We are looking into the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, where the law is written on our hearts. In the previous post, we walked through the more legalist approach taken in some modern, mainly Sabbatarian, church groups. We found there are many private interpretations of what "the law" means, and all are but a fraction of the whole law. These lists do not resemble what Ezekiel and Jeremiah would recognize as the law. So we ask, do several competing partial lists, hand picked and edited, that change over time, really solve the issue and fulfill the prophecy?
Today, we will investigate the second opinion. As a refresher, that was:
Opinion 2) The Old Covenant law is gone but the spirit of the law remains, the whole law is fulfilled in faith and love, and the Holy Spirit leads us in it.
Let's just be fair here - mainstream Christianity sounds just as absurd to a Sabbatarian as Sabbatarianism does to a mainstream Christian. What started Sabbatarianism in the first place? In Catholicism, the Ten Commandments are required, but not really the fourth. Protestants continued this, but then started asking, "Why not the fourth Commandment?" voilà! Sabbatarianism. The whole thing was started by competing lists. Are there no competing ideas in mainstream Christianity like there are in Sabbatarianism? With 40,000+ denominations in the world, undeniably, there are. We traded one Pope for a billion Popes.
Whatever I said about the Sabbatarians in the last post, you can pretty much say the same thing about most mainstream Christianity. The field is ripe for "so's your old man" logical fallacies.
So, what on earth is the answer to this puzzle??
With issues like this, it is wise to start at the start. Let's start with the most fundamental thing I can think of.
LEGALLY DONE
If even so much as one law is removed, any whatsoever, we need to ask HOW was any law removed in the first place? This needs to be answered because if you believe Jesus is who He said He is, then this affects you. This isn't an opinion 1 vs opinion 2 thing. It's all of us.
I often see people mention, "I looked but don't see where [insert law here] was removed. Where was it removed?" A valid question. Many can see in Hebrews where the priesthood had changed. But what about other laws, like the prohibition against mixed fabrics? How are they removed? Before Christ, there was the Levitical Priesthood. After Christ, there was not. What happened? The Bible doesn't say? No, it does say. It says: the Christ event.
But saying "the Christ event" isn't good enough for this. It's too broad. We need to know what about the Christ event, specifically.
Let's get one thing absolutely straight. Jesus did not simply abolish the law by decree. If you go looking for, "I, Jesus of Nazareth, hereby declare Tzitzit removed," you're not going to find that. He did not do it one law at a time. There was no, "This law stays, this law goes, this group stays, this group goes." This is the place where Matthew 5:17-18 comes in.
Instead, Jesus Christ - the very One who made the Covenant with Israel at Sinai (1 Cor. 10:4; Jude 5) - did something far more profound: First He kept the covenant blamelessly, to fulfill Israel's end of the deal, then He died and rose again.
This is the important part of the Christ event we must zoom in on -- when He died, that Old Covenant dissolved completely. Nothing could change until everything changed.
Gone. Abolished. Abrogated. Passed away. In Part I, I quoted a person who said, "What is dissolved, abolished, decays, grows old, fades away was the sacrificial system." Negative. Not the ceremonial law only. It was the entire Covenant.
Find, if you can, even one passage where the New Testament explains the change in the law by any other means than the replacing of the Old Covenant. You won't find one. (And no, I do not think Mark 17: 9 counts.)
You can repeat "only the ceremonial law is gone" all you like. The burden of proof is on you to demonstrate how that is possible. The New Testament never portrays God as editing the Sinai Covenant line by line. It consistently explains the change by pointing to the end of the Old Covenant and the arrival of the New. Even in Hebrews 8! And when did that happen? At His death. When did the curtain tear in half? People think only the ceremonial law is gone because that is what they see in Hebrews 7-8, but how does Hebrews explain the means for removing the ceremonial law? By removal of the entire covenant! Was the Covenant merely the priesthood (DEU. 4:13)? No.
The question now changes from, "how was the law removed?" to, "how can any law survive this?"
Once the contract ends, all the terms end. The answer is clear: No Old Covenant law survived.
Sabbatarianism simply declares, "All laws survive unless otherwise stated." But how is that possible? Name one contract that works this way. Do you have any idea how many laws were never 'otherwise stated', which means they survive? See part I for those numbers.
Once agreed to, a contract cannot be changed (GAL. 3:15). Yet, things have changed. They have, or else Jesus Christ is not your High Priest, the Jews and Gentiles are not one, those laws that your list doesn't include are still required, there is no Spiritual Israel, and all Gentiles are not heirs but still strangers. These are not merely ceremonial points. Since things have changed, then we know the contract changed.
