Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Covenants Grace and Law
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Luke 4:16
This basic scripture states what was our Lord and Savior's manner or custom. He habitually kept the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, holy. The carnal mind will explain that Christ only did this because He was a Jew or because He was still under the Old Covenant. Remember, however, that Exodus 31:15-17 plainly says that the Sabbath covenant, made in addition to the Old Covenant, is to continue as long as there are generations of Israelites. It is a separate covenant from the Old Covenant. Most generally also overlook the fact that Jesus declared, in Mark 2:27-28, that the Sabbath was made for man. That is, God made it specifically for man. He also declared that He Himself is the Lord—the Boss, as it were—of the Sabbath. He owns it, and thus He is its Master. He can do with it as He pleases, and it pleased Him to instruct us that it was made specifically for us. It pleased Him to keep it, and we are to walk in His steps. This is very serious because, if one can throw out the example of the Head of the church, it destroys all consistency in following Christ. Every other example of what He did loses its value. One cannot just pick and choose what he will follow. If we are to be true disciples of Christ and truly follow Him, then we are not free to decide what rules or examples we will follow. We follow what the Boss does. I Peter 2:21 shows how far we are to go in following what He does: "For to this you were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps." If we are to follow in His steps in regard to suffering, we should also follow in His steps in regard to the day of worship. As He set it aside for Himself, as His custom was, we, too, are to set it aside as our customary way of living. The apostle Paul adds in I Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." There are numerous references following Jesus' death and resurrection, primarily in the book of Acts, of the apostles and the New Testament church keeping the Sabbath and the holy days, food laws, and circumcision (to a point), and some of the other ceremonial laws as well. It is obvious that they were not antagonistic to Old Testament laws, and they did not look on them as an enemy by which they would be defiled if they kept them. In addition, the entire Bible contains no reference or controversy about whether the Sabbath should be kept, even as it contains nothing of the sort about whether a Christian should keep the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth commandments. The apostles knew they should keep the commandments, including the one to keep the Sabbath holy! The only argument was whether justification came from keeping them.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Nine)
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Galatians 3:19
What is this law's purpose? Remember, the major subject in the book of Galatians is justification—right standing with God, being aligned with God, being declared righteous. In giving his answer, Paul says, "It was added because of transgressions," which parallels Jeremiah 7:22-23, where God Himself said, "I did not speak to you about sacrifices and offerings." In the book of Exodus, we can find that those rituals were added after the Old Covenant had been ratified. They were attached to it, like an appendix. The reason? "[B]ecause of transgressions," that is, because the Israelites continued to sin against God. They were breaking the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments. The apostle then tells us how long this added law was to last: "[U]ntil the Seed"— Christ—"should come." The law—the sacrificial ceremonial law that was added—had a purpose, which was to teach, to instruct, about sin and the payment for it. Unlike the Ten Commandments, it did not define sin, unless the sacrificial law itself was being broken, then it would have been a wrongdoing, a sin. Such a thing happened in the case of Aaron's sons when God struck them dead for using common fire (Leviticus 10). They died because they failed to follow God's rules about making an offering, and it became sin to them. At this point, it might be good to realize that Numbers 28 and 29 contain the national law of offerings God commanded. They had to be offered. They included the evening and morning sacrifices and all the sacrifices and offerings to be made on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day. These offerings were made at the Temple on behalf of—for the benefit of—the whole nation. It may surprise you to learn that the individual Israelite was never required to make any sacrifice at all except for the Passover lamb. God did not require the Israelites to give any of the sacrifices and offerings in the book of Leviticus. They were entirely voluntary. If an Israelite wanted to do them, he could, and it was good for him if he did, if he understood what he was doing. However, he did not have to do them; they were completely voluntary, which is why they do not define sin. They were not required by God. Even so—whether they were the national offerings made at the Tabernacle and Temple or the voluntary ones—they were to last only until the Seed, Jesus Christ, came.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seventeen)
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Galatians 5:17
To a growing Christian, internal conflict frequently intensifies, a puzzling and distressing "side effect" to sanctification or holiness. This inner turmoil occurs because the person is growing and is thus more intensely aware of how far he is from God's perfection. He begins to "see" God far more clearly than ever, and he becomes distressed because he realizes that he does not even begin to measure up to what God is. He is ashamed of his impurity, that he is so rank with sin, that his character is so weak, that he allows his tongue to say things he knows he should not, that thoughts go through his mind that he knows are filthy. He sees hate in his character, which distresses him. But, if he were not growing, he would never have seen it! This revulsion is the very thing that makes him want to change. An adult understands far more in a given situation than a child. It is a significant mark of the adult's experience and maturity. A professional grasps much more of his profession than a novice. This same principle is at work in the mind of the one growing in holiness. The expert is always more aware than the novice. As an apprentice welder, many of the welds I had to make were on critical pipe joints, where there was perhaps 600-1200 pounds of steam pressure inside that line. Whenever I, not yet a journeyman welder, was assigned to a job in that kind of a high-pressure situation, my welds had to be inspected by a journeyman. I would make the weld, but the journeyman had to look at it. Frequently, I would make the weld and think I had done a pretty good job. The journeyman with all his experience would look at it and point out all the flaws in my weld. He could see from experience what my less-trained eyes and hands had failed to do. In essence, this applies to our spiritual growth. Christians who are really growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ—being sanctified—begin to become distressed the more they learn and experience. They see their flesh lusting against the Spirit. They are being pulled in each direction. Many years before, they would not have even been aware of what was happening inside them. But they are beginning to become trained in the holiness of God, and it distresses them that they fall so far short.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Nine)
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