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The bible often uses the phrase "the law of God".
Now if you were to ask a Seventh Day Adventist what is the law of God, without hesitation they may reply 'the ten commandments".
Now before we believe that answer we should see what the bible says.
A simple search for the phrase 'law of God' reveals the following, starting with Joshua 24:26 which says:
What is known as the law of Moses was written in a book, and this was called the law of God.
In fact every time the phrase 'law of God' appears in the Hebrew scriptures it only refers to the law of Moses.
Another phrase is the 'law of YHVH'. 2 Chronicles 31:3 reads:
Here the law of Moses is also referred to as the 'law of YHVH'.
The prior phrases 'law of God' & 'law of YHVH' were also referred to by the phrase 'the law'.
Here's two verses that give us an idea of what 'the law' was to the ancient Israelites.
The first is Exodus 24:12 which says:
Here we see the law is identified as the 10 commandments. The second verse is 2 Chronicles 25:4 which reads:
Here we see the law is identified as the book of Moses.
Because of this we can rightly determine that the law to an ancient Israelite was both the 10 commandments and the law of Moses.
This is also known by the word Torah which means teaching, or instruction.
Jesus used the phrase 'the law', and one example is Matthew 12:5 which says:
Here Jesus refers to the law of Moses, so the phrase 'the law' meant the same thing to the saints of the new testament.
Jesus also said the following in Matthew 5:17 which says:
Jesus says he did not come to abolish the law.
Could it be that a portion of God's law was not abolished until after he was crucified?
At least 25 years later Paul said the following in Romans 3:31 which reads:
Even Paul claimed that the law was not annulled.
But this does not mean that the saints are under the law, as God has already made that clear.
Seventh day adventist are taught to elevate the ten commandments and some of the scriptures they use to support this position are the following.
In Exodus 20:1 it says the following:
Here God verbally speaks the ten commandments, but the context reveals why he spoke just these ten commands.
Verses 18-20 say:
God verbally spoke so that the Israelites would fear him, but the people did not want to hear God's voice, so that is why God says the following to Moses in Exodus 21:1:
Another scripture that's used is Exodus 24:12 which reads:
Here God wrote the ten commandments he formerly spoke and engraved them himself.
The idea is that if commands are written on stone than that means they are to be observed forever.
Deuteronomy 27:2-3 says:
Notice here laws were to be written on stones as well, but does this mean these laws were to observed forever as well?
Exodus 34:29 reads:
Notice that the tablets of the ten commandments were to be a testimony, or witness to the people.
But how could they be a witness when they were housed in the ark and covered up?
Well when Moses placed the tablets in the ark he did it outside of the tabernacle in the presence of the Israelites.
So every time the Israelites saw the ark they were reminded of what it contained and also of the law covenant they were under.
Another scripture used is Exodus 40:20 where it says:
And Deuteronomy 31:26 reads:
The idea is that since the tablets were placed inside the ark and the law of Moses was on the outside than that means the ten commandments are eternal, while the law of Moses is temporary.
The only problem with this idea is that it is not from the scriptures.
Instead it is someone's commentary, and I don't think it's wise to base beliefs on commentary.
For those who do trust such commentary, make sure you also apply it to the other items inside the ark mentioned in Hebrews 9:4:
Another scripture used is Exodus 31:16 which says:
The idea is that the weekly sabbath is to be observed forever.
The big problem with this is many of the laws said to have been nailed to the cross were also said to have been observed forever.
Just a few of these things are:
The weekly sabbath and the prior five things are described by the same word, so you must make the same application to all observances.
Another thing you may have heard is that all the law of God hangs upon the ten commandments.
Matthew 22:37-40 says the following:
Here the Lord Jesus claims that all the law of God hangs upon two commandments from the law of Moses.
Another verse is Revelation 14:12 which reads:
Nothing in the surrounding context identifies what these commands are, but the assumption is made that it is the ten commandments.
Seventh day adventist are being taught such assumptions, along with terms like 'ceremonial law' that appear nowhere in the bible.
If you are a Seventh day adventist don't just buy what your denomination is selling.
The final example I will bring up is in 1 John 5:3 which says:
This is not referring to the ten commandments, and if we go back three verses this is made obvious. 1 John 4:21 reads:
So sum it up none of the law given through Moses has been abolished.
But rather that law has been set aside for the saints.
And because of this the saints are not under the law given through Moses.
But are under the law of Christ.