American Reformed
Christianity has always recognized the continuing validity of the case-laws of
the Old Testament (such as
Deuteronomy 19:14, 25:4, 24:14-15, Leviticus 19:12, 18:22) along with those of
the New Testament (such as Ephesians 6:1, Galatians 5:14, Colossians 3:22).
The following quotations are typical of the view of our founding father concerning the applicability of Biblical Law in detail:
On April 3, 1644, the New Haven Colony made this declaration: “It was ordered that the judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses…be a rule to all the courts in this jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders.”
On March 2, 1641/42, the New Haven Colony testified: “…the judicial law of God given by Moses and expanded in other parts of Scripture, sp far as it is a hedge and a fence to the Moral Law, and neither ceremonial or typical nor had any reference to Canaan, hath an everlasting equity in it and should be the rule of their proceedings.”
This perspective is understandable since our heritage as children of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century has always honored God’s law in exhaustive detail. Martin Bucer, who profoundly shaped Calvin’s mind, published a book in 1550 entitled, “De Regno Christi” (The Reign or Kingdom of Christ). This book presents a strategy whereby human society can be Christianized by the application of God’s moral law in the Old Testament and New Testament, including the case-laws. It shows how Biblical law deals with everything from the reform of the church to the reform of marketing; from the celebration of nuptials to the care of public inns. Westminster Press has reprinted the book under the title, “Melancthon and Bucer.”
In 1555-1556 John Calvin preached a series of 200 sermons on Deuteronomy, which were first published in England in 1583. These are published as, “The Sermons of John Calvin upon Deuteronomy.” These sermons prove beyond a doubt that Calvin believed the case-laws to be essential for the Christian civilization the Reformers were trying to reconstruct.
The foot notes in two famous Bible were greatly used of God to spread reformation to the common man, as well as the scholar, throughout Europe. They were the Geneva Bible and the official Bible of the Synod of Dort, which produced the canons of Dort. The footnotes in both Bibles were “theonomic,” i.e., they presupposed and expounded the continuing validity of the Old Testament case-laws.
In the 1640s the Westminster Confession and Catechism were written in England. A simple study of these standards gives evidence to the fact that they stood squarely upon the Protestant Reformed understanding of Biblical Law. Time and again scriptural references used to buttress doctrinal statements are from Old Testament case-laws (for example, Chapter XXIII, section III of the Confession and Larger Catechism questions 103-148). One entire paragraph of the Confession rests upon Old Testament case-laws (XXIV, IV). The Confession itself testifies that, whereas certain ethnic, geographical, and historical aspects of the “sundry” case-laws have “expired,” nevertheless, there remains a “general equity” of the case-laws that is still “required” of us (XIX, IV). James B. Jordan has done a masterful study of the historical reformed understanding of the place of the case-laws, entitled, “Calvinism and ‘The Judicial Laws of Moses.’”
Biblical case-laws are practical applications of the Ten Commandments. They have the force of legal precedents. The Old Testament itself recognizes a distinction (but not a separation) between the broad-sweeping foundational laws of the Decalogue and the structural and specific case-laws which are rooted in and illustrative of these foundational laws. Deuteronomy 4:12-14 says: “He (God) declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow…And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow…” These foundational and structural laws of the Old and New Testaments comprise Christian morality.
When interpreting these case-laws keep in mind these basic principles:
1) The foundational laws are always applicable, Ex. 20:1ff.
2) The underlying principles of the case-laws are always applicable, since they illustrate the basic laws of Biblical morality, Dt. 25:4, 1 Cor. 9:9,10,14; 1 Tim. 5:17,18
3) Where the historical context is similar, the literal case-laws themselves are applicable, Dt. 25:4.
4) The ceremonial rituals reached a termination point in Jesus Christ, Rom. 10:4.
6) The case-laws are to be applied progressively and wisely as the historical situation allows, Num. 35:6f, Josh. 20:2f, Lev. 14:33f, Matt. 5:39 and John 18:22-23.
