Subjection
to Ordinances
Have you ever found yourself in
violation of or in conflict with a city ordinance? An ordinance
is any law, regulation or directive put in place by a municipality for
compliance by both government officials and citizens. An ordinance can
cover anything from using parking meters to wearing seat belts to
hiring practices for city contracts to posted speed limits. Ordinances
are enacted for the public welfare. Those who live in compliance with
local ordinances are considered good citizens.
Ordinances were and are part of God's
kingdom with both Israel and the
Church. In the Old Testament, the word “ordinance” is the Hebrew choq,
meaning “statute, limit, something prescribed.” In the KJV, it is
variously translated, the most common being “statute” (87x). Its first
usage is Exodus 18:20: “And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws,
and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that
they must do.” These were the words of Moses' father-in-law Jethro, the
priest of Midian, which he spoke to Moses regarding his leadership of
Israel.
The Mosaic Law is an amalgam of
ordinances, consisting of the Ten
Commandments, the Passover and prescribed sacrifices, Sabbath days,
feast days, festivals et al. The Lord directed Israel, custodians of
that Law, as follows: “Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine
ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 18:4).
These ordinances applied as well to divine service rendered in the
Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:1). They were also “carnal” ordinances (Hebrews
9:10), which means they were fleshly, earthly, natural as opposed to
supernatural.
It was the Lord's sovereign
prerogative as Israel's Redeemer to demand
compliance to his ordinances. When Israel was in compliance, they
experienced God's blessing and protection. When they deviated from and
forsook the ordinances, God brought his chastening hand. Every OT
prophet brought stern and often cataclysmic messages for a
non-compliant Israel. God's last prophet delivered these words: “Even
from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from mine ordinances,
and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you,
saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:7).
No matter how bad things got on a
national level, there was always a
fellowship of the compliant. Four hundred years after Malachi concluded
OT prophecy, Luke said this about Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents
of John the Baptist: “They were both righteous before God, walking in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6).
Elizabeth was the cousin of Mary, who would bear Jesus the Christ. It's
safe to say that Mary and Joseph were in that compliant fellowship as
well. It's not within the scope of this article to discuss parenthood.
But suffice it to say that parents who desire for their children to
walk in God's paths must first walk aright themselves. Zacharias,
Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph were justified by faith as was Abraham. God
imputed righteousness to them in response to faith. Compliance to God's
ordinances was an outgrowth of that faith.
This distinction is critical because
the Mosaic Law could bestow
neither forgiveness nor life (Galatians 3:21). Even if we assume that
the natural man could one day achieve perfect compliance to the Law, he
would still be spiritually dead and in need of forgiveness for sins
past. The Law was our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ (Galatians
3:24-25). Its divine design is to expose our spiritual destitution,
prompt us to look outside ourselves, come to Jesus Christ by faith with
empty hands and trust the Lord to save us. This is the lawful use of
the Law (1 Timothy 1:8). The Law is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12).
Jesus came into this world to fulfill
the Law. He lived a life of
perfect righteousness and compliance to every ordinance. As the
God-Man, he went to the Cross as the perfect satisfaction
(propitiation) for our sins. In Ephesians 2:15, the apostle Paul wrote:
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace.” The word “ordinances” is the Greek dogma (Eng.
'dogma', a degree, doctrine, judgment). The 'dogma' of the Law was
abolished by Jesus in the process of bringing Jew and Gentile into one
body. The verb “having abolished” is an aorist active participle of
katargeo,
meaning “to render useless, to cause a person or thing to
have no further efficacy, abolish”). Literal translation: “One having
rendered the Law useless.”
The theme of the epistle to the
Colossians is the total sufficiency of
Christ for the believer. As Paul traveled throughout Asia Minor, he
constantly encountered Judaizers, some of whom followed him from city
to city, who sought to ill-affect the minds of believers regarding
salvation. Their contention was that the Law was still binding, that
faith in Jesus was not enough for a righteous standing before God.
While Paul encountered these loyalists to Moses in nearly every place,
he took the occasion of writing to the Colossians to address the
problem directly with inspired text.
In Colossians 2:16, we find some
clues about what the Judaizers thought
were essential ordinances that believers at Colosse were NOT observing
(ordinances concerning food, drink, holy days, new moons and Sabbaths).
