An acquaintance asked me this question:
“Lev 20:13 - Does anyone believe this to be the right course of action? This is clearly what the Bible teaches, KJV. Do we ignore the OT in favor of the NT?”
[The timing of the question came after a man who may have been a practicing bi-sexual Muslim and one who pledged his allegiance to ISIS on a 911 call, murdered 49 people at a homosexual club in Orlando, FL. But, let's assume there is no connection to the terrorist act and the question.]
There is a new book out that will help you think through the application
of Old Testament law in our day.
The Whole Christ:
Legalism,
Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance—Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters, by Sinclair
B
. Ferguson. Anyone who is genuinely concerned about the application of Old Testament law will invest the time and funds for a quality resource on this issue.
Applying Old Testament law requires careful study and thought. Here are some of the issues. As far back as 400 AD, we have letters between
Augustine and Jerome concerning the three dimensions of the law (
moral, ceremonial, and civil). Augustine argued for the continuity of nine of the
Ten Commandments, and Jerome argued for the abolishment of all Jewish law. In the 1600s, both the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) and the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith presented these three distinctions. If one looks at the five major Hebrew terms for the law used in the Bible, these types are also clear.
God gave ancient Israel worship regulations. These regulations instructed them on rituals, purity rules, fasts, diets, sacrifices, and other Old Covenant worship practices. The Messiah fulfilled these ceremonial laws and declared all foods clean in Mark’s gospel (7:19) and even Gentile believers in Acts 10. These temporary worship rules are signified by the Hebrew terms
Hoq and
Huqqa. Jeremiah promised a New Covenant would come that would change the Old Covenant (Jer 31).
Ancient Israel was a theocracy ruled directly by God. He gave them national civil laws, which were time-frozen applications of the moral law to govern their nation before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Even if one ignores the church’s place in the Kingdom of God after Pentecost (34AD) it is a little hard to ignore the ending of the nation of Israel by the Romans. The Babylonians ended the Israelite theocracy (see the book of Daniel), but the final remaining shreds of the nation ended in 70AD. The restored nation in 1948 is not a theocracy but is a democracy that can choose to use some of the ancient civil laws but does not in many instances, including the area listed above.
After the Mosaic administration of the Covenant was in place, the civil law of the nation Israel regulated all requirements of capital punishment in their land. Just as the laws of Russia do not apply in Atlanta, GA (USA), so the laws of Israel that were also fulfilled by the Messiah, Jesus, are not binding in North America. Because these have a connection to the moral law, they give wisdom to individual believers and even legislatures in all nations who are the New Covenant governing authorities (Rom 13) of each nation. They have principles that can and should apply to each age and each time. When a nation writes these ancient statutes into its laws, its citizens must then obey them until the nation repeals, replaces, or annuls them.
However, in the New Covenant, the church is neither a nation nor a government, and it does not receive the sword or stones to use. The church is to use church disciple for any violations of the moral law of God among professing believers. But they are required to affirm the government and God’s use of corporal punishment on those who violate God’s moral law and not take the law into their own hands.
No individual has the authority to take up the sword that God has alone given to human government
to punish violations of civil laws (self-defense is not being discussed here). Phrases like, “If a man,” introduce many of the civil laws in the Old Testament. The requirement to put a fence around your roof is one of these laws (Deut 22:8). The principles of safety in the home and neighbor love (Matt 19:19) are both required for New Covenant believers who love God. Christians are to apply these principles. However, literally building a fence around an American “A” roof is not required and would not fulfill the principle of this ancient ordinance written in days of flat roofs used for entertaining guests.
The moral law endures in the lives of believers across all covenants and ages. People even see the moral law in the natural law that is written on human hearts in the most pagan cultures (Rom 2:14-16). The Ten Commandments are the basis of this dimension of Old Testament law. However, of the 613 laws (the traditional number that is not exact) in the Old Testament, there are more than ten that are moral laws. These laws are based on the character of Yahweh and set forth his nature to his people. The Messiah kept these laws in the place of every believer and removed the curse attached to them by his death. But these laws are still binding on the people of God. The law can still say, “Do this” to a believer, but it can no longer say, “Do this or die.” The death for violations of the law for those in Christ has already occurred and satisfied God's wrath.