This understanding of Biblical law rests upon basic theological principles and solid Biblical exegesis. First, since God is of unchanging holy character, his Law, which is a written revelation of his character, is holy and unchanging. Before Biblical morality could be obsolete, God’s character would have to change, i.e., God would have to cease being God.
Second, when the divine Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22) issues a law, only he may dictate the duration or termination of our duty to obey it. The passing of history, the development of man, and the progress of revelation can in no way annul or abrogate divine moral law. Only God may set the boundaries of his law, and unless he has clearly done so in his written Word, we must assume his laws continue in force. To do anything else is to play God.
Third, the Bible expressly states that the coming of the New Testament dispensation (the Christian era) in no way abrogates the Biblical morality of the Old Testament. It confirms it, completes it, and puts it into force in regenerate hearts and lives. Jesus Christ began his public ministry with this introduction to the Sermon on the Mount:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20)."
He makes inescapably clear that every stroke of Old Testament morality (including both the Decalogue and the case-laws) is blinding upon the people of God in all eras. See Greg Bahnsen’s book, “Theonomy in Christian Ethics,” for an irrefutable exposition of these verses. In verse 17 the Greek word for abolish means abolish, dismantle, invalidate, abrogate, or do away with. Jesus is saying that he did not come to abrogate or invalidate any part of God’s law. His ministry in no way whatsoever involves the dismantling of Old Testament morality. When he uses the phrase, “law and prophets,” he is focusing, not on the prophets, but on the ethical stipulations contained in the entire Old Testament. He is not speaking of his personal relation to that law. As he begins his sermon, he is defining the relation of the Old Testament Law to his doctrine, to his teaching ministry. In other words, he will not teach us anything that will have the effect of abolishing the ethical stipulations of the Old Testament.
Furthermore, verse 17 informs us that Jesus came to fulfill the entire moral structure of the Old Testament. The Greek word for “fulfil” means confirm, restore to the full measure, establish, ratify. In meaning and in the usage in this verse, it stands as directly contrary to “abolish” Old Testament law. Charles Spurgeon’s comment on this verse was, “the law of God established and confirmed…Our King has not come to abrogate the law, but to confirm and reassert it.”
Verse 18 strengthens verse 17. It adds that nothing in human history, not even the coming of the Messiah can invalidate the law until the very end of the world, i.e., until everything in history has been accomplished. The comment on “jot and tittle” in verse 18 is telling as well. Benjamin Warfield wrote, “the law in its smallest details remains in undiminished authority so long as the world lasts.” John Murray explains, “A person’s standing (not entrance) in the Kingdom of God is determined by meticulous observation of the least details of the law.”
So, it appears clear that the purpose of this introduction to the Sermon is to root Jesus’ morality in the unchanging moral system of Jehovah revealed in the Old Testament. The Bible presents us with one system of morality—the jots and tittles of revealed law. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows in case-law after case-law how the scribes and Pharisees had overlooked so many “jots and tittles” of God’s holy law that they abused it for their own self-centered purposed.
The Gospel according to Mark brings out Christ’s endorsement of and concern for Biblical law in the totality of his life among men. He commands a leper to follow Mosaic statues, Mark 1:44. He defends his own actions as lawful, Mark 2:25-28. He defines his family in terms of doing God’s revealed will, 3:35. He is disturbed that the Pharisees invalidate Biblical law by their tradition, which originate with men, 7:1-13. He answers moral questions by beginning with the Mosaic Law, 10:3. He declares that obedience to law is essential to our lives as disciples in the Kingdom of God, 10:17f. He enforces the law in the temple, 11:15-17. He is recognized as a master of the law, 12:14f, 28f.
