The introduction to the Mosaic Law.

Grace Bible Church Robert R. McLaughlin Pastor Teacher

Weekly Review Dispensation of the Mosaic Law.

The introduction to the Mosaic Law. 073017

We have now come to that point in our study of the Dispensation of the Law when our Lord had to finally intervene and do something about the conspiracy and rebellion which was started by Korah. The main reason why our Lord had to intervene was because the Jews needed a set of commands for them to follow. They could not make it on their own.

NUM 16:16-35, And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. And each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.”

So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, Thou God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, wilt Thou be angry with the entire congregation?”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.”

Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be swept away in all their sin.”

So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

And Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.” Then it came about as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said,

“The earth may swallow us up!” Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

By the way, we don’t have time because we are getting ready to study the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments, to look at something that took place if we had time to study it. What happened is that God not only dealt with the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram , the 250 princes, but also He dealt with 14,700 rebellious Jews that the Lord disciplined with a plague.

Look at NUM 16:49, But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.

So one of the main reasons why our Lord had to intervene with the overruling will of God by giving the 10 commandments was to get the human race back on track and not continue on the road to self-destruction. Therefore, I have chosen to begin the subject of the Mosaic Law by giving you an outline of what we mean by the Law because unlike the Roman Catholics and the Seventh Day Advents, there is far to the spiritual like then following do’s and don’ts.

In fact, most Christians are shocked when they realize that following the Ten Commandments are not, I said,  “ARE NOT A PART OF LIVING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

Now, first of all, I would like to introduce this subject by noting how God gave us commands to follow, and our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled those commands in place of us or “for us” or on “our behalf.”

And therefore in COL 2:14, Having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the Cross.

Now, the Greek word for certificate means a manuscript, a legal document or bond, literally it refers to the command of the Lord. It means to have an IOU or a written form of indebtedness taken care of.

Every member of the human race owes God perfect righteousness and sinlessness. God created man righteous and sinless and therefore we owe Him to remain the same as He has created us in righteousness and sinlessness. Think of how arrogant we are when any of us complain to God and we are not content with where God has placed us as if God owes the human race something because He created it.

God doesn’t owe us anything. Originally, He created the human race perfect in a perfect environment but the human race turned and followed Satan and his lies instead of the Lord Jesus Christ and His truth. God doesn’t owe us anything.

When Adam was created in the Garden he was sinless not innocent. Adam wasn’t innocent, he was sinless! And when Adam fell he put the whole human race in debt to God. All of us are guilty because of Adam. He got us into it. Now, one might say “Look I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have decided that way.”

Well, first of all that’s a lie and secondly that’s life! It is very rare for a person to make a decision which is totally their own decision. Everyone of us are influenced by others at times. People make a lot of decisions for us! People in government are making bad decisions for us right now. The whole structure of life is made up of people making decisions for you and you’re involved whether you like it or not. It’s the same thing that I mentioned concerning Martin Luther and his book on the Bondage of the Will.

So, Adam made a decision to put the whole human race in debt. Adam put us in the worst jam we could ever be in. He put us into debt. All of us owe God what God created in the first place...perfection and holiness. God didn’t create a sinner. God created a sinless person!

All of us owe God sinlessness and all of us owe God a righteousness with which He can live and that’s what Adam had, but lost, but our Lord got back. Adam had a righteousness with which he had perfect association with God. Adam and the woman are the only 2 creatures in the human race who have ever had that kind of a righteousness...and they lost it.

Now, it wasn’t perfect righteousness because that was imputed.

It was a righteousness, sinlessness, a volitional type of the function of the soul to give people freedom to choose to live with our Lord or gamble to think that they can make it without Him...on their own.

We owe God a righteousness with which He could live with and that’s perfect righteousness, we owe God righteousness and sinlessness and frankly none of can pay the debt. Every day we are reminded of the fact that without the Lord Jesus Christ, the debt is hopeless because we cannot pay it. And there will never be a time when we cease from sinning in this life.

Sin may be infrequent in one area as you grow. And then it picks up in another area. And as we have seen it is an endless thing. The more you grow, the more refined and sometimes the more subtle and the more unrecognizable your sins become. You start out with obvious gross sins and wind up with refine mental attitude sins and end up in torture or self-induced misery.

And so we WERE in debt. We WERE born in debt. And therefore our Lord did something about it. He cancelled the IOU. However, when it says that God cancelled the IOU it doesn’t mean that God overlooked sin.

Col 2:14, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us and He has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the Cross. It was through the Cross that the IOU was cancelled. God has perfect character. And God has un-compromising character. And a part of His perfection is the fact that His character cannot be corrupted and that His character cannot be compromised. And only grace can do that!

The Mosaic law was the divine standard that God uses to demonstrate the sinfulness of the human race as well as his principles of establishment. Now, it is important for you to know that the Mosaic Law is divided into three parts which all have a different meaning for the individuals it was given to.

The Mosaic Law is divided into three general categories ---- Theologically they are called; Codex #1; Codex #2; Codex #3.

Codex one is the Ten commandments, or the Decalogue. This is known as the freedom code. These commandments form the basis for the heritage of Israel’s freedom or for the freedom any nation who desires to be free must follow. They define freedom in terms of human activity.

Human freedom is described in terms of the laws of divine establishment. There can be no freedom without morality which can be fulfilled by both believers and unbelievers. The Ten Commandments define human freedom in terms of morality, privacy, property, and authority...it does not define how to live spiritually.

I believe that one of Satan’s greatest victories has been to blind people from the doctrine of Dispensations and deceive them into thinking that if they follow the Ten Commandments they will be pleasing to God.

Look at it even though you may have seen it before.

ROM 8:1-8, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Even if we could follow the Law we would still not be able to please God. Let me just give you a few biblical illustrations. First of all, we are told that the believer has died to the Law, Gal 2:19, for through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God.

The Law brings nothing but condemnation, Gal 3:10-14, for as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them. Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, the righteous man shall live by faith. However, the law is not of faith; on the contrary, “he who practices them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us ‑ for it is written, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree ‑ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith.

So you see, the law is a bondage to the believer, Gal 4:9, But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

Therefore, the Law and grace are mutually exclusive principles; therefore, choose one or the other, Gal 4:21-31.