What I meant by the indivisibility of the law is the idea of requiring adherence to the dietary and/or moral/social laws, and exclusion of the other(s). The HR movement teaches its followers that we all are required to follow the moral/dietary/social laws, including the feasts, and can disregard the ceremonial laws since there is no temple. That dividing of the law of Moses, or law of God, is something that scripture nowhere authorized mankind to perform upon the entire law of God.
When we talk about the ten commandments, that too is inseparable since it is repeated in the whole law of Moses. The ten are basically synoptic in nature, and was given to the nation of Israel. We have to remember that the requirement for sabbath keeping is a part of the ten, and dividing that out of the ten is, again, a subjective exercise nowhere sanctioned by the Lord to do to His law that was a part of the covenant with Israel.
Now, if someone can show to me where the Lord ever empowered mankind to divide up His written law into convenient, compartmentalized chunks, then I would very much like to see it. It would be a learning experience for me that I welcome.
2 Chronicles 33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
The way the Lord always handles the law involves it being retained in its entirety. Never have I seen where the written law was ever upheld as being obeyed in part on the basis of any divisibility.
Galatians 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
We can put into that text any other item of the law, and the guilt will remain the same for breaking any part of it, which would still lead to the guilt of it all. Paul just happened to address circumcision because that was the pet attack dog of the Judaisers.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.
So, whether one adopts one item or all the law, breaking it in just one point makes one guilty of it all. This shows to us the inseparable nature of all the written law.
If you or anyone else has something that would add to this what may legitimize the idea that the law of God can be divided up in the sense of just one or more portions binding upon us today at the exclusion of all others, then I'm willing to give it a looksee.
MM
Romans 14:6, 14.......
"He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God...I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean".
Paul is saying in the New Testament era it doesn't matter what we eat or if we consider one day special or not. Yet these things are in God's law which Jesus said would not pass away until heaven and earth pass away. How do we reconcile this?
Now if you will think this through, tell me if there is only 3 possible answere.
1. No, Old Testament law is done away with in Christ. They have no binding power on us today. This view tends to lead to confusion because people are encouraged to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and yet, they cannot use the majority of the Bible [Old Testament] to test to see if the Holy Spirit is really leading them. They tend to drift into doing what is right in their own eyes.
2. Yes, all the Old Testament law is literally binding on us today. These people tend to become legalistic. They must be careful in what they eat, how they dress, where they go, etc. This tends to bring bondage. Also fear can come in for, if I break the law, have I lost my salvation?
3. Some of the Old Testament law is binding and some is not. The danger with this view is we tend to pick and choose which laws we want to be binding. If we are not careful we end up manipulating the Word of God for our own purposes.
It appears to ME that we are only left with option #3 above. But if some Biblical laws are binding in their literal sense and some are not, how do we know which are which? How do we avoid the danger of our own picking and choosing?
Certainly we cannot decide for ourselves which laws are currently binding and which ones are not. That would put us as a judge of Scripture instead of allowing Scripture to judge us. The Scripture must be our guide and standard.
The
ceremonial laws deal with the sacrifices, the temple, the priesthood, the feast days, but We are no longer expected to offer animal sacrifices on an altar neither do we have a High Priest who must enter the physical Holy of Holies on our behalf on a regular day to cover our sins. WE JUST DO NOT BELIEVE that, so if we do not do it have we broken the Law of God????
The non-ceremonial laws deal with rules for living according to God's design and they include Dietary laws.
The Law says that eating PORK is forbidden but Paul says that ALL THINGS are acceptable if they are blessed. So if we non-kosher food have we broken the Laws of God....ALL of them????
Does this mean the ceremonial laws are unimportant for us today? Not at all! It only means we do not keep them in a literal, physical sense. The ceremonial laws were symbols or shadows of Jesus and His work. In a very real, spiritual way, by living in Christ, we are keeping them. And, of course, they are a wealth of insight into
WHO JESUS IS, what He accomplished, how God expects to be worshiped, etc. They are very important and we do keep them in their true sense, which is not in the literal way they were kept in the Old Testament. In the New Testament they have come into their full meaning in Jesus Christ.
What about the non-ceremonial laws? They are in full force. Jesus even expanded on some of them showing it is not just the acts, but the intents of the heart that God judges.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery': but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" [Matt. 5:27-28 NAS].
Thats my story!