More specifically, in his teaching Jesus makes direct reference to the Decalogue and to the case-laws of the Old Testament as remaining in full force and demands obedience from his hearers. He puts the Ten Commandments and the case-laws on par with each other. In Mark 10:19 he inserts the case-law of Deuteronomy 24:14 into his quotation from the Decalogue. In Matt. 18:16 he refers to Deut. 19:15 and Matt. 19:18f refers to Exodus 20:12-16, Deut. 5:16-20, and Lev. 19:18.
Paul follows Christ in his understanding of the continuing validity of the case-laws. In 1 Tim. 5:18 he quotes Deut. 25:4 and 24:15, and in 1 Tim. 5:19 he refers to Deut. 19:15. In 1 Cor. 9:9 we find Deut. 25:4; in 2 Cor. 6:14 we see Deut. 22:10; in 2 Cor. 13:1 we find Deut. 19:15 and in Gal. 3:10-13 we find Deut. 27:20f, 21:23, and Lev. 18:5. In each of these cases Paul uses these case-laws with the full consciousness that they have authority for the Christian who is responsible to apply them Biblically. In 1 Cor. 9:9 he introduces a case-law with the expression, “For it is written in the Law of Moses…” That is his usual expression for impressing his readers with the divine authority backing the duty enjoined.
Several key scriptural truths in the New Testament rest upon the abiding validity of case-laws. In Matt. 18:15-20 the New Testament method of church discipline rests upon the command concerning “two witnesses” corroborating a testimony and conviction in Deut. 19:5, Deut. 7:6, and Num. 35:30. The summary of Jesus’ ethical system is loving God and loving neighbor as one’s self, which is merely a restatement of an Old Testament case-law, Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18. The substitutionary nature of Christ’s atonement is required and defines in terms of a case-law from Deut. 21:23 and Gal. 3:13.
Finally, in the last chapter of the Bible we are told that the criterion which determines one’s exclusion from the New Heaven and New Earth includes the Old Testament case-laws prohibiting homosexuality and sorcery, Rev. 22:15. (“Dogs” is God’s word for homosexuals.) Therefore, it is in this context that the Bible concludes with this curse:
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Revelation 22:18-19)."
The following quotations are typical of the view of our founding father concerning the applicability of Biblical Law in detail:
On April 3, 1644, the New Haven Colony made this declaration: “It was ordered that the judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses…be a rule to all the courts in this jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders.”
On March 2, 1641/42, the New Haven Colony testified: “…the judicial law of God given by Moses and expanded in other parts of Scripture, sp far as it is a hedge and a fence to the Moral Law, and neither ceremonial or typical nor had any reference to Canaan, hath an everlasting equity in it and should be the rule of their proceedings.”
This perspective is understandable since our heritage as children of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century has always honored God’s law in exhaustive detail. Martin Bucer, who profoundly shaped Calvin’s mind, published a book in 1550 entitled, “De Regno Christi” (The Reign or Kingdom of Christ). This book presents a strategy whereby human society can be Christianized by the application of God’s moral law in the Old Testament and New Testament, including the case-laws. It shows how Biblical law deals with everything from the reform of the church to the reform of marketing; from the celebration of nuptials to the care of public inns. Westminster Press has reprinted the book under the title, “Melancthon and Bucer.”
In 1555-1556 John Calvin preached a series of 200 sermons on Deuteronomy, which were first published in England in 1583. These are published as, “The Sermons of John Calvin upon Deuteronomy.” These sermons prove beyond a doubt that Calvin believed the case-laws to be essential for the Christian civilization the Reformers were trying to reconstruct.
The foot notes in two famous Bible were greatly used of God to spread reformation to the common man, as well as the scholar, throughout Europe. They were the Geneva Bible and the official Bible of the Synod of Dort, which produced the canons of Dort. The footnotes in both Bibles were “theonomic,” i.e., they presupposed and expounded the continuing validity of the Old Testament case-laws.
