Introduction
Can a law be “nothing” and still teach us something? When Paul says circumcision is nothing, he never says the same about murder or adultery, and that difference opens up one of the most useful tools we have for reading Scripture: the division of the law into moral, ceremonial, and judicial. In this conversation, Pastor Jim Butler, Dr. Richard Barcellos, and Pastor David Charles trace where these categories come from and how they help us tell what still binds us under the new covenant from what has been fulfilled in Christ.
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Transcript
Keywords: threefold division of law, moral law, ceremonial law, judicial law, covenant theology, positive law, natural law, Westminster Confession, theonomy, typology
Speakers: Pastor Jim Butler, Dr. Richard Barcellos, Pastor David Charles
The Question
Pastor Jim Butler: All right, covenant theology and biblical theology. This first question comes to Dr. Barcellos. How does the threefold division of the law help us see the new covenant, and how should we respond to Christians who claim the category is unbiblical?
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah, it is a good question. It is rooted in our confession, the threefold division of the law. The moral or natural law is written on the heart, and as it is promulgated or made public, it is first on stone tablets, and then it is written in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. So that is one aspect of the law, which seems to be clearly based on man’s creation in the image of God with the law written on his heart. And that law written on his heart somehow reflects something of God, something in God. So if that is by virtue of our creation, and we are always creatures, whether we are Adam unfallen, Adam fallen, or an Adamite since the fall under the old or Mosaic covenant, or just under the inaugurated new covenant, we are still creatures. So something of necessity has to transcend all those covenants and be common among all of us. That is what theologians have called the natural or moral law. But God has more laws than just the Ten Words.
Positive Law and Natural Law
Dr. Richard Barcellos: So you look at the history of redemption, or even pre-redemptive history. Adam had the law written on his heart, we know from Romans 2 and elsewhere. But Adam also had a positive law revealed to him in the garden, a prohibition: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So that provides a distinction between natural and positive, or moral and positive. What is positive? It is something revealed above the natural. So if you keep that distinction and keep reading, there are other positive laws. Abraham was told to offer his son Isaac up on Mount Moriah, Genesis 22. That is a positive law, but it is restricted only to Abraham.
Pastor David Charles: So it is covenantally bounded. It is determined by the covenant.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: It is not just covenantally bounded there. I think it is an individual command for an individual person.
Pastor David Charles: Certainly Abraham knows that.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: It is a positive law within the orbit of the Abrahamic covenant, but it is not for all those in the Abrahamic covenant.
Pastor Jim Butler: So there are some positive laws conditioned by the covenant. Circumcision. Saturday Sabbath in the old covenant, Sunday Sabbath.
Circumcision as a Positive Law
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Circumcision is a positive law. And it does not restrict or alter or change the moral law at all. The basic moral principles of the Ten Words are transcovenantal. But circumcision is not transcovenantal. There was a time when it was not, and then there were times when it was, and now it is nothing. So if you read Moses, you have the moral law incorporated into the Mosaic or old covenant, I think with unique redemptive-historical appendages like the death penalty for certain things, which are positive laws added to the moral law under the Mosaic economy. There are also political laws, laws having to do with the polity, the government of ancient Israel.
Pastor Jim Butler: Judicial laws.
Judicial, Ceremonial, and Wilderness Laws
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah, judicial laws. What is interesting is that the judicial laws and some of the ceremonial laws with reference to worship, like the building of the temple, have to do with Israel in the land. So there is a distinction made between moral or natural law and then wilderness laws. The tabernacle predates the Promised Land, but the temple does not, while the tabernacle does. So there are some tabernacle laws that were instituted by God in the wilderness, and then once they got into the land and got their temple, the tabernacle laws are lost. So even within Israel’s experience you have the rescinding or abrogation, by virtue of fulfillment, of some of the positive laws, like the ceremonial laws having to do with Israel in the wilderness. Is it Junius who has that distinction? He has a distinction between laws in the wilderness and laws in the land. So it is a distinction within the ceremonial laws under the Mosaic economy.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: These distinctions were not first invented by the Westminster Assembly’s committee on the law, on chapter 19. They predate that. They go back to the medieval period; Thomas Aquinas has something like that. And I think there is evidence before that the patristics were at least making a twofold, if not a threefold, division. I think those divisions go back to the canonical writers of the Hebrew Old Testament. Moses uses different Hebrew words in strategic contexts. Once you read the entire Bible, you go, “Oh, Paul describes man at creation as an image bearer in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and having the law written on his heart.” So if it is proper to man to have the law written on his heart, then we all have the law written on our heart, whatever that means. But then there are new laws introduced, in the garden first, then with Abraham and others. With Moses there are laws that do not transcend their unique historical, covenantal context, and they can be terminated. They can point to something, and once that to which they point comes, they function differently than they used to.
