Why mosaic law

In Romans , he shows that all men are so sinful that they are in a helpless and hopeless condition in their natural state. Unless God sovereignly intervenes in his life with the miracle of the new birth or regeneration, a person stays in his sins and will perish. Romans is Paul's final indictment against man. He brings the Mosaic Law, namely the Ten Commandments, to the forefront to show that the Law does not save men, it only condemns them.

They were under it as the chosen people of God. Paul now removes this last prop and shows the Jew that his own law proves him guilty and a sinner before God. In a Jew's mind, keeping the Law of Moses was salvation, but Paul says the law condemns; it does not save. These commandments are: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a graven image.

You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and mother. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet. What Jew or other person who has ever lived can say he has never broken any of these laws?

A person is a sinner if he breaks one of the laws only once. When he faces the Law honestly, it shuts his mouth for he knows he is guilty. Law that is not kept demands retribution! In a church I used to pastor, I visited a man who had a pseudo-Christian background. He went to church twice a year and felt like no one was really a sinner, although people might do wrong at times.

He turned and pointed to the Ten Commandments on a plaque on the wall and said, "If a man lives these every day, that is enough! The thing on which he prided himself actually condemned him. It isn't enough to have this code hanging on your wall, nor is it enough to subscribe to the Law mentally. The question is, "Do you always obey it? The Jew stands as a representative of the human race as far as the Law is concerned. His guilt demonstrated the guilt of the human race.

A man had a large ranch in the desert. These instructions will be discussed in the next chapter. The Lord works through talented individuals to bring about His purposes see vv. For commentary on the Sabbath see vv. The nature of the tablets see v. Was it possible that the people could have so soon lost sight of the wonderful manifestations of God upon the mount?

Was it possible that Aaron could have imagined that he could make any god that could help them? And yet it does not appear that he ever remonstrated with the people! Possibly he only intended to make them some symbolical representation of the Divine power and energy, that might be as evident to them as the pillar of cloud and fire had been, and to which God might attach an always present energy and influence; or in requiring them to sacrifice their ornaments, he might have supposed they would have desisted from urging their request: but all this is mere conjecture, with very little probability to support it.

It must however be granted that Aaron does not appear to have even designed a worship that should supersede the worship of the Most High; hence we find him making proclamation, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord [Jehovah], and we find farther that some of the proper rites of the true worship were observed on this occasion, for they brought burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, ver. Thy people will repent of this evil; therefore come thou not out against them.

Therefore, see thou do this thing that I have commanded thee, or I will execute all that which I had thought to do unto my people. That similitude is shown clearly here. As the people faced destruction because of their wickedness, Moses became their mediator with God.

He pleaded their cause and even offered his own life to appease the divine justice see Exodus — Go ahead and destroy them. He interceded in their behalf and saved them, but only on the condition of their repentance.

For an explanation of what was on the tablets Moses first received, see Reading Both conditions would be to the shame of a people who were supposed to be religious. Some have wondered why Aaron, who played a key role in the golden calf episode, came out with no condemnation.

For a modern parallel to this rebuke, see Doctrine and Covenants — Also, Exodus —11 records that Moses and seventy of the elders of Israel saw God. Therefore, passages which declare that no man has seen him, must be in error. For instance, the passage in John , … is likely due to the fact that a translator in more recent years did not believe that God was a Personage and therefore could not be seen.

This notion has come down to us since the introduction of the Athanasian Creed in A. The Prophet Joseph Smith has given us a correction of this passage as follows:.

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfect in us. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

The latter verse John does not harmonize with John The modern world, however, will have none of it and have rejected the living God for one who cannot be seen or heard. Thus, it is clear that Joseph Smith was inspired when he corrected this verse to read:. And no sinful man hath at any time, neither shall there be any sinful man at any time, that shall see my face and live. Before this question can be fully answered, one must carefully examine what was on the first plates.

One Bible scholar offered this analysis:. In [ Exodus 20 ] the ten commandments are given; and at the same time various political and ecclesiastical statutes, which are detailed in chapters [21—23]. To receive these, Moses had drawn near unto the thick darkness where God was, [ ], and having received them he came again with them to the people, according to their request before expressed, ver.

Still there is no word of the tables of stone. Then he wrote all in a book, [ ], which was called the book of the covenant, ver. After this there was a second going up of Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, [ ], when that glorious discovery of God mentioned in verses 10 and 11 of the same chapter took place.

After their coming down Moses is again commanded to go up; and God promises to give him tables of stone, containing a law and precepts, ver. This is the first place these tables of stone are mentioned; and thus it appears that the ten commandments, and several other precepts, were given to and accepted by the people, and the covenant sacrifice offered, [ ], before the tables of stone were either written or mentioned.

This analysis would answer a frequently asked question, How did the Lord put the whole law of Moses on two tablets? The tablets, it seems, contained only the divine summary called the Ten Commandments. Joseph Smith added additional information when he reworked the first two verses of this chapter:. Therefore do as I have commanded thee, and be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me, in the top of the mount. At first reading, this passage may sound contradictory.

But the Joseph Smith Translation of Deuteronomy makes it clear that the two sets of plates contained the same thing, with one exception:. This phenomenon of light radiating from heavenly beings and earthly beings who are under heavenly influence is not unique here. He is its Sovereign and King. As such, He not only can dictate its laws but establish peoples on its lands.

The Book of Mormon joins with the Bible in witnessing this fact. Pause for a moment to consider these scriptures: 1 Nephi —39 ; 2 Nephi ; Deuteronomy , 37— Though man was given dominion over the earth through Adam, that dominion was under God. Is anyone excluded? Is there such a thing as a sin that hurts only the individual? How are all sins sins against God even if they seem to hurt no one else?

Now answer the following questions:. If they had been obedient to the law given them, what would have been the results? Are there any members of the Church today who are in a condition similar to that of the ancient Israelites?

Of what value, then, is a study of the law of Moses to a modern Latter-day Saint? Exodus 25—30; 35— The House of the Lord in the Wilderness. Deuteronomy 1— An Exhortation to Obedience, Part 1. In fact, if we were still under the Mosaic Law with its Levitical priesthood, Jesus who is not a Levite could not act as our priest at all.

Hebrews —22 explains:. Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood for on the basis of it the people received the Law , what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek [i.

For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also …. For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness for the Law made nothing perfect , and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God…. Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Ephesians —22 is helpful for understanding all of this. He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man.

Now how does this relate to Matthew ? Matthew is very focused on the subject of true righteousness in his Gospel. The Pharisees were trying to follow rules, but they were constantly breaking the deeper spirit of the Law as everyone does. There was no hope for them in following the Law because it was too high of a standard and there would be no leniency. Rather, He came to fulfill the requirements perfectly—in spirit as well as letter.

The Pharisees who were attempting to obtain righteousness through the Law had no hope because no aspect of the Law would be lessened for anyone attempting to obtain righteousness in that way.