In the 1640s the Westminster Confession and Catechism were written in England. A simple study of these standards gives evidence to the fact that they stood squarely upon the Protestant Reformed understanding of Biblical Law. Time and again scriptural references used to buttress doctrinal statements are from Old Testament case-laws (for example, Chapter XXIII, section III of the Confession and Larger Catechism questions 103-148). One entire paragraph of the Confession rests upon Old Testament case-laws (XXIV, IV). The Confession itself testifies that, whereas certain ethnic, geographical, and historical aspects of the “sundry” case-laws have “expired,” nevertheless, there remains a “general equity” of the case-laws that is still “required” of us (XIX, IV). James B. Jordan has done a masterful study of the historical reformed understanding of the place of the case-laws, entitled, “Calvinism and ‘The Judicial Laws of Moses.’”
Biblical case-laws are practical applications of the Ten Commandments. They have the force of legal precedents. The Old Testament itself recognizes a distinction (but not a separation) between the broad-sweeping foundational laws of the Decalogue and the structural and specific case-laws which are rooted in and illustrative of these foundational laws. Deuteronomy 4:12-14 says: “He (God) declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow…And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow…” These foundational and structural laws of the Old and New Testaments comprise Christian morality.
When interpreting these case-laws keep in mind these basic principles:
1) The foundational laws are always applicable, Ex. 20:1ff.
2) The underlying principles of the case-laws are always applicable, since they illustrate the basic laws of Biblical morality, Dt. 25:4, 1 Cor. 9:9,10,14; 1 Tim. 5:17,18
3) Where the historical context is similar, the literal case-laws themselves are applicable, Dt. 25:4.
4) The ceremonial rituals reached a termination point in Jesus Christ, Rom. 10:4.
- Although their underlying Gospel truths still remain in authority, Heb. 9:22
- Although in come instances even these rituals illustrate moral principles of abiding authority, Lev. 2:1-16.
6) The case-laws are to be applied progressively and wisely as the historical situation allows, Num. 35:6f, Josh. 20:2f, Lev. 14:33f, Matt. 5:39 and John 18:22-23.
This understanding of Biblical law rests upon basic theological principles and solid Biblical exegesis. First, since God is of unchanging holy character, his Law, which is a written revelation of his character, is holy and unchanging. Before Biblical morality could be obsolete, God’s character would have to change, i.e., God would have to cease being God.
Second, when the divine Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22) issues a law, only he may dictate the duration or termination of our duty to obey it. The passing of history, the development of man, and the progress of revelation can in no way annul or abrogate divine moral law. Only God may set the boundaries of his law, and unless he has clearly done so in his written Word, we must assume his laws continue in force. To do anything else is to play God.
Third, the Bible expressly states that the coming of the New Testament dispensation (the Christian era) in no way abrogates the Biblical morality of the Old Testament. It confirms it, completes it, and puts it into force in regenerate hearts and lives. Jesus Christ began his public ministry with this introduction to the Sermon on the Mount:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20)."
He makes inescapably clear that every stroke of Old Testament morality (including both the Decalogue and the case-laws) is blinding upon the people of God in all eras. See Greg Bahnsen’s book, “Theonomy in Christian Ethics,” for an irrefutable exposition of these verses. In verse 17 the Greek word for abolish means abolish, dismantle, invalidate, abrogate, or do away with. Jesus is saying that he did not come to abrogate or invalidate any part of God’s law. His ministry in no way whatsoever involves the dismantling of Old Testament morality. When he uses the phrase, “law and prophets,” he is focusing, not on the prophets, but on the ethical stipulations contained in the entire Old Testament. He is not speaking of his personal relation to that law. As he begins his sermon, he is defining the relation of the Old Testament Law to his doctrine, to his teaching ministry. In other words, he will not teach us anything that will have the effect of abolishing the ethical stipulations of the Old Testament.