Pastor Jim Butler: That is right.
Which Laws Carry Into the New Covenant
Dr. Richard Barcellos: So once you get to the New Testament and read it, you realize there are some laws predating the inaugurated new covenant that transcend previous eras and come into our era, moral laws, conditioned by the covenant under which they are being enacted. But there are also positive laws connected to the new covenant, like baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And I think church government is a positive law instituted through the writings of the apostles.
Answering the Claim That the Categories Are Unbiblical
Pastor Jim Butler: What was the question? The threefold division points us to the new covenant, and how should we respond to Christians who claim the categories are unbiblical? I think you have explained that. Exegetically and biblical-theologically, I do not think it is too difficult. Exodus 20, moral law. Chapters 21 to 23, judicial law. Chapters 25 to 40, ceremonial law. The judicial is an expression of the latter table of the commandments. The ceremonial is an expression of the former table of the commandments.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Can I quote somebody? Very well known. He is Canadian. I am not going to name him, but he says, “It is too cute. It is too tidy.”
The “Too Cute, Too Tidy” Objection
Pastor Jim Butler: “It does not work.” I have heard that about Calvinism, and it begs the question: should we expect God not to be tidy? Should we expect God to be illogical and fuzzy? Does that somehow commend a system more? I just do not appreciate that.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Well, the same author, looking at Mark chapter 2, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” says that the majority view is that our Lord is referring back to creation. And he says, “However, that is too tidy, too cute,” or something like that. And I go, well, why is it too tidy? One God who made something. That was in a book called From Sabbath to Lord’s Day. And I had a friend, I think it was Pastor Dunn, when I wrote something, it could have been the garden book, who asked, “Do you think guys push back on the threefold division because they want to watch NFL football, because they do not want to deal with the perpetuity of the fourth commandment?” Now, I do not want to put those words in Pastor Dunn’s mouth, so that is the way I took it. And I said, that is a good question. I do not know men’s motives. I do not know their hearts.
Pastor Jim Butler: It is probably best not to.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah, but you are right. I think exegetically, and then synthesizing our exegesis, doing some redemptive-historical biblical theology, makes it clear.
Why Circumcision Is “Nothing” but Murder Is Not
Pastor Jim Butler: And for Paul to say circumcision is nothing, he does not do that with murder. He does not do that with adultery. There is an obvious distinction between a positive law and something that is perpetual. And I think the Philip Ross book, From the Finger of God, is excellent. When the prophets would upbraid old covenant Israel, it was not because they ate jackdaws or bearded vultures. Not that those were not transgressions, but it was the moral law. It was murder, it was adultery, it was theft.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: That book by Philip Ross, when I heard about it, I got it and devoured it. I read it twice. I said, “This is so good.” In the back of my mind was, “I want to write a book on the threefold division,” until I read that book. And then I saw two reviews of it. One was by a New Covenant guy on Amazon. Really bad. And then I ordered a book in honor of G.K. Beale, published by Hendrickson, I think.
Pastor Jim Butler: It has got some good articles. Eden to the New Eden, or something?
Dr. Richard Barcellos: I do not know what it is called, but it has some good articles, except this one by a certain Canadian New Testament scholar. It is a review by D.A. Carson of Ross’s book. It is horrible. And the book is in honor of G.K. Beale, who in his big New Testament theology holds to the perpetuity of the creation Sabbath. I thought, well, that is kind of a cheeky way to honor the man, to disagree with a book he probably really likes. But that book by Philip Ross, From the Finger of God, is really helpful.
Pastor Jim Butler: That is really good.
Pastor David Charles: And, am I remembering correctly? Because you just brought up circumcision as nothing.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah. But it is not absolutely nothing. It still teaches us something.
Pastor David Charles: We need the circumcision of the heart. It is nothing in terms of a positive law to be acted on under the new covenant. We are the true circumcision who worship. So we are not discounting the language, we are just allowing the new covenant fulfillment.
Pastor Jim Butler: The moral law is assumed by Paul, and the ceremonial law is assumed by Paul, but they differ in terms of obligation on the part of new covenant citizens.
Pastor David Charles: Yeah, because that very text, if I am remembering correctly, goes on to say circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of God.
Pastor Jim Butler: Oh yeah, in 1 Corinthians.