The New Testament repeats nine of the Ten Commandments and applies them to the New Covenant people of God, which is not accidental (some argue that 1 Tim 1:8-11 forms the basis for including all ten). These laws reveal sin and God’s righteousness and wise guidance for believers in every age. Because they show us what God likes and dislikes, we display our love and loyalty to Jesus the God-Man by keeping these laws. Israel did not receive these laws to earn or supplement grace and salvation. But the legalistic heart in man tries to turn them into a Covenant of Works to replace or add to God’s grace found only in Jesus the Messiah. These efforts distort the purpose of the law and displease God. Display your love for God and glorify Him by gracious obedience to the moral law of Christ, the royal lawgiver, instead (Jam 2:8) of offering works to attempt to earn God's favor.
The pre-incarnate Christ wrote the Ten Words (Commandments) with his own finger and then handed them to Moses two times (see John 4:24, not the Father). Then, Moses kept them under the mercy seat in the Ark of the Covenant, where the special presence of God resided until the book of Ezekiel. When the Israelites continually violated the moral law, God’s special glory left the temple and then returned on 11 of the Apostles in the court of the Gentiles under Solomon’s porch on the temple mount around 34AD on the day of Pentecost. Jesus now has his Holy Spirit write these laws on the hearts of all true believers (Heb 10:16) much like he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden at Creation. The New Covenant uses the Holy Spirit as the mediator of the moral law, just as the Older Covenant used Moses as the mediator. But the Law was
God’s Law (Deut 11:1) given in love by the hand of
Yeshua the Messiah in both Covenants. Those who claim to be Christians while hating the Moral Law (Rom 13:8-10) graciously given in love from the hand of Jesus, are living contradictions of the gospel (John 15:9-10).
Believe it or not, there is a vast difference between eating a rabbit, shrimp, or bacon and murdering a human with an everlasting soul. The consequences of breaking moral laws are much more significant in every age, nation, and culture. The Ten Words are also called “The Testimony” (
Eduth) in the Old Testament. The Hebrew term translated ‘commandment’ is
Mistvah. These terms are used for moral laws.
The New Testament says, “Thus, Jesus declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19) and Paul says, “All foods are sanctified by gratefulness and prayer” (1 Tim 4:3-5). Something radically changed after the arrival of the Messiah. However, Jesus does not declare idolatry acceptable (1 John 5:21) and Paul does not sanction adultery (1 Cor 6:18) in the New Covenant. Instead, the New Testament further clarifies how humans break these commandments in their hearts (Matt 5:28), just as the Old Testament did by including "coveting" (a heart sin) in the list (see Deut 5:21) of the Ten Commandments. There is a difference between ceremonial and moral laws.
All the NT passages on the covenantal change on the ceremony of circumcision, which was required during the Mosaic administration, should make this even clearer (Rom 2:25-29; 1 Cor 7:19; Gal 5:1-12, 6:14-16; Eph 2:11-19; Phil 3:2-11 and Col 2:11-12). Compare these to Gen 17:1-14 and Lev 12:13. A significant change has taken place with the ceremonial law in the New Covenant. But this change has not taken place in the New Testament with the eternal moral requirements. For example, consider the fifth Commandment (Eph 6:1-3) concerning the treatment of parents and leaders. The everlasting dimension of the moral law carries over into the Messiah’s administration of the Covenant of Grace. Again, see The Whole Christ book to help you with this.
Now, directly concerning the Scripture passage you cited.
If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. (Lev 20:13 NET)
The fact of the matter is that the above sentences are not commands but are part of an explanation of the civil law of Israel, and God as King states the punishment in the ancient Israelite civil laws. He was the King, Judge, Jury and the Lawmaker. That is not the case in the USA. Look at our abortion rates for proof.
Nevertheless, the moral law forbids the act cited in Lev 20:13. It is Lev 18:22 that is the moral law forbidding this practice and this is an extreme violation of the commandment (Mistvah) against adultery (Exod 20:14) in the Decalogue (Also see Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:9 and 1 Tim 1:10). The church in every age or nation must respond to this by implementing church discipline for those who profess to be Christians and behave this way, as modeled in 1 Cor 5 and Matt 18:15-20.
However, the individual in the church or the state has no authority to take any ultimate action. God has not given the sword to individuals or to the church, but only to the state. The church has keys, not swords. We should expect pagans and the world to live like this, and getting them to stop without them first embracing Christ will only make them twice a son of hell if they replace antinomian behavior with legalism (Matt 23:15). Both are rejections of the grace of Christ. Neither obnoxious extreme pleases nor glorifies God. Just like us, these folks need the gospel—nothing more and nothing less.
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