There are three options for altering a contract.
- You may sign a new contract that amends but does not replace the first. The New Covenant is not the New Addendum. If it were, this would need to be clearly stated somewhere. It isn't.
- You may agree to a new contract that replaces the first. The New Covenant has replaced the Old entirely. New terms, new promises, new parties. The Old is dead. This is clearly stated in the New Testament (HEB. 8:6-7, 13; II. COR. 3:7; GAL. 4:21-31).
- You may naturally terminate the contract. This is also clearly stated. Death naturally terminates a contract. In Romans 6:1-4 & 7:1-6, and Galatians 2:19-20, and elsewhere, Paul tells us we have died in Christ. In dying with Christ, we are freed from the covenant.
We have not just one escape but two.
None of this was done by simply declaring it so. All was done legally. Meticulously. Properly.
(For more, read "Confusing the Covenants".)
This is how any law at all was removed. But not just one law; the whole covenant! No Old Covenant law survives this. This shifts things from, "where does it say that law was removed," to, "where does it say that law is part of the New Covenant." And the weekly Sabbath was never said to be reintroduced in the New Covenant.
The same selection from Jeremiah which promises a law written on hearts also promises a New Covenant which is not like the Old. And that is exactly how the author of Hebrews treats it. No New Testament author appeals to Jeremiah 31 to justify law observance or to claim, "Nothing's different. Carry on as usual."
With the exception of some outliers, both opinions 1 and 2 believe the Old Covenant is gone. Both opinions must wrestle with this same problem. The Covenant cannot be gone and not gone at the same time. It cannot be 100% replaced and only 5/6 replaced at the same time.
Now, I bet you are wondering how a law can be gone and written on our hearts at the same time.
THE SOLUTION
To say, "the letter of the law must be written on our hearts," is to say, "the ceremonial law including the Levitical Priesthood must be written on our hearts." That is completely inconsistent with the belief that those laws are gone. (We touched on this in the last post) The answer is not in customized short-lists of laws, with some moral laws here and some ceremonial laws there; fulfilling a small fraction of the law but never all of it, yet claiming that's all of it. Where do Jeremiah and Ezekiel say, "some of the law"?
So, what is the solution?
I will put it to you bluntly and openly: the letter of the law is not written on our hearts; the spirit of the law is (ROM. 2:29; 7:6; II COR. 3:4-6).
Every New Testament author follows a singular theme. I will sum up the solution like this: fulfill all of the law through love and faith.
We've heard a great deal about this verse:
(MAT. 5:17) Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Very popular proof text. Frequently used. Top ten. Yet, I find it odd that no one seems to quote the follow-up:
(MAT. 7:12) Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
From the Golden Rule to the greatest laws.
(MAT. 22: 37-40) 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
All the law and all the prophets. It is all summed up in two words: faith and love.
(JON. 13:34-35) 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
(JON. 15:12-14,17) 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ... 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
It's what John said: I John. 3:11,23 and II John 1:6.
It's what Peter said: I Peter 4:8.
It's what Paul said: Galatians 5:14 and I Timothy. 1:5.
It's what James said: James 2:8.
It's what Jude said: Jude 20-21.
If you love, then you fulfill the whole law. All of it. And the Prophets, too. That is how the whole law is kept even when the letter of the law is gone. Paul calls it "the spirit of the law" (ROM. 7: 6). The intent. The real point.
The real point of tefillin was not to hang scripture on your forehead (DEU. 11:18).
The real point of circumcision was not to cut off your skin (ROM. 2: 9).
Seriously, Paul bluntly says you don't need the law to keep the spirit of the law (ROM. 2:14).
Find for me where the New Testament emphasizes the Sabbath in this way as it does faith and love. I'll save you the time, it doesn't. But love and faith are repeatedly offered as the solution.
Some will immediately think of Hebrews 4:9: "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." But the context of Hebrews 4 is not that the promised rest is found in the weekly Sabbath. It literally says the opposite! Rather, the chapter repeatedly points to a rest entered into by faith in Christ. I've discussed that passage in more detail elsewhere. For now, it is enough to note that even here the emphasis falls on faith, not on preserving an Old Covenant ordinance.
