What is written in the Law?

"What is written in the law?"

"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He (Jesus) said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he (the lawyer) answered saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he (Jesus) said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25-29)

Jesus went on to teach this lawyer the example of the Samaritan who helped the man left half-dead by thieves, the man the priest and the Levite would not help. Did not the written law make clear who one’s neighbor was? Surely, it did. And, the written law at that time was what those living during that time were to obey. "The law" to which Jesus referred was the "law of Moses", for Christ’s law had not yet come into effect. Also under Moses’ law, the blood of animals was shed to make atonement for man’s sin; yet, that blood could not take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). Notice what is written in Hebrews 9:13-17: "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." Today, we do not live under the law of Moses, nor are we subject to its commands. We are subject to the law of Christ. Nine of the "ten commandments" are included in Jesus law; the command to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it "holy" is not in Christ’s law. Jesus’ followers meet on the first day of the week, as commanded, and as New Testament example shows.

An understanding of what was commanded in the "old law" and what is commanded today in Christ’s "New Testament" is vital. Increase your Bible knowledge by writing for the free bymail Bible courses offered by the Lord’s church in this area.