Did The Great High Priest End The Law? The Law Done Away With Part 3

Did The Great High Priest End The Law?

Did the Great High Priest Yahusha MaMashiach end the law?

Indeed, this mere question tells us he cannot, as he is a priest. A priest has no authority to end the priesthood nor the law under which he serves, as he is a mediator between the Most High and man!

1Tim 2:5  For there is one Aluah, and one mediator between Aluah and men, the man Messiah Yahusha;

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance

 

Recap

In our previous two posts in the Law Done Away series, we first looked at how biblical covenants merge with each other. This showed us plainly that no covenant is ever done away with (but are magnified and merged), and is consistent with YAHUAH’S pronouncement that they are perpetual or everlasting.

This is manifested in there still being a rainbow in the sky as a sign that covenant with Noah is still in place. Additionally, the fact that Gentile Christians are still looking to believe in the Messiah and CLAIM to be heirs according to the promise made to Abraham is again manifestation that the covenants never end.

Now in the second in the series, we looked at justification by faith outside the deeds  (works) of the law. This looked at the new covenant in Yahusha compared to the previous covenant made in Sinai (commonly known as the law).

We looked at how faith justifies us before YAHUAH, but we saw the value of the law in our new covenant, which is to show us what is sin.

The fact that sin still exists is a manifestation that the law is not done away. Hence, we saw why the law is still relevant.

 

Hebrews 8:13

Now we will look at probably the strongest verse used to say that the law is done away, which is Hebrews 8:13:

Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

One Christian excitably asked me, can someone explain Hebrews 8:13? This was after I explained how the covenants fuse together.

Fortunately, the Book of Hebrews contains an explanation of the covenants starting from chapter 7 to chapter 10.

Now unfortunately, most Christians do not read it in context nor use precepts upon precepts to understand it. Instead, the pick out individual verses to prove the Christian rhetoric that the law is done away.

One of the verses picked out and milked by Christians will form the core of what we are looking at in this post. Indeed, in Hebrews 8:13, it would appear that it is saying that the law is done away. This is if we use the verse in isolation.

However, chapter 9 onward (context) gives us an explanation of what exactly is decayed, waxed old and ready to vanish away.

That is what we will look at in this post. We will look to answer the question, what part of the law (if any) is still relevant today? What part is seemingly removed or done away as they say? We will see that nothing is done away, but merely magnified through Messiah Yahusha, the Great High Priest.

 

The Law Magnified: Our Bodies Are Now The Temples

In verses 1-2, it starts by telling us about the physical temple.

Heb 9:1-2  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

Heb 9:11  But Messiah being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Now because of our new covenant in Messiah, our bodies now become the temple:

1 Co_6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of YAHUAH, and ye are not your own?

1Co_3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of YAHUAH, and that the Spirit of YAHUAH dwelleth in you?

This was done upon the resurrection of the Messiah:

Mar 14:58  We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

So the first and major difference is that the temple has shifted from a physical temple building to our spiritual bodies. Goodbye “church!”

There is, therefore, no need for “church,” which is a dedicated building of worship. Assembly is now wherever we gather, whether at home, in the field or in any building. It is our gathering of ourselves together that constitute the assembly, not a dedicated, institutionalized building.

That is why the assembly in the Book of Acts that they erroneously call the church, was more aptly called the ekklesia, which means congregation, set apart assembly or called out ones. This was because it was about the people, not about a sacred building!

For more see: Why the institutional church is not biblical.

 

Law Magnified: Eternal High Priest

What’s more, the law had the provision for a high priest to perform earthly priestly duties. This was the Levitical priesthood. However, through Messiah, we have a High Priest in the heavens forever making intercessions for us. His was after the eternal order of Melchezidek :

Heb 7:21-28  (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, YAHUAH sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek🙂

By so much was Yahusha made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto YAHUAH by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

 

Hence the succession of priests and rotation of priests in the Levitical priesthood has been replaced by one eternal high priest.

Remember, we need the priests to intercede between us and YAHUAH in the law. The fact that YAHUAH provided us a priest shows that the law is not done away! It is simply renewed in a better covenant with better things.

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Now we know that one of the main duties of the high priest was animal sacrifice. Therefore, since Messiah is now the eternal high priest, we will now see what else in the law has been magnified.

See: Law Done Away With Or Magnified? What Did Paul Really Teach Concerning the Law?.

 

The Law Magnified: No More Animal Sacrifice

The law had provisions for the atonement of sins and trespasses through the system of animal sacrifices. This was done through the high priest. However, now?