Applying “Do Not Muzzle the Ox”
Pastor David Charles: Right. Now, the question would be, how do we think about those previous laws? Circumcision is still there in a fuller spiritual sense. And then we also have the positive law, for example, do not muzzle the ox, which is now applied to those who serve as pastors.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah, that is a good question. 1 Corinthians 9 and 1 Timothy 5 quote Deuteronomy 25:4. And it is a positive law from Moses. So how do we deal with that? Paul is applying something that applies literally to oxen in the Mosaic corpus, but he is applying the text somehow to guys like us, pastors. So what is going on? I think there is a letter-spirit assumption in the apostles’ hermeneutic. There is a principle behind the positive law that is getting applied, just like you said. There is moral law, and there is case law, judicial law. There is a moral principle that is perpetual and transcovenantal behind the ox text, which is, I think, the eighth commandment, you shall not steal.
Theonomy and General Equity
Pastor Jim Butler: But here is where it might get a little tricky, because that could be used to legitimize theonomy. In the judicial laws of Moses, make sure you have a railing on your roof so that people cannot fall off. The obvious principle is the sixth commandment. So there is this desire to take everything in the judicial law and apply it directly. I like the confession. It expired with that body politic, the commonwealth of Israel. The general equity is still abiding. I do not know that anybody knows exactly what general equity means, but I get it. There is this moral principle.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: The morally perpetual principle.
Pastor Jim Butler: And similarly, Paul does that.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Yeah, but does he do it one-to-one with the state? No.
Pastor Jim Butler: No. There is a huge assumption that America is the new covenant theocracy. Red, white, and blue ribbons. You fit right in.
Pastor David Charles: Your covetousness is ugly.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: You have a white beard, a blue shirt, and red socks. No, your handkerchief is red.
Pastor David Charles: Actually, the one I will wear later.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Okay, we need to get back on subject. We could go for hours on that. I am actually writing a chapter for a book on the threefold nature of the law.
Dietary Laws and Being Set Apart
Pastor David Charles: Because I agree with you, I have an allergic reaction to theonomy. But I love my Bible. So even with the dietary laws, I do not think there is nothing there, because Hebrews makes it clear our hearts should be strengthened by grace, not by food. But at the same time, as God is instructing his son there, what is going on behind that? I want to say it is keeping them from engaging with the pagan nations around them.
Pastor Jim Butler: Differentiating them.
Pastor David Charles: Because a meal was much more than just sustenance. It would mean some sort of intermingling, fellowship. Now maybe, I do not know, but I like thinking about what is going on there.
Laws “In the Land” and the Typology of the Land
Dr. Richard Barcellos: That phrase, “when you are in the land,” when a law is expressed that way, I think that is very important. There is a distinction being made that some laws are to be enacted in the future, when you are in the land, but not until you are in the land. Which means they do not transcend the land. There is something unique about the land in the history of redemption. God is using ancient Israel as the means through which the incarnate one would come. And once the incarnation comes, that special theological purpose is done.
Pastor Jim Butler: Yeah. So when they are vomited out of the land, when they are in the Gentile nations or in exile, those laws that were applicable to life in the land assume their preeminence in that land. So there is a temporariness built in.
Pastor David Charles: And while they are moving through the wilderness, they are not able to plant and harvest in a seasonal way. So that is anticipating being in the land.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: So there is something unique and typological about the land too.
The Wilderness and the Land as Types of the Christian Life
Pastor David Charles: And if that is true, then what is going on as they are in the wilderness that is unique to that historical place as well? I am sure there are things. For example, gathering manna.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: By the way, isn’t it Simon Kistemaker? Did he do his PhD on the wilderness wanderings of the church in the book of Hebrews?
Pastor David Charles: I thought it was in Psalms.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Somebody did that. And they argue that the wilderness is typological of the Christian life. There is a lot of resistance, there is a lot of unbelief.
Pastor Jim Butler: And it is an adolescent phase for old covenant Israel. God calls them my firstborn in Exodus 4, and maturation comes when they inherit the land. So you could refer to that as their adolescence, God chastening them, the first generation not entering the land.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: And the land is ultimately typological of Immanuel’s land. That is why when you ask old people, besides the John Bunyan connection, “How is brother Harry doing?” Well, he is 92 and was in the hospital.
Pastor Jim Butler: “He crossed the river.” What river? The Jordan.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: The Jordan, that is right. And he went into glory. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. We use that language, and I think it goes way back in the history of the church.
Pastor Jim Butler: And I think it is legitimate.
Dr. Richard Barcellos: Oh yeah, I think so. That goes way back. There is a book by Jean Daniélou. He walks through the Exodus and shows the type and antitype material throughout Scripture in the patristics. Very helpful book.
Pastor David Charles: Good question.
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