An alarming trend in Christendom today is a renewed compliance to Torah
ordinances by some as an expression of righteousness. It's Colosse all
over again. God nailed every OT ordinance to the Cross of Jesus Christ,
including Sabbaths (2:14). The trio of verbs is instructive. “Took it
out of the way” is a perfect tense, indicating permanent results. It's
modified by two past participles: “Having blotted out (erased) the
handwriting of ordinances” and (2) “having nailed it to his cross.”
Notice the “it” is singular. The “it” represents the totality of Mosaic
Law as one unit. Paul said all the ordinances as outlined in the Torah
are a “shadow” or mere shade (2:17). Spiritual nourishment and increase
come as a result of “holding the Head” (2:19), NOT the shadow. There is
neither spiritual substance nor sustenance to be found in Torah
shadows. Paul NEVER intended a co-mingling of Christ and
shadows.
In
Colossians 2:20, Paul asks a rhetorical question: “Why are you
subject to ordinances when you died with Christ and to everything
God nailed to his Cross?” This is the relevant question for
every
person
who tries to make Torah compliance ancillary to Christ. The believer is
“complete” in Christ (2:10), his head. This was Paul's whole purpose in
writing this epistle. Interpreting the judgment of 2:16 as proof that
the Colossian believers were being criticized for observing shadows is
a total misread of the verse in its context. The Colossians, in
accordance with Paul's teaching, left the shadow (Torah) on the Cross,
where God nailed it. Judaizers criticized them for it. Why then
resurrect what God erased in Christ, and call it righteousness? Being
subject to Christ and subject to ordinances (shadows) at the same time
is spiritual duplicity and a departure from apostolic doctrine. What is
a Torah follower expecting to get from a shadow that he cannot get from
Christ?
Another verse needs
clarification. In 1 Corinthians 11:2, Paul wrote:
“Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and
keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” “Ordinances” here is
the Greek paradosis
(a giving over, tradition handed over from one person
to another, either orally or in writing). What were these ordinances
delivered by Paul? In comparing scripture with scripture, we can
conclude with certainty that NONE of them pertained to the Torah. They
probably included water baptism by immersion, the Lord's Supper
(11:23-31), use of spiritual gifts (12:1-31) and the gathering of
offerings on the first day of the week, the post-Pentecostal standard
for Church worship (16:1-2).
A false doctrine floating
around these days is Replacement Theology,
which teaches that the Church inherited from Israel all its privileges
because of its rejection of Christ. This may or may not be a factor in
worship driven by the Torah. That doctrine is false on its face. God
has two distinct programs: Israel and the Church. When the Church Age
ends with Christ catching away his Church, his program with Israel will
resume (Daniel's Seventieth Week). One of God's major purposes for the
Great Tribulation will be
to draw Israel to himself in advance of his kingdom on earth. Failure
to make this distinction between Israel and the Church opens the door
to all manner of biblical error.
Consider Hebrews 10:19,
which reads: "Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus."
Entrance into the holiest, the very presence of God once reserved for
the high priest alone behind the veil of the tabernacle/temple, is now
the reality for every believer by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is
the highest and holiest privilege for a believer, and ONLY the
blood of Jesus makes this access possible. It's what
the
Cross of Christ was all about. Question: Does reaching back into the
Torah and augmenting the Christian experience with OT Sabbaths
and holy days (shadows) improve or better facilitate entry
into
the holiest? Absolutely not! What then does a believer think
he
or she gains by adherence to OT ordinances? When a believer adopts the
shadows that God nailed to the Cross of Christ as part of
their Christian experience, he or she is like the owner
of a Rolls Royce with gold-plated
bumpers purchasing a $1.00
bumper sticker, affixing it to gold plating and
thinking the
bumper sticker has enhanced the value of their Rolls Royce. It's an
insult to the blood of Christ.
Finally,
the scripture proclaims: "For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). The
word
"end" is telos
("termination,
the limit at which a thing ceases to be, that by which a thing is
finished"). As far as scripture is concerned, at the
moment God clothes a believer with the righteousness of
Christ,
the law ceases to have ANY relevance whatsoever other than for
instructive purposes. For a believer to add Torah-based
practices
(Sabbaths, feasts, et al) to his or her life as a way of 'fulfilling
righteousness' is in fact a practical denial of Christ's
sufficiency.
For the believer who thinks he or she
is really on to something with
compliance to Torah ordinances, including worship on the Sabbath, they
MUST be prepared to answer the following questions: (1) Why
are you subjecting yourself to the ordinances that God nailed to the
Cross? (2) What do you as a believer expect to get from a shadow
that you cannot get from the blood and righteousness of Christ?
(3) What part of "end" don't you understand?
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