Theonomy Primer, pt.4

We have seen that the ceremonial aspects of the Law, being types and shadows of redemption in Christ, are kept in a different manner in the life of the New Covenant. These commandments are restorative in nature, providing the means for the people of God to return to fellowship with Him when they have transgressed His Law. They deal with sin. Our sins being forgiven through Christ, there is no need for further restorative sacrifices. His having become our great High Priest, there is no longer any need to prefigure Him with an earthly one. The Spirit having been poured out on all flesh, there is no longer any need to typify Israel's sanctification in the holiness codes.

Note that all the commandments, in principle, are still being kept. Christ continually makes intercession for His people in Heaven, presenting His blood shed for them. The love and baptismal marking of Christians distinguishes them from those outside.

Note also that the means by which we know the ceremonial Law is kept differently in our age is subsequent revelation. God gave the commandments and then He revealed how they have changed.

This illustrates the guiding theonomic principle: All of God's standing commandments are to be presumed to be binding upon men unless and until He says otherwise.

"Standing" here distinguishes between statutes given in general circumstances rather than specific cases, such as "kill all the Canaanites."

Following this hermeneutical guideline, we will discover that God has in no way abrogated or altered all of the commandments of the Old Covenant. They are presumed to be binding in much of the Apostles' writing.

What we see is that sin has been definitively dealt with. The curse of the Law upon sin has been lifted from us.

Sins are forgiven. But what about crimes? Here is a crucial distinction. Crime involves mainly our transgressions of the Second Table, those commandments concerning loving our neighbor. Sin is our trespass against God. Both are defined by the Law, but that part which deals with loving our neighbor has not been altered or set aside by New Covenant revelation.

What does this mean for us? What does it mean for society?

It means that, in the Christian's life, he is to work out his sanctification following the pattern of conduct that God has provided in both the Old and New Testaments. He governs himself and his family by means of them.

It means that, in a Christian society, the loving of one's neighbor would be defined by fulfilling God's Law toward him. The principles and examples in the case laws would be the guidelines for civil law in the nation.

Now this includes the punishment of crime. And this is where modern people run into difficulty. In pt. 5, we'll take a look at that.