Of Christ

I have heard it said a number of times that Christ gave us a new law, or a different law. Sometimes it is also expressed as Christ's expansion of the law. The sermon on the mount is often given as the example of Christ doing this. This is not the case however. Christ was not giving us new law, nor was he replacing the old law. What he was doing was explaining the fullness of the old law. I think that we can see this if we take seriously Christ's words in Matthew 5 and then meditate on the law of God received at Sinai.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20)

After saying this, he goes through a number of points contrasting between two, seemingly different, laws by using a "you have heard it said...but I say" formula. What is significant is that nothing he says is really new. His teaching was certainly being contrasted with that of the scribes and the pharisees, that is without doubt. He was setting his law over against their law. He was also setting the Mosaic law over against their law, however. Christ was not giving new law, he was accusing the teachers of the law of perverting and changing the law.

A few illustrations from the text can making this point: murder and adultery. Both of these are clear violations of the law of God; they are violations of the sixth and seventh commandments. Christ expands these laws to obedience of the heart. If you hate your brother, that is murder. If you lust after a woman, that is adultery. This move by Christ may seem like new law, but it is simply the logic of the Decalogue when consistently applied. What Christ does on the sermon on the mount is the same thing he did at Sinai in the giving of the eighth and tenth commandments. Hate and lust are to the sixth and seventh commandments (murder and adultery) what the tenth commandment (covetousness) is to the eighth commandment (theft). God has, since the beginning, been concerned with both outward and inward obedience. Man has, since the beginning, been concerned with only outward obedience. This was what Christ did at the sermon on the mount: exegete the law. Nothing more.

There are other considerations that can be made in relation of Christ to the law. What are the positive commands attached to the prohibitions; what are the prohibitions attached to positive commands? What is the relation of Christ's summary of the law to the entire Mosaic law? These are subjects for different posts. What we must understand here is that Christ is not the giver of new law. While it is true that Christ is greater than Moses, it is not true that Christ's law is greater than Moses' law. What we must understand is that the law given to Moses at Sinai was given to Moses from the hand of Christ who wrote his law on the tablets of stone. The sermon on the mount is not set apart from the giving of the law at Sinai, it is the explanation of the law given at Sinai.

What does this mean for us today? We ought to meditate on the law, learn to delight in it. Love and law are not antithetical, they are synonymous. If we will have any part of Christ, we will have his law as well. As he said, "if you love me, you will keep my commandments." This certainly will not mean that we are without sin. Until we are made perfect at the consummation of all things, we will wrestle with our lingering sin, the remnant of death in our lives. However, those who are born of God, who have the law written on their hearts of flesh instead of the tablets of stone, will never be able to sin with all of our heart. We long for our God and we cling to his sacrifice for us and his promise to cause us to obey. We cling to Christ and then we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, as children of God. Let us read the law, love the law, and obey the law as it is given to us by our redeemer, Jesus Christ.