Thinking about the desire some have to go back to the law is just plain irrational. Professing Christians trying to go back to the old law to determine what God requires of them today, or to justify practices they can find no authority in the New Testament, it's beyond my comprehension how they arrived at their current thinking. The OT contains prophecy telling of a “new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and the NT states that the old law was “nailed…to the cross” (Colossians 2:14), and yet there are those who blur the lines between the two laws!
How could Jesus be one's High Priest today when placing themselves under the OT law? We're so blessed by the law the Lord writes into our hearts, and to have Jesus as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). Unlike the OT priests under the OT law, Jesus “holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25). The writer continued, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). Going back to the OT law, then is a nullification of so much that was accomplished for us.
Under the OT law, it's reasonable to consider that Jesus would have been disqualified from the priesthood. Therefore, “a change of law” was necessary (Hebrews 7:12) for Him to write it in our hearts as our High Priest. Under the OT law, priests served from the tribe of Levi; but Jesus “was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests” (Hebrews 7:14).
Because Jesus was not of the specified tribe (Levi), He could not be a priest. That's so earth shaking to my thinking, and the "go back to the law" crowd don't seem to ever consider that. Without Jesus as our High Priest, how could we have forgiveness of sins? The writer of Hebrews said quite clearly, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Because of Christ, in the lineage He was in, we have been “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Those who go back to the OT law, well, they're going back to a system without the sacrifice of Christ, and in which there is no forgiveness and cleansing. Given, then, that there's no forgiveness in going back to the OT law, how can anyone hope to please God through obedience to the OT law? I just don't see that it can be done.
MM
How could Jesus be one's High Priest today when placing themselves under the OT law? We're so blessed by the law the Lord writes into our hearts, and to have Jesus as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). Unlike the OT priests under the OT law, Jesus “holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25). The writer continued, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). Going back to the OT law, then is a nullification of so much that was accomplished for us.
Under the OT law, it's reasonable to consider that Jesus would have been disqualified from the priesthood. Therefore, “a change of law” was necessary (Hebrews 7:12) for Him to write it in our hearts as our High Priest. Under the OT law, priests served from the tribe of Levi; but Jesus “was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests” (Hebrews 7:14).
Because Jesus was not of the specified tribe (Levi), He could not be a priest. That's so earth shaking to my thinking, and the "go back to the law" crowd don't seem to ever consider that. Without Jesus as our High Priest, how could we have forgiveness of sins? The writer of Hebrews said quite clearly, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Because of Christ, in the lineage He was in, we have been “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Those who go back to the OT law, well, they're going back to a system without the sacrifice of Christ, and in which there is no forgiveness and cleansing. Given, then, that there's no forgiveness in going back to the OT law, how can anyone hope to please God through obedience to the OT law? I just don't see that it can be done.
MM