The Big Debate: Was the Law abolished or embraced by Jesus and his Church?

First, in this context the Law refers to Judaism’s system of moral, ceremonial (religious ritual) and civic laws that guided all aspects of their lives.  While the Church no longer accepts the validity of the ceremonial and civic laws, the debate rages on as to whether the moral laws have ended, too.  Regarding this remaining debate, I believe the moral laws simultaneously continue and end in Christ.  The Law continues in Christ, for the Spirit encouraged the early Church to embrace the Old Testament as valid teaching for moral guidance.  Yet, the Law equally ends in Christ, for he is now our Law and the Spirit is now our guide.  Therefore, the moral Law continues even as it has ended.

How?  In Christ, we honor the Law even as we look at it through the lens of Christ.  As such, all laws come under Christ’s summary principle (e.g., Matthew 22:37-40) or new commandment (John 13:34): “The Law of Love”—the wholehearted love of God and neighbor.  This love-commandment sifts all other laws to determine what continues in Christ and what is left behind.  Another reason the laws need sifting is found in God’s acknowledgment to the Prophet Ezekiel that some of the laws given by God to Moses were punitive in nature. God explained this was due to Israel’s continual rebellion in The Wilderness, saying, “Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live” (Ezek. 20:25, NRSV).
(Note: Highlight these words from Ezekiel in your memory, for they are likely to become a key concept in the debate over homosexuality and the Bible.  Unfortunately, I stumbled upon this verse late in my writing, but I plan to do more with the Ezekiel text in later editions of this book).

Jesus personally embraced the Law in his claimed mission to be the Jewish Messiah, but he also foresaw its end as it would one day be written on people’s hearts, not scrolls.  As such, Jesus was a good Jew who at times challenged what he saw as corruption of the Law by the religious leaders--both past and present.  There are many unknowns here, for the Jews largely rejected Jesus as their Messiah, leaving us to only wonder how an embraced Messiah would have transformed Judaism.  Instead, we are left with a Church that went through an awkward transition from being the True-Jews who embraced their Messiah to an eventual acceptance that they had become a new religion that would be called Christianity.  As Christians, Jesus is our Law, the Spirit is our guide, and all Scripture is profitable when viewed through the lens of Christ.