The "Old Bible"
by Carl B. Garner

I haven’t heard it in several years, but in generations gone by it wasn’t unusual for people to call the Old Testament the “Old Bible.” It’s true, the material found in the books of Genesis through Malachi is about some very old days, going back to the very beginning, to creation. It discusses the first man and the first woman, the first birth and the first death, the first sin and the first rain. It describes God’s plans for His creation, and it even gives the “state of mind” of the Creator when man violated His laws. It tells of the descendants of Abraham who would produce and later reject the Son of God. It even gives us a copy of the law Moses received on Mt. Sinai.

What should be the attitude of modern man toward that law, that Old Covenant, that “Old Bible?” Is that law still in effect? Must we still eat only those things allowed in the Jewish dietary laws? Is modern man forbidden to work on Saturday? Or is it Sunday? Must we observe the Passover and the day of Atonement? These questions deserve a biblical, truthful answer.

TO WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN?

For some reason people seem to have forgotten that the Law of Moses was never given to any but the descendants of Abraham, the Jews. In Exodus 20:If we see that God’s commands were intended for those who had been brought “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” To Abraham God said, “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee...” the promises and their fulfillment. Deuteronomy 5 and 6 clearly show that those laws were directed to Israel: “Hear, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee...Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,” Deuteronomy 6:3-4. While the gentile world had a law from God (relate 1 John 3:4 and Jonah, it was not the law of Moses.

WAS THE PURPOSE OF THAT LAW?

The New Testament tells us that the purpose of that old law was to be a school-master “to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The passage goes on to say that “after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” Galatians 3:23-29. The gospel of Christ, including the messianic fulfillment, is one result of the Mosaic covenant. How did that law eventuate in the gospel? One way is by teaching man the principle of vicarious sacrifice. They learned that the blood of a lamb was acceptable as an atoning sacrifice for one’s sins, thereby preparing the Jews and all nations for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. The law also told mankind that God has authority to make and enforce rules of conduct for men and women everywhere. His authority becomes our obligation to obey those laws; laws that are not only objective in their nature but capable of being understood by all.

WHO MUST OBEY THAT LAW TODAY?

The answer to this question is quite simple: No one is amenable to the law of Moses today, whether the dietary laws, feast days, sabbath laws, holy days, or even the ten commandments. The blood of Christ has taken that law “out of the way, nailing it to his cross,” Colossians 2:14-17. Other passages make this same point equally clear, including Romans 7:1-4 (“ye are become dead to the law”), Ephesians 2:15 (“having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments”), Hebrews 8:13 (“In that he saith, A new covenant, he math made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away”), and 2 Corinthians 3:6-14 (“that which is done away”).

WHAT IS THE RESULT?

Abolishing the Mosaic law did not remove prohibitions against murder, adultery, rape or theft, but it did declare that the Law of Christ is the source of authority revealing what is allowed and what is forbidden. Remember that Colossians 2:14-17 has already been cited telling us that the old law has been taken “out of the way” and nailed to the cross. What is the result of that law being abolished? From these verses we know we are neither amenable to nor judged by Mosaic laws concerning:

• meat or drink (Jewish dietary laws),
• their holy days, new moons, feasts,
• the laws regarding the sabbath.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT:

• the old law was given only to the descendants of Abraham, the Jews;
• that it would eventually vanish away;
• that it has been abolished; ¤ that its purpose was to bring us to Christ, which has been accomplished;
• that we are dead to that old law;
• that all are now amenable to the “law of Christ”;
• that Christ fulfilled that old law; and ¤ that the sacrifices of the law of Moses were never intended to be capable of removing sin permanently.

We are not removed from obligation to all law, for all are “under law to Christ,” 1 Corinthians 9:21. But the Ten Commandments and other facets of that law (which God described as “holy...just...good” Romans 7:12) did everything it was intended to do. It has been replaced by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is the standard by which all men will be judged, Romans 2:16, John 12:48. Read your New Testament.

This item originally appeared in http://www.ds-churchofchrist.org/