We should note that even most modern versions of the Bible do not use any law in any of these verses. But what if the New Testament taught that the laws of the Old Testament were abolished? This would be in direct contradiction to what the Old Testament teaches, for the Old Testament (known as the Tanakh) teaches in its entirety that the laws it contains are eternal, binding forever, and impossible to abolish by anyone, even God Himself. I must then ask you the same question I once asked one of my students: What gives the New Testament the authority to say that it is the Word of God? In other words, what makes Acts, or any other book of the New Testament, the Word of God, and what determines that it is the Word of God? The answer is simple: the Old Testament! It is the bread that comes down from heaven so that we can eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews then quarreled among themselves and said, „How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, „Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Then he will say to those on his left: Go away from me, you have cursed one, in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Eve`s engagement with the serpent included a critical assessment of the significance of God`s words in light of her sense of God`s goodness and her desire to complete the journey to be like Him, unchangeably holy. The path of disobedience in this case was to transmit a new understanding to inform their affection.
„Thou shalt not die safely” was a call to see God as merciful and good, and so connected to the well-being of His creature that He would not cause death to the harmless act of eating fruit, something they did every day. Second, the reason they would not die is that the fruit would give them knowledge as the knowledge of God is exactly the purpose they had during this probation period. What could be more desirable than to be like the transcendent and lovable Creator? Third, the fruit itself had all the qualities of good that the Creator/Lawgiver had invested in it. So the perverse construction of being disobedient would really be to obey. A violation of one of the commandments means that eternal life is lost (Galatians 3:10-12; James 2:8–13). Already under the penalty of death and corrupted in our hearts by our association with Adam, we add transgression after transgression to deepen our condemnation and increase the grace of our justification (Romans 5:16-17). James said partisanship completely breaks the second table because partisanship dishonors an equal image-bearer. « He who obeys the whole law, but fails on one point, has become responsible for everything. » Thus, Paul argued from Deuteronomy 27:26 that any violation of the law places the transgressor under God`s curse: „Cursed are all those who do not keep all that is written in the book of the law, and do so” (Galatians 3:10).
This is another scripture that traditional Christianity uses against the law. Those who try to remove God`s law often turn to this verse. In the previous verse, Paul explains how the Pharisees tried to establish their own righteousness independently of God`s righteousness, and they ignored Christ`s sacrifice and thought that simply keeping the commandments would be enough for everyone. As Paul points out in verse 4, Christ is the end of the law of righteousness for all who believe. What does „the end of the law” mean? It is the purpose, purpose, fullness or result of the law. Christ in us gives us the power to keep God`s holy and perfect law, for which we ourselves lack spiritual power. Paul gives this instruction in Romans 8:3-4: This area of meaning raises an important question. In the verse of Exodus quoted above, how do we know whether the phrase „everlasting covenant” should mean a covenant valid „for all time” or „for a long indefinite duration” or something else? When it comes to Scripture – especially Scripture in Biblical Hebrew – the intended meaning of a word must be drawn from the context of its use. We must examine it in light of the greater teachings of the passage, of the book, of this author, and, ultimately, of the entire Bible. The requirement had clear consequences: life, eternal life without fear of being interrupted or broken, was the result of obedience, „life of fulfillment”; Death, eternal death under the righteous frown and wrath of the Creator was the result of disobedience, „breaking it.” God „endowed him with the power and ability to keep them.” Nothing lacked the moral faculties by which he could discern the moral character of the command. He had all the natural abilities required for the actions of a moral creature.
Nor was his heart a mere tabula rasa, but felt the goodness of the Creator and the beauty of obedient fellowship with Him.