God gave His Law – the 10 Commandments of God – the Decalogue to humanity. He himself dictated the ten words to mankind from his own mouth. That’s not all; he also wrote these 10 Commandments with his own finger. It was solemnly, in a special way, that God prescribed the 10 Commandments to humanity. But there are pertinent questions before us about the Law of God. Is it still in force? Has it been changed? In other words, is the Law of God immutable? Well, here is a problem that deserves to be approached with more care. It is in this context that author Thomson Dablemond devotes his pen to the subject of the immutability of the Law of God. How to define the of God?
1. A Good Given to Humanity as a Pedagogue.
Is divine Law good or bad? She is good. Therefore, justice is good, since its purpose is the practice of law. Also, from the habit of underestimating God’s law and righteousness, and, as a result, that man’s disobedience is obnoxious; one easily slips in the way of depreciating the grace that flows from the atonement of sin. Thus the gospel loses its value and importance in the eyes of men, and if one goes a step further, one will not hesitate to reject practically the Word of God herself… The Apostle Paul states: ” But the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good.” Romans 7:12.
Referring to his role as a pedagogue, the Apostle goes on to say, ” Can a good thing kill you, surely not, but sin has used a good thing to give me the In this way, the commandment made it possible to recognize how sinful is evil and to show all its violence. ” Romans 7:13.
2. Neither Jesus nor His Messianic Mission Has Abolished the Law of God.
Many religious leaders claim that Jesus, by his death, has abolished the law and that we are therefore no longer bound to observe it. There are some who represent it as an irritating yoke and who oppose the pretended slavery of the law the liberty enjoyed under the Gospel. But Jesus himself says the opposite in Matthew 5: 17-18: ” Do not think that I have come to suppress the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets, I have not come to suppress them, but to give them I tell you, this is the truth: as long as heaven and earth last, nothing will be suppressed from the law, neither the smallest letter nor the smallest detail will be removed at the end of the world “. And gives us this recommendation: ” Yes, I say to you, obey the law better than the masters of the law and the Pharisees, otherwise you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” says Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:20.
Indeed, the masters of the law and the Pharisees observed the law in form and in flesh, and not in substance and out of love: it is in this sense that Jesus teaches us that He came to fulfill, that is to say, to give the true meaning and true value of God’s law) and not to abolish it (to suppress it, to banish it or render it meaningless and meaningless) … On the contrary, the proof that Jesus considered the Law of God because he walked according to the 10 commandments of God. This is why it was said, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses; on the contrary, he was tempted like us in all things, without committing sin.”(Hebrews 4:15.
3. The Apostles and Prophets of the Bible Confirm the Law of God.
The apostles and prophets contemplated the holy law of God. David said, “I will walk in the sea, for I seek your ordinances.” (Psalms 119: 45). The Apostle James, who wrote after the Savior’s death, calls the Decalogue ” the royal law ” (James 2: 8), ” the perfect law, the law of liberty ” (James 1: 25); and the seer of Patmos, half a century after the crucifixion, pronounces a blessing on ” those who practice his commandments, so that they have the right to the tree of life and they enter through the gates of the city “(Revelation 22:14)
We are led to consider the phrase “the fulfillment of the Law of Christ” held by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:21. This reference is certainly a reference to the fulfillment of the moral law (the Decalogue) for love.
Rather in his letter, the Apostle Paul showed that the moral law, interpreted by love, continues to play an important role in the Christian life. All the apostles and prophets of the Bible have always confirmed the moral law of God. Because they knew the immutability of the Law of God.
4. The Sacrifice of Christ Confirms the Immutability of the Law of God.
It is without reason that it was claimed that by his death Jesus had abolished the law of his Father. If it had been possible to amend or suppress the law, the Son of God would not have needed to die to remove the man from the penalty of sin. Far from abolishing the law, the death of Jesus Christ proves the immutability of the Law of God. The Son of God has come to make ” his law great and beautiful “. He said, ” Do not think I came to abolish the law. … As long as heaven and earth do not pass away, there will not be a single iota or a single letter left out of the law.” And as far as Jesus is concerned, he speaks prophetically,” I want to do your will, my God! And your law is in the depths of my heart. “(Psalms 40:9). The whole life of Jesus on earth, a life of obedience in which he taught men what it means to do the will of God and how to do it (observe, walk according to) the law of God.
But if Christ came to suffer and die, it is not only to ensure the salvation of man. If he has come to make the law of God ” great and beautiful “, it is not only for the inhabitants of this earth: his great sacrifice demonstrates to the whole universe that this law is immutable. If it could have been abolished, the Son of God should not have given his life to expiate the transgression. His death proves the immutability of the Law of God.
The atonement granted by the love of the Father and the Son to ensure the redemption of sinners demonstrates – and could only demonstrate – to the whole universe that justice and mercy are at the root of God’s law and government.
While proclaiming to the universe the immutability of the law of God, the cross of Calvary asserts that the wages of sin are death. So the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross defines the immutability of the Law of God.
5. The Immutable Nature of God’s Law.
By its nature, the law of God is immutable. It is a revelation of the will and character of its author. God being love, his law is also love. His two great principles are the love of God and the love of neighbor. ” Love is, therefore, the fulfillment of the law ” (Romans 13:10). The character of God is made of justice and truth; this is also the nature of his law. ” Your law is the truth ” (Psalms 119: 142), says the psalmist; “All your commandments are righteous” (Psalm 119: 172).
