Was the Law Abolished at the Cross?
By I. A. Crane
SOME people confidently affirm that when Christ died on the cross, the old law, the Ten Commandments, Sabbath and all, was abolished. There are some very serious objections to this doctrine. 1. If the moral law was nailed to the cross, we need to know when a new law was enacted, and how it reads since the change came. We recently heard a man who advocated the abolition of the law, tell his congregation that the new law was instituted at Pentecost, and that there was no law during this fifty-three days! If this were true, how could God condemn those wicked priests for what they did during this time? They were guilty of bribery, perjury, fraud, and deception. See Matt. 27:63; 28:11-15. Where no law is, sin can not be imputed. Rom. 4:15; 5:13.5 God has a case against those who pierced His Son. Will these modern lawyers quash the proceedings, and have it thrown out of court? Rev. 1:7. But this theory leads to still greater inconsistencies. No law was given at Pentecost. See Acts 2. The same speaker told us Christ lived under the old covenant, and therefore His example in keeping Saturday must not be followed by people in the new covenant. He stated that the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which of course do relate the events before the cross, belong to the old covenant, and are not for us to-day. This robs us of all the teaching and example of Christ; but to one who wants to get rid of the law, this presents no serious objection. Besides, it does get rid of such troublesome texts as Luke 4:16 and 23:56. But, thank God, all before the cross was not abolished. The covenant made with Abraham was confirmed, not abolished, in Christ. Gal. 3:17. It was “the everlasting covenant,” which, in other words, was to last to “a thousand generations.” 1 Chron. 16:15-17. Only forty-two of these generations passed from Abraham till Christ. Matt. 1:17. No law given to Israel could conflict with this covenant made with Abraham and his seed. Tho it were a man's covenant, no later additions or changes could be made. Gal. 3:15. God keeps His covenant, and herein is the hope of all that shall be redeemed. Men may fail, but God remains faithful. Therefore, even to-day, if we believe in Christ as Abraham did, we become Abraham's children, and heirs of that eternal promise. Gal. 3:29. Bless the Lord, this promise did not end at the cross, and it never will end. It is easy to see that the sacrificial system which shadowed forth the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God, did meet a fulfilment in the death of Christ. There was nothing in the Ten Commandments which was a shadow of anything to come, but the law of the sacrifices did have a “shadow of good things to come.” “But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Heb. 10:1-4. The perfection required in each symbol, the manner of its offering, the death and blood of the innocent victim, all taught them about Jesus. The law relating to the first-born, taught them of Heaven's First-born; the first-fruits pointed to the choicest and best gift of the Father. To prefigure Him, man was to bring an offering which would inspire him with the thought of this great outlay of Heaven's treasure freely given for man's redemption. God gave what He loved most — His own Son. His gift was His most valued treasure. In this gift was the highest type of perfection. Every believer in this great gospel truth, was to show his faith by offerings calculated to lead him to understand and appreciate the offering of Christ. The sacrificial system began just after the fall. From Abel's time, the faith of the faithful was expressed by sacrifices and offerings. See Heb. 11:4; Gen. 4:4; 8:20; 22:13; 31:54. More complete instruction was given in connection with the sanctuary service at Sinai. These offerings, to them, like baptism and the Lord's Supper to us, brought to mind the guilt of sins which could only be forgiven through faith in the blood of Christ. Heb. 10:1-4. These ceremonies point to a remedy; the moral law is a safeguard against sin. Had man never broken the moral law (1 John 3:4; Rom. 7:7), there would have been no lost sinners to save, no need of a Saviour to bleed and die; and consequently no sacrificial law to prefigure His death. Obedience to all the Ten Commandments would have saved a world from being lost, and rendered unnecessary the suffering and death of the Son of God. No, we do not make void the law by faith. We establish it before all the universe by our confession. Rom. 3:31. Truly Christ did not come to abolish the law which is the detector of sin (Rom. 7:7), but to deliver us from sin and its slavery. “He shall save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. He takes away sin, not the law. He makes us free from sin and its dominion over us, “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” Rom. 8:3, 4. And His saints “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. Thus delivered, they will once more have a right to the tree of life. Rev. 22:14.