Lesson 8: The Right Use of Scripture
OT Law
How do we use the OT Law rightly?
This question was central as Jesus clashed with the Pharisees and others who opposed him. Just consider how often the right use of the Law surfaces in Mark’s Gospel alone:
- Mark 1:21–28: Jesus drove out an impure spirit from a man on the Sabbath.
- Mark 1:40–45: Jesus healed a leprous man on the Sabbath and ordered him to obey what “Moses commanded” regarding his cleansing.
- Mark 2:1–12: Jesus healed a paralyzed man to demonstrate to the Pharisees that he had the authority to forgive sins in fulfillment of the OT sacrificial system.
- Mark 2:23–27: The Pharisees criticized Jesus’s disciples for “doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath” (Mk 2:24 NIV) Jesus replied by teaching the purpose of the Sabbath laws.
- Mark 3:1–6: Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath after asking the Pharisees, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (Mk 3:4 NIV) The Pharisees were so angered by Jesus’ use of the Law that they “went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” (Mk 3:6 NIV)
- Mark 6:14–29: Herodias plotted to kill John the Baptist because he used the Law to condemn her marriage to King Herod.
- Mark 7:1–23: After the Pharisees confronted Jesus because his disciples ate with unwashed hands, Jesus condemned their use of the Law, which replaced “the commands of God” with “merely human rules.” (Mk 7:8 NIV) He goes on to declare all foods clean (Mk 7:19).
- Mark 10:1–10: When the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking about divorce, he turned the tables by showing how the Pharisees misused the Law as they developed marital ethics.
- Mark 11:12–26: Jesus condemned the misuse of the Temple by “the chief priests and teachers of the Law.” (Mk 11:17–18 NIV)
- Mark 12:28–34: Jesus summarized the heart of the Law as love for God and love for neighbor.
Of course, this is just a small subset of all that Jesus says and does with respect to the Law. Perhaps the best summary of how Jesus teaches us to use the Law is Matthew 5:17–20:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 5:17-20
The Bible is filled with even more examples of those who used the Law wrongly and rightly. The first church council met in Jerusalem to discuss how Gentile believers related to the Mosaic covenant (Acts 15). Paul condemned false teachers throughout the churches who misused the Law in various ways to undermine the gospel (Gal 3:1; Phil 3:1–21; Col 2:16–17; 1 Tim 1:3–11). He even confronted the Apostle Peter when Peter’s misuse of the Law led him to walk out of step with the gospel (Gal 2:14).
Yet Paul also used the law to call children to obey their parents (Eph 6:1–3). Peter too used the law to ground his commands to Christians (1 Pet 1:14–16). The author of Hebrews urged his readers not to abandon Christ by returning to the old covenant (Heb 10:19–39), but he used the patterns and promises of the Law to magnify Christ and to explain his work.
Biblical Models for the Right Use of an OT Law
Let’s look more closely at the Bible’s own use of OT laws by considering two examples: Mark 10:1–9 and Romans 9:30–10:12.
Example #1 - Moses and Marriage in Mark 10
In Mark 10:1–9, Jesus refuted the Pharisees and demonstrated the right use of the Law after they tried to trap him with a question about divorce. Let’s take a closer look at how Jesus used the Law in this dispute:
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” —Mark 10:1–9
How does Jesus use the Law differently from the Pharisees?
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Example #2 - Christ and the Law in Romans 10
In Romans, Paul revealed that Israel misused the Law by using it to establish their own righteousness (Rom 9:32). He then explains that Christ was the end or goal of the Law all along (Rom 10:4). Let’s take a closer look at how Paul taught and modeled the right use of the Law in this passage.
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)“ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
According to Paul, how did Israel misuse the Law?
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Note three ways that Paul used the Law in these verses (For example, Paul quotes from the Law to support his argument that true righteousness is by faith).
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If we want to follow the Bible’s own use of the Law in these verses, then we must understand what Paul meant by “...Christ is the end of the law...” (Rom 10:4). Carefully read the following quotations that clarify Paul’s meaning.
The analogy of a race course (which many scholars think telos [end] is meant to convey) is helpful: the finish line is both the “termination” of the race (the race is over when it is reached) and the “goal” of the race (the race is run for the sake of reaching the finish line). Likewise, we suggest, Paul is implying that Christ is the “end” of the law (he brings its era to a close) and its “goal” (he is what the law anticipated and pointed toward). The English word “end” perfectly captures this nuance; but, if it is thought that it implies too temporal a meaning, we might also use the words “culmination,” “consummation,” or “climax.” —Douglas J. Moo, Romans in the New International Commentary on the New Testament, 641.
