Ten Commandments and Cermonial Law ONE Law?

Many Christians believe that the Bible ten commandments and the ceremonial laws of Moses are one law, and they were all nailed to the cross along with Christ Jesus. Well, let's look at that Bible verse which mentions the law being nailed to the cross ..... Colossians 2:14 .....'Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' ..... Now does this verse include the Bible ten commandments? I don't believe it does. Why? There are two reasons why the ten commandments cannot be included in this Bible verse above, and why it is only talking about the ceremonial laws of Moses. First, it says 'blotting out the handwriting of ordinances'. Would Paul simply call the ten commandments, written by the very finger of our Almighty Creator God, 'handwriting of ordinances'? I certainly don't think so. Paul is talking here about the handwriting of ceremonial ordinances that Moses wrote in the 'book of the law', which contained the priestly services, offerings, sacrifices, monthly and yearly sabbaths etc, not the ten commandments written by the finger of God on the stone tablets.

The second and most clear evidence that Paul in Colossians 2:14 is NOT talking about the Bible Ten Commandments is the fact that he said the handwriting of ordinances "were against us". Do we know what laws were against us? Have a good think about this. Were the ten commandments against us, or just the ceremonial laws? If we take a look in the book of Deuteronomy, we can find out the truth ..... Deuteronomy 31:24-26 ...' And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.' Did you notice what happened here? Where were the ten commandments placed? We all know that they were placed INSIDE the ark of the testimony (ark of the covenant) See Exodus 40:20. But notice above that the 'book of the law' which contained the handwriting of ordinances (ceremonial laws) was placed BESIDE the ark, NOT inside, and notice the last few words of the above scripture ..... 'for a witness against thee.' ..... Paul confirmed in Colossians, that it was the handrwriting of ordinances THAT WERE AGAINST US, which were taken out of the way and nailed to the cross. The truth is, it was the ceremonial laws that were against us and nailed to the cross, NOT the ten commandments. And the fact that the ten commandments and the cermonial laws were placed separately apart, shows a clear distinction between the two laws.

Another Bible verse that is used by many Christians to suggest that the ten commandments were only until Christ, is in Galatians, where it says the law was ADDED until Christ would come ..... Galatians 3:19 ...' Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.' ..... Now have a real good think about this one. If this Bible verse from Paul includes the ten commandments, then what was it added to? There's nothing to add it to, so this doesn't make sense. But if we separate the two laws as shown earlier, then this verse begins to make a lot of sense. The 'law' in Galatians above is the ceremonial laws of Moses, written in the 'book of the law', and what Paul is actually saying is that the ceremonial laws were ADDED to the ten commandments UNTIL Christ would come and take the ceremonial laws away, as they pointed to Christ Himself. Why were they added? They were added, as it confirms in Galatians above, because of transgression. What is transgression (sin)? ..... 1 John 3:4 .....'Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.' Transgression of what law? THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

This is the basic fact about the two laws. The Bible ten commandments POINTS OUT sin, and the ceremonial laws of Moses was the REMEDY for sin. The ten commandments STILL points out sin, but Jesus is now the REMEDY for that sin. The ceremonial laws have now been replaced by Christ Jesus, as He is now our sacrifice and offering to God for sin. But the moral law of God, the Bible ten commandments still stand.

Do you see this truth? The ten commandments were in effect and binding from the very beginning. As we learnt from the previous study, Cain knew that he did wrong in killing Abel, and God was able to judge Cain, because Cain knew of God's law, the ten commandments. Also, Joseph, when he was tempted by Potiphar's wife, knew that adultery was going against God's law, so he didn't do it. Now if God's ten commandments were not already binding, then how could they know what was wrong, and how could God judge them, without any law? The apostle Paul confirmed this himself ..... Romans 4:15 .....'Where there is no law, there is no transgression.' ..... Do you see that? If there was no law in place from the very beginning, then God could not judge the people for sinning against Him, because there would be no law to sin against.

"This handwriting of ordinances' our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross (Colossians 2:14). But the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away... The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law… Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages." John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions, 2-Vol. Edition, Vol. I, pages 221-222

So just to clarify, the ten commandments were in effect from the very beginning, but the cermonial laws that were written in the book of the law by Moses, were added to the ten commandments, because of sin against God's orignial law (ten commandments). The ceremonial laws pointed to Christ, as He was the fulfillment of those laws, and He took them out of the way, nailing them to the cross. But the Bible ten commandments still stand today and are still binding upon God's people.

For further study on the Bible ten commandments, see Did Jesus Abolish the Law.