If you are not familiar with the distinctions within the OT law, then here I will lay it out briefly. Essentially there are three sub components to the law: The moral, the civil, and the ceremonial. Now, before we dive in, it is important to note that the disambiguation between the parts of the law are not true and discrete separations, rather they are a framework for understanding the law as a whole, which is a single thing and is about the expression of God’s character and goodness and beauty in the world that He made. So, they are parts, but not compartmented. We talk about them distinctly for clarity, but we must remember that there is a complex interplay between them unto the glory of the Lord.

The Moral Law

               The moral law is most of what we think of when considering the law today, and is largely given in the ten commandments (or the decalogue). There are other components, but the primary purpose of the moral law is the revelation of God’s holy character. Since His character is unchanging, there can be no change whatsoever to the moral law. It is set in stone (literally). This is part of why the scriptures tell us that to obey God is to love God (John 14:15)– the law is an expression of God’s character. If we are disobedient to it, we are rejecting not just a series of rules, but the person of God Himself. This is why all sin is ultimately (and primarily) sin against God. The psalmist gives us this clearly in that he says, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:4) It is very important to note here as well that breaches of the moral law are often punished by death – there is no sacrifice in the Old Testament system that can cover murder, adultery, or even disobedience to parents for example. All three were capital offenses and no sacrifices existed to cover over those sins. They demanded death. Christ’s sacrifice is the only one that can cover breaches of certain sins because no provision was made under the old testament for their covering. We can think of the moral law in terms of peace with God (and really the whole of the law).

The Civil Law

               The civil law is the rules for living within the kingdom of Israel. It is an expression of how we ought to relate to one another. They too are an expression of God’s character, largely in terms of His justice, but their practicum is within the sphere of relationships among the brothers. While the ten commandments do give guidance for interpersonal relationships, remember they are first about God and our responsibility to Him. The civil law is a pragmatic pursuit of peace within the community. It is about shalom with each other. While the specific laws themselves may not be in force, for instance since we do not have sanctioned slavery so no need for a year of jubilee, the principles from the civil law remain. It contains guidance for what happens when an ox is lost, or damage to property, or for making recompense for accidental wounds and the like. There are reparations and various means by which to make right wrongs done to others within this law, though intentionality matters for the purpose of the punishments. The principles from the civil law are principles about God’s justice, and those principles do not change from nation to nation. For instance, very few people own cattle in western society, so the laws around accidentally harming a brother’s ox seems out of place, but the principle of restoring what you have broken applies similarly to a vehicle accident.  

The Ceremonial Law

               The ceremonial law serves the function of being the outward signs for worship and the demonstration of the separation of the people of Israel from the people of the world. The principle at the core of the ceremonial law is that the Lord’s people are not like other people, they are to be holy as He is holy. The sacrificial system contains responses for many types of washing and activity and sinful uncleanness and purity and dietary laws. If we consider Hebrews we find that at least one purpose of the ceremonies is to cleanse the conscience of the worshipper (Hebrews 9:13-14), but even that cannot be completed by these old ceremonies for priests must continually re-do the sacrifices year after year, time after time. Christ’s sacrifice is the fulfillment of all necessary sacrifice for cleanness, separation, and ultimate righteousness, hence why there is no more need for sacrifices. One might say that the purpose of the ceremonial law is peace with oneself – the process of worship according to the dictates of God cleansing the conscience that we may properly serve God. In that sense, we ought not understand the clearing of the conscience as the only purpose of the ceremonial, but rather an enabling purpose, with the ultimate end still being in the proper and right approach toward God. The washings, the ceremonies of the OT were to demonstrate the holiness, the entire separateness, of God – His alien nature entirely pure and distinct from His creatures. This is why the people who He chose must necessarily be themselves set apart from the world, the surrounding idolatries, and pagan practices. His people’s ceremonial cleanness was (and is) a picture of God’s purity and the requirements to approach Him.

Ceremonial Shifts between Old and New Covenant

The transition of the ceremonial law between Old and New Testament also has much to do with the person of the priest and the issue of mediation. It is largely about how one can draw near to God. It is about access to the Presence of the Almighty. In the case of Old Testament sacrifices, they had to be completed by the priests on one’s behalf. They covered only certain types of sin. They covered only ceremonial uncleanness and unintentional sins which then allowed people to take part in the assembly. The sacrifices and offerings could only cover over the issues of cleanness and uncleanness unintentional sin and as Hebrews says “They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings – external regulations applying until the time of the new order.” (Hebrews 9:10) Reparations and payments could be made for the purpose of correcting issues of theft and peace as well within the civil law.