One will no doubt say to me, "But 'love your neighbor' is straight from the law. The two great commandments were in the law." Yes, they were. But we do not love simply because Moses commanded it, and we would not stop loving simply because a covenant ended. The Bible never says, "Keep the law and you will fulfill love." It says the opposite: love fulfills the law.
That was Jesus' point, was it not? The law pointed to something greater than itself. Before Sinai there was God, and before there was any written code there was love, because God's very nature is love. Love and faith go straight to the ultimate source.
The Old Covenant did not create love and faith; it bore witness to it. The two great commandments are equally as valid in the New Covenant as they were in the Old not because they "came forward" but because love is a deep, eternal truth and faith is mandatory. That is why so many New Testament writers can say that love fulfills the law.
Can you say the same about tithes? No. Does avoiding shrimp cocktail fulfill the law? No. The Sabbath law doesn't even say "go to church on Saturday", so how can that fulfill anything at all?
If you have one law - no, let's say you have the entire category of moral law - then what do you have? Not the whole law. That's for certain. And as the law itself will attest, if we approach this by law but do not have the whole law, what do we really have? Nothing at all. But if we approach this by the spirit of the law - love and faith - then what does the New Testament consistently say we have? All the law and the prophets.
It's the only way.
(JON. 4:23-24) 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Finally, let's take a look at that new heart.
ABOUT THAT NEW HEART
I will give you a new heart.
What is a heart? Not your beating heart, but your emotional and inner self. What goes into and out from a heart? Is it not faith and love (I TIM. 1:5; I PET. 1:22)? And what did Ezekiel say about the heart?
(EZE 36: 26-27) 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
What is a heart of stone? What is a heart of flesh? Is stone not about stubbornness and pride? Is flesh not about teachableness and humility?
So, we must ask, what does a new heart do for the old law? If this new heart is so capable of keeping the old law, then why do all lists only have at most 5/6 of the laws on them? Because that isn't the solution. It cheats. What is the new heart is capable of? Love. And what is love? All the law and all the prophets.
I know someone will say to me, "But I do have faith. We have to have faith and keep the law, too."
And to that I ask, have you heard nothing I've said? You don't keep the letter of the law. "Keeping" 1/6 of the law is not "keeping the law". But if you have faith and love, then you already have the whole law. I personally believe this to be true - that you will find you accidentally fulfill more of the law through your love and faith than you realize, and far more than you literally accomplish through "keeping" a customized set of laws.
If even after all this you still want to keep some of the law, then I say do it. The Jewish converts kept the law, zealously. Observing a Sabbath isn't the problem. The problem is thinking it earns you anything with God, and that this partial law-keeping makes you superior to others who don't believe they have to follow along.
CONCLUSION
Even as some say, "The law is the same," they also say, "Most of the law is gone." Even as some say, "The law has not changed," they also say, "The law has changed significantly." Laws are retained, laws are removed, laws are changed, and new laws are invented. To me, this is cheating.
What is the solution, then?
- Jesus is the law-keeper.
- Jesus is our righteousness.
- His righteousness comes to us by faith alone.
- Our laws are faith and love.
- Faith and love fulfill the intent of the entire law and the prophets.
- The Holy Spirit is sent to be our guide.
- If we are following the Holy Spirit, we will not be doing lawless things.
Faith and love and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit - THAT is the solution. That is the law written on our hearts. That is us keeping His statues and judgments. Whatever you think is required above and beyond that is just window dressing.
(I COR. 13:13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Where is "law" in that list? Absent. Why? Because if you have faith and love then you've fulfilled the whole law. Hebrews 11 isn't the "law chapter". This is what Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah were talking about. This is what all the Apostles were talking about. This is what Jesus was talking about.
We started with two options:
Opinion 1) The Old Covenant law remains, but only some of it, and the Holy Spirit helps us keep it.
Opinion 2) The Old Covenant law is gone, but the spirit of the law remains, the whole law is fulfilled in faith and love, and the Holy Spirit leads us in it.
As for me, I'm going with Opinion 2.
For more, I suggest:
The Law (The Ten Commandments)
The Sabbath Rest of John 14
Is Ceremonial Law Removed?
Are the Ten Commandments Removed?
Confusing the Covenants
Why Not Keep Biblical Days?
Tithing - You're Doing It Wrong
Lawlessness and I John 3
Common Legalist Arguments - part 1
What Use Is The Old Law?
Old Covenant vs. New Covenant
The Road To Sabbatarianism - Part I
Paul's Use of Psalm 32 In Romans 4
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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