Heb 9:12-15  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

How much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to YAHUAH, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Aluahym?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Heb 10:14  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Hence, no longer do we need the sacrificial system of the temple!

Messiah Yahusha is now our High Priest forever, ever living to make intercessions for us. With his one offering up of himself, he removed the need for the Levitical system of continuous sacrifice.

That is why our bodies are now the temples of YAHUAH. The physical temple is no longer needed for animal sacrifice.

 

A Change In The Priesthood

So it is not the law that is done away, it is the physical temple and its sacrificial system.

Note the temple is not done away Instead, our bodies are now the temples of YAHUAH.

Neither is the office of the high priest done away, as Yahusha is now our high priest.

Neither is sacrifice, because Yahusha’s sacrifice once and for all serves eternally. However, we still need his sacrifice to atone for our sins.

Christians agree that the law is NOT done away when they speak of the blood of Yahusha, the Great High Priest that washes away their sins. That blood is the atonement for our sins. It is still needed in our new covenant; however, the law is now magnified.

That is why the Bible says he would MAGNIFY the law, not erase or bring it to an end!

Isa 42:21  YAHUAH is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

 

The Law Written On Our Hearts In The New Covenant Proves The Law Is Not Done Away With

So what about the rest of the law in our new covenant?

It will be written in our hearts.

Heb 8:7-8  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith YAHUAH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Notice the covenant is between the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not with everyone! That is relevant when we look at what the Bible means by And the strangers shall be joined with them. But let me not digress.

Heb 8:9-10  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith YAHUAH.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith YAHUAH; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them an Aluah, and they shall be to me a people:

If the law was done away, why would he put his laws in our minds?

Heb 8:11-12  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YAHUAH: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

This is achieved through the magnified law, that of the temple with its priestly order and the sacrificial system now replaced by the great High Priest, Yahusha HaMashiach of the order of Melchizedek.

Another side note: We still need to teach each other, so we have not yet been brought into the bond of the new covenant as yet. You may see what this means by clicking here.

 

No, no, no…the law is not done away, not even diminished. On the contrary, it is magnified (enlarged) through the Messiah Yahusha. In our new covenant, it is written in our hearts through faith in the son of YAHUAH. That is magnification.

 

What Part Does Sin Play?

In our previous post, we looked at the fact that we need the law to show us what sin is. This is overly emphasized in Hebrews 10. We see how important the law is when we bear in mind that sin is actually breaking the law.

1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

 

 

So if breaking the law is sin, what do we make of this?

Heb 10:26-27  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

If we sin on purpose, by rejecting the law and saying the law is done away, the sacrifices of the Messiah no longer pertain to us! On the contrary, the judgment accorded to the adversary awaits us! Why?

Heb 10:28-29  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of Aluah, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

We are viewed as having done despite to (blasphemed) the Holy Spirit if we sin willfully after having come into the knowledge of the truth. This is how dangerous it is to be saying the law is done away with.

The Messiah was sent to take away our sins, and if we go back into sin, then we do despite unto the Holy Spirit.

1Jn_3:5  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

 

The Law Done Away With? The Great High Priest

So this is a fitting way to end this 3-part series. Saying the law is done away with is spiritual suicide. We must know what sin is, so we do not sin, as he was manifested to take away our sins. If our sins are not taken away, we remain unrighteous, and no unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 6:9).

The Messiah is the Great High Priest who makes the difference in our covenant. Through his offering for sin, he removes the need for a physical temple system with its rituals and sacrificial system.

See: What Does Paul Mean By Messiah Is The End of the Law!?

He tore down the walls of partition (the soreg) that was in the old temple, which separated Jews from Gentiles, making it possible for Gentiles to be one with the children of Israel. This includes Israelites who had been scattered and become Gentiles as well as non-Israelite Gentiles.

Of course, according to the gospel, Israelites and the strangers/Gentiles (non-descendants of Jacob) will have different roles in the kingdom. But, that difference in the kingdom is dealt with in detail here.

 

The Law Is Not Done Away With

Therefore, since the law is not done away, his dietary laws are not done away, neither are his feasts, nor the fact that men should not mar the corners of their beards, neither that women should not wear pants (that pertain to a man), nor many other laws that we disregard.

However, instead of obeying the law to the letter, we now walk in obedience to the spirit of the law. What does this mean?

 

Missed out on parts 1 and 2? All 3 posts work together to give a better understanding so check out:

1. Bible Covenants Explained
2. Justified By Faith Outside The Deeds of the Law