As a quick aside, the fact that the law had no provision to cover over murder and adultery (among other sins) is part of why Christ’s expansion of the laws against murder and adultery are so overwhelming in the sermon on the mount. Not only did it mean that those people had committed sin worthy of death (by hating or lusting), but it also meant they had no escape since there was no provision in the law for capital sin to be covered over by animal sacrifice. In other words, even the Pharisees, who believed themselves righteous, were damned by the expansion of understanding the law.

So then why do Christians today not hold to the ceremonial washings, the feasts, the dietary laws, the acts of worship as did the Jewish people? Are we not also to be set apart from the surrounding culture? Certainly we are, but the manner of the separation has changed because the priesthood and sacrifice had changed. Where the priests of the Old Testament had to go yearly on behalf of the people, Christ sacrificed once and for all, so any additional sacrifice would be not only superfluous, but also blasphemous – indicating some failure or lacking in Christ. While the priests alone could enter the holy of holies, and only once a year, the death of Christ split the veil to the holy of holies and made His people “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:6).

Now there is much that we could say about this, and some complex passages in Hebrews that feel odd to our western modern minds, like the discussion of the priestly order of Melchizedek in Hebrews 7, but the phrase here that is most directly applicable to what we are discussing is Hebrews 7:12 “For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”

What about the law not passing away?

So then how does this “change in the law” jive with Jesus’ own words in the sermon on the mount? Remember in Matthew 5:19 Our Lord says that “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Emphasis mine). This final phrase is critical to our reading of the passage. While the phrasing before it talks of heaven and earth’s passing away, this phrase is where the brunt of the passage seems to lie. The question is, until what is accomplished? All of what? I would argue it is the completion of Christ’s redemptive work, which is finished, once and for all through the cross and resurrection. Christ has become a priest forever, “not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of Him, ‘you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’ For on the one hand a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.” (Hebrews 7:16-19) Hebrews goes on to say that Christ is the “guarantor of a better covenant” (7:22) as well as that “he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24-25).

               To wrestle again with Matthew 5, I would contend that what was to be accomplished was Christ’s sacrifice, entering into the true holy of holies in the heavenly places, once and for all (and Hebrews appears to agree). From there flows the change in the ceremonial laws, though the principles behind the ceremonies remain – to demonstrate the holiness of God and to rightly order approaches into His presence. Yet now, we have a high priest who does not simply enter one time per year, who is subject to weakness and his own failings, but rather we have the perfect high priest of Jesus Christ interceding continually at the right hand of God the father. We who are in Him are therefore also present with God, hence the change in ceremonial activities to approach God. Christ completed His work, and has been exalted above all. And while we do not yet see everything subjected to Him, that does not change that everything is in fact subject to Him. This is the principle of the already and the not yet. Christ’s work is complete in full, and not yet do we see it completed with the failing eyes of men, trapped in the confines of time.

Ceremonial Distinction Today

               But I have said that the principle of the ceremonial law still applies, and that the people of God must be holy as He is holy. So what are the outward signs we are today in order to demonstrate the principle of being set apart? Well, the scripture makes clear that those who love God will be known by our love for one another. In John 13:34-35 Christ says to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Emphasis mine). Now, there will need to be an entire other discussion of what it means to actually love one another, especially in a world that has brutally twisted the concept of love into a monstrous misrepresentation, but this is the new ceremonial distinction between the people of God and the people of the world – love for one another.

In Conclusion

               Perhaps in this I have managed to generate more questions than answers. How do we know what is ceremonial versus civil versus moral? How do we properly distill the principles of the various portions of the law? How do we see the interplay between them both in the old and new testaments? This is hardly an exhaustive look at the law, but in essence I want to finish on a note that I think we tend to forget. The law is ultimately about God, as are all things, and not about us. While how it relates to us is important, it is how the law relates to God’s character that remains most stable. While legalism is a dirty word in Christian circles (and ought to be in a sense), a profound love for the law must be instantiated in order to rightly know God. The revelation of His law is a partial revelation of His divine character. Murder is prohibited (in part) because God is the God of life not death. Adultery (in part) because He is loyal and complete and true, because He is eminently faithful. Disobedience to parents (in part) because He is a God of establishing authority and order. Restitution for damages is commanded in the civil law because God is a God of justice, but provisions for those who cannot repay are in place because He is a God of mercy. Ceremonies that are costly (like the sacrifices of the OT, and mostly the sacrifice of Christ) demonstrate how holy and separate and pure God is. While the law relates to us, and we to it in many important ways – we mustn’t forget that the law is one of the earliest revelations of God’s character and we ought to, like the psalmist, cry out