For his part, the Apostle Paul declares: ” The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good.” (Romans 12: 7). A law that is the expression of the thought and will of God must remain as long as its author. This is proof that defines the immutability of the Law of God.
*** To the question: Are we now free to transgress the law? Paul replies, ” Let us annihilate the law by faith? Far from there! On the contrary, we confirm the law.“(Romans 3:31). ” We who are dead to sin, how shall we still live in sin? “(Romans 6:2). John adds: ” The love of God is to keep his commandments. And his commandments are not painful. “(1 John 5: 3).
6. The Presence of God’s Law in the Heavenly Sanctuary…
” And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in His temple “(Revelation 11:19). The ark of the covenant is in the holy of holies, the second room of the sanctuary. Is not this a fact that defines the immutability of the Law of God?
The ark of the earthly tabernacle contained the two tablets of stone engraved with the precepts of the law of God. The fact that this arch was the receptacle of the Decalogue gave it its sacredness. We have just read that ” the temple of God in heaven having opened “, ” the ark of his covenant appeared in His temple “. It is therefore in the holiest place of the heavenly sanctuary that the law which God proclaimed himself in the midst of the thunders of Sinai and which he wrote with his finger on the stone tablets (Exodus 32:16; Exodus 34:28).
The law of God laid down in the heavenly sanctuary is the August original of the code whose precepts engraved on the tablets of stone and reproduced by Moses in the Pentateuch were a true copy. The recognition of this important fact must lead us to understand the sacred nature and immutability of the divine law.
Let us see and understand the significance of these words of the Savior: ” As long as heaven and earth do not pass away, there shall not be a single iota or a letter-streak of the law until all things have come.” The revelation of the will of God, transcription of his character, the law of God, in his quality of ” faithful witness who is in heaven “, is imperishable. None of the 10 commandments of God have been abolished; no letter has been erased. The psalmist exclaims: ” Forever, O Lord! your word remains in heaven. “(Psalms 119: 89). ” All his commandments are immutable. They are unshakable forever, forever. ”
Recognizing that the earthly sanctuary was an image, a shadow of the celestial, the law deposited in the ark of the earthly was, therefore, an exact copy of that of the celestial. This is another proof of the immutability of the Law of God.
7. The Law of God and Judgment.
Indeed, to dare to face the formidable trial of judgment, it is necessary to observe the law of God. The Apostle Paul says, ” All who have sinned with the law shall be judged by the law … in the day when … God will judge by Jesus Christ the secret acts of men.” (Romans 2: 12, 16).
He adds that ” those who practice the law will be justified ” (Romans 2:13). The very fact that there is a judgment defines the immutability of the Law of God. ” Let’s listen to the end of the speech: Fear God and keep the 10 commandments of God. This is what every man must do. For God will bring every work into judgment, concerning all that is hidden, whether good or bad.” (Ecclesiastes 12: 15-16). All of us are conscious: “… it is reserved for the man to die only once, after which judgment comes ” Hebrews 9:27.
Only by faith can the law be observed; because ” without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God. ” (Hebrews 11: 6). The apostle here implies what he says elsewhere when he declares: ” all that is not done with faith is a sin ” (Romans 14:23). Remember that sin is the transgression of the Law (1 John 3: 4) – so if the Law of God was abolished, in this case, does sin exist?
8. The Law of God Is Eternal.
” I will keep your law constantly, forever and ever.” said the Psalmist in Psalms 119:44. The Bible rightly says about the Decalogue: ” The foundation of your word is the truth, and all the laws of your righteousness are eternal.” Psalms 119:160. The fact that the Law of God is eternal defines the immutability of the Law of God.
Conclusion
The majority of those who have misunderstood the notion of the grace of salvation; they say that the Law of God no longer has its reason for being. They imply that the Law of God is obsolete because according to them it was the shadow of things to come. For them, the Law of God is no longer in force. They claim that Christ by his death abolished the 10 Commandments of God. Too bad they do not understand the immutability of the Law of God. The same 10 Commandments of God that they reject, they will be judged by these same commandments. By rejecting the Law of God, men were erasing the traces of the way to Christ by faith. Only the Law of God makes us aware of what sin is. Yet Jesus came not for the righteous but for sinners. So if we say that the Law of God is abolished, we are insinuating while we are not sinners. Since we say to ourselves that we are not sinners, then Jesus did not die for us either.
The remission of sins and the redemption to which every Christian aspires – show the immutability of the Law of God. If we still need to repent and hope for salvation in Jesus, it already defines the immutability of God’s Law.
If men knew the importance of the Law of God, they would never have questioned or ignored the immutability of the Law of God. Indeed, God does not change (Malachi 3:6), he is yesterday the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The 10 Commandments of God are the basis of God’s government. As long as God exists, so long will His law exist. The immutability of the Law of God is also defined by the fact that we are all aware of sin. One of the evils of the universe is that men have rejected the Law. As it is said, ” My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you, and you will be stripped of my priesthood; Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will forget your children too.” (Hosea 4:6) To recognize the Law of God is to recognize that God is the only Creator, Lawgiver, and Lord in all the universe.
All human laws can change or disappear, but this will not be the case with the moral law (the 10 Commandments of God or the Law of God). Because the Law of God is equal to itself.