LAW COVENANT

What is the Law Covenant? According to the bible, the Law Covenant (a.k.a. Law of Moses) was a strict set of rules God gave to Moses to pass on to the Israelites after their deliverance from Egypt, as confirmed in scriptures such as Exodus 19:3-8, Exodus 24:1-8, 12. and Deuteronomy 5:1-2. The Mosiac Law was a long piece of writing, spanning several chapters of the bible (Exodus chapters 19- 24:8, Deuteronomy chapters 5-29). Some of it states (New World Translation):

Exodus 24:1-8
And to Moses he said: “Go up to Jehovah, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the older men of Israel, and you must bow down from a distance.  And Moses by himself must approach Jehovah; but they should not approach, and the people should not go up with him.”
 Then Moses came and related to the people all the words of Jehovah and all the judicial decisions, and all the people answered with one voice and said: “All the words that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do.”  Accordingly Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah. Then he got up early in the morning and built at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars corresponding with the twelve tribes of Israel.  After that he sent young men of the sons of Israel and they offered up burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as sacrifices, as communion sacrifices to Jehovah.  Then Moses took half the blood and put it in bowls, and half the blood he sprinkled upon the altar.  Finally he took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people. Then they said: “All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do and be obedient.”  So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people and said: “Here is the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has concluded with you as respects all these words.

Exodus 24:12
 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Come up to me in the mountain and stay there, as I want to give you the stone tablets and the law and the commandment that I must write in order to teach them

Exodus 34:27-28
 And Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “Write down for yourself these words, because it is in accordance with these words that I do conclude a covenant with you and Israel.”  And he continued there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights. He ate no bread and he drank no water. And he proceeded to write upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words.

What was the purpose of this Law Covenant? According to scripture, the Law was for making our trespasses/sins known to us until the seed arrived (Galatians 3:19). Christ is The Seed (Galatians 3:16).

So, are we, as true worshippers of Yahweh, still obligated to follow the Mosiac Law Covenant? Many people believe we are, citing Christ's words at Matthew 5:17-20 which states:
"Do not think I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of the heavens."

Many believe this verse is saying the law is as permanent as heaven and earth and thus all are obligated to live under the law. But let's look at what the verse is actually saying instead of reading into it things that aren't there:

1. "Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Many take this to mean that since Christ didn't destroy the law it is still in effect. However, this is flawed reasoning. To illustrate: You make a promise to deliver a package to a certain address by noon the next day. By noon the next day you delivered the package. You have successfully fulfilled the promise -- so are you still under obligation to live by it? No, because it is fulfilled, there is no obligation remaining; it is finished. Does this mean your promise is destroyed? No. For destruction is a ruining or a breaking of something, and you did not break your promise, you merely fulfilled it. Likewise, Christ did not destroy the Law, he fulfilled it, thus ending the obligation of that Law.

2. "For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." This is a vow by heaven and earth that the Law will stand until it is fulfilled. And as we've seen, heaven and earth still exist, and Christ did eventually fulfill the Law.

3. "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Since Christ hadn't yet surrendered himself (thereby fulfilling the Law) when he spoke these words, the Law was still in effect. Therefore, at the time of his saying this, it was still a sin to go against the Law Covenant. If you notice, after Christ fulfilled the Law, there was no more mention of compulsory Law Covenant adherence in scripture.

So, since Christ fulfilled the Law, what exactly was the Law's fulfillment? According to scripture, Love is the Law's fulfillment (Romans 13:8-10). Love, plain and simple. According to scripture, the greatest love is that of surrendering one's life on behalf of others (John 15:11-13). Christ lived up to this greatest love by surrendering himself for all of us (John 3:16). Our release from the Law through Christ's death is confirmed in scriptures such as Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 2:15-16, and Romans 7:4-6. Remember, the Law was to be in effect until "the seed arrives"...and Christ was this seed to arrive (Galatians 3:16 ).

The Law Covenant/ Law of Moses was the old covenant (2 Corinthians 3:14). The bible tells us that Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant through his death, which releases us from that Old Covenant (Hebrews 9:15-22). This replacement of the old covenant was foretold at Jeremiah 31:31-33 and confirmed at Hebrews 8:7-13.

Thus, Christ ended the obligation of the Law for us (Romans 10:4, Galatians 3:24-25), and brought us into a new Covenant inaugerated through his death.