Furthermore, verse 17 informs us that Jesus came to fulfill the entire moral structure of the Old Testament. The Greek word for “fulfil” means confirm, restore to the full measure, establish, ratify. In meaning and in the usage in this verse, it stands as directly contrary to “abolish” Old Testament law. Charles Spurgeon’s comment on this verse was, “the law of God established and confirmed…Our King has not come to abrogate the law, but to confirm and reassert it.”
Verse 18 strengthens verse 17. It adds that nothing in human history, not even the coming of the Messiah can invalidate the law until the very end of the world, i.e., until everything in history has been accomplished. The comment on “jot and tittle” in verse 18 is telling as well. Benjamin Warfield wrote, “the law in its smallest details remains in undiminished authority so long as the world lasts.” John Murray explains, “A person’s standing (not entrance) in the Kingdom of God is determined by meticulous observation of the least details of the law.”
So, it appears clear that the purpose of this introduction to the Sermon is to root Jesus’ morality in the unchanging moral system of Jehovah revealed in the Old Testament. The Bible presents us with one system of morality—the jots and tittles of revealed law. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows in case-law after case-law how the scribes and Pharisees had overlooked so many “jots and tittles” of God’s holy law that they abused it for their own self-centered purposed.
The Gospel according to Mark brings out Christ’s endorsement of and concern for Biblical law in the totality of his life among men. He commands a leper to follow Mosaic statues, Mark 1:44. He defends his own actions as lawful, Mark 2:25-28. He defines his family in terms of doing God’s revealed will, 3:35. He is disturbed that the Pharisees invalidate Biblical law by their tradition, which originate with men, 7:1-13. He answers moral questions by beginning with the Mosaic Law, 10:3. He declares that obedience to law is essential to our lives as disciples in the Kingdom of God, 10:17f. He enforces the law in the temple, 11:15-17. He is recognized as a master of the law, 12:14f, 28f.
More specifically, in his teaching Jesus makes direct reference to the Decalogue and to the case-laws of the Old Testament as remaining in full force and demands obedience from his hearers. He puts the Ten Commandments and the case-laws on par with each other. In Mark 10:19 he inserts the case-law of Deuteronomy 24:14 into his quotation from the Decalogue. In Matt. 18:16 he refers to Deut. 19:15 and Matt. 19:18f refers to Exodus 20:12-16, Deut. 5:16-20, and Lev. 19:18.
Paul follows Christ in his understanding of the continuing validity of the case-laws. In 1 Tim. 5:18 he quotes Deut. 25:4 and 24:15, and in 1 Tim. 5:19 he refers to Deut. 19:15. In 1 Cor. 9:9 we find Deut. 25:4; in 2 Cor. 6:14 we see Deut. 22:10; in 2 Cor. 13:1 we find Deut. 19:15 and in Gal. 3:10-13 we find Deut. 27:20f, 21:23, and Lev. 18:5. In each of these cases Paul uses these case-laws with the full consciousness that they have authority for the Christian who is responsible to apply them Biblically. In 1 Cor. 9:9 he introduces a case-law with the expression, “For it is written in the Law of Moses…” That is his usual expression for impressing his readers with the divine authority backing the duty enjoined.
Several key scriptural truths in the New Testament rest upon the abiding validity of case-laws. In Matt. 18:15-20 the New Testament method of church discipline rests upon the command concerning “two witnesses” corroborating a testimony and conviction in Deut. 19:5, Deut. 7:6, and Num. 35:30. The summary of Jesus’ ethical system is loving God and loving neighbor as one’s self, which is merely a restatement of an Old Testament case-law, Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18. The substitutionary nature of Christ’s atonement is required and defines in terms of a case-law from Deut. 21:23 and Gal. 3:13.
Finally, in the last chapter of the Bible we are told that the criterion which determines one’s exclusion from the New Heaven and New Earth includes the Old Testament case-laws prohibiting homosexuality and sorcery, Rev. 22:15. (“Dogs” is God’s word for homosexuals.) Therefore, it is in this context that the Bible concludes with this curse:
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Revelation 22:18-19)."