He shows that he is a false interpreter of the law, who seeks to be justified by his own works; because the law had been given for this end,—to lead us by the hand to another righteousness: nay, whatever the law teaches, whatever it commands, whatever it promises, has always a reference to Christ as its main object; and hence all its parts ought to be applied to him. But this cannot be done, except we, being stripped of all righteousness, and confounded with the knowledge of our sin, seek gratuitous righteousness from him alone...We have then here a remarkable passage, which proves that the law in all its parts had a reference to Christ; and hence no one can rightly understand it, who does not continually level at this mark. —John Calvin on Romans 10:4 in his Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans.
The Right Use of OT Law¹
How does the Bible’s own use of OT law guide us in its right use?
The Bible's example calls us to use the Mosaic Law as a contextual law code that reveals God, is fulfilled by Christ, and instructs the church in love.
Contextual Law Code
The Bible consistently treats the Mosaic law as a contextual law code. God gave this law code to OT Israel after the Exodus and before Christ. Both examples above use the Law within this context. When discussing OT laws about divorce, Jesus noted that these laws were given to Israel in a post-Fall context that involved sin and hard-hearts. He then prioritized Genesis as revealing what God truly intends for marriage.
In Romans 10, Paul explained that the Law belonged to a specific context in redemptive history. Christ’s work ended that era and so ended the specific use of OT laws as a binding law code for God’s people. In our own use of the OT Law, we should follow the Bible by using and treating OT laws as part of a contextualized law code that no longer binds God’s people directly.
Reveal God
OT laws reveal God by disclosing who he is and what he desires among his covenant people. We see this in many places throughout the Bible such as Psalm 119, Mark 12:32–33, Romans 7:11–12, and 1 Peter 1:15–16. In Mark 10, Jesus was concerned not merely to uphold God’s intent for marriage but to uphold the character of the God revealed by marriage. The Pharisees misused these divorce laws to allow for flippant and faithless marriages. However, Jesus used the Law to uphold God’s character and to call for marital love that rightly reflects him.²
Similarly, Paul used the Law in Romans 9–11 to reveal and to vindicate God’s glory, particularly by answering the concern that “God’s word had failed.” (Rom 9:6 NIV). Paul demonstrated that OT laws themselves reveal that God intended to lead his people to Christ through the law and to provide them with Christ’s righteousness by faith. The problem with the Law was not God or even the Law itself. The problem was that the people wickedly and foolishly misused the Law to establish their own righteousness (Rom 9:30-33).³
In our own use of OT Law, we should follow the Bible’s example by using OT laws as revelations of God’s character and will for his people. For example, OT laws about the legal rights of the vulnerable (such as Deut 24:17-22) reveal God’s supremecy as the God of justice, who uses his power to love the powerless (Deut 10:12–22).
Fulfilled by Christ
For us, He kept the Law,
atoned for sin,
and satisfied God’s wrath.
He took our filthy rags
and gave us His righteous robe.
From "The Word Made Flesh" The Ligonier Statement on Christology
The NT is clear: Christ came to fulfill the Law (Matt 5:17). We see this clearly in Romans 10:4: “Christ is the culmination of the law...” (Romans 10:4 NIV). As the The Word Made Flesh declares, ”For us, he kept the Law,” and now we live upon his life and in the righteousness he obtained by fulfilling that Law (Rom 10:5-13).⁴ The church belongs to the New Covenant in Christ, and the Old Covenant has been fulfilled (Rom 10:4).
In Mark 10, Jesus authoritatively established what marriage is within the New Covenant requirements. His teaching and work fulfill OT laws about divorce and marriage by (1) fulfilling their intent and (2) by providing his Spirit so that his people can live out what God intends for marriage. We see him act similarly regarding the Sabbath, food laws, and the Temple. OT laws are contextualized laws that no longer bind us directly. Christians belong to the New Covenant. The law of Christ binds us. We can use OT laws, but to do so rightly we must use them only as they reveal God and as they come to us through Christ.⁶
Instructs in Love
The Bible defines OT laws as various expressions of two primary laws: whole-hearted love for God (Deut 6:4–9) and self-giving love for neighbor (Lev 19:18):
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. —Mark 12:28-34 NIV
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. —Galatians 5:13-15 NIV
OT laws revealed what love for God and love for neighbor required in ancient Israel. Thus, we should use these laws to instruct the church in love today. This requires us to take three steps:⁷
- Determine how a particular law expressed love for God and love for neighbor.
- Understand how Christ fulfilled that particular law.
- Reflect on how that law comes through Christ to us and so instructs us in what love for God and for neighbor involves.
Other biblical models to consider: Psalm 119, Micah 6:8, Matthew 23:23–24; Acts 15; Galatians 5:13–15; Colossians 2:16–17.
Questions on the Right Use of the Law
In the West today, people commonly confront biblically faithful Christians regarding what they perceive as an inconsistent use of the Law. Questioners will point to OT laws about food or fabrics and ask why Christians seemingly ignore these laws while using other OT laws on sexuality to develop their sexual ethic. Dr. Russell Moore answers this objection helpfully below: