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2/4 Reading Portions: Genesis 37; Mark 7; Job 3; Romans 7
Romans 7:12
So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
ABOLISHED
There are some theologians who suggest that when Christ fulfilled God’s Law, only the moral law, the Ten Commandments, remain as relevant to the lives of Christian believers. They claim the civil law, the commands for the people of Israel to live together in a godly manner, had been abolished. They also claim the ceremonial law, the commands and instruction for worship in the tabernacle and temple, have also been abolished. They base this on a misunderstanding of two Bible verses:
And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 2 Corinthians 3:13, KJV, emphasis added
and:
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; Ephesians 2:15, KJV, emphasis added
The Greek word translated abolish here occurs 27 times in the New Testament. It has also been translated without effect or destroyed. Yet interpreting Scripture with Scripture, we grasp a better understanding of the word as it is used in this verse:
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 2 Timothy 1:10, KJV, emphasis added
Has the Lord Jesus Christ abolished death? He most certainly has. How? By His sacrificial death and His rising from the dead. Has death, at this time, been completely eradicated? No. people still die.
The Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, has been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, has elevated the Law to its rightful, glorious place. No mere man can perform God’s commands perfectly. Only Jesus can… and has.
The origin of God’s Law is God Himself, who is eternal. The Law can never really be completely destroyed. Its commands to man, however, are made ineffective (abolished) since they are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He continues to fulfill them in and through His redeemed saints, as we, by God’s grace through faith, present our bodies as living sacrifices, which are holy and acceptable unto God, and most reasonable as worship to God (Rom 12:1). Hallelujah! What a Savior!