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. 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 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 'HOLY' moral law contained in 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 moral law 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? We need to remember that the ten commandments are God's moral law, which is FOR OUR GOOD. It is a law of love. Think about it, is 'do not kill' FOR you or AGAINST you? It's FOR you, as you benefit from someone not killing you. Is 'do not steal' FOR you or AGAINST you? It's FOR you, as you benefit from someone not stealing from you. Does 'keep the 7th day Sabbath holy' FOR you or AGAINST you? Again, it's FOR you, as Jesus even stated that the Sabbath was made FOR man (Mark 2:27) and we receive a blessing from God by meeting with Him during His holy time! Do you see?
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 'book of the law' written by Moses, containing the 'handwriting of ordinances' that was against us and nailed to the cross, NOT the ten commandments. And the fact that the ten commandments and the 'book of the law' were placed separately apart, shows a clear distinction between the two.
"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
It was the 'book of the law' which contained 'ordinances' and 'ceremonial laws' which pointed to Christ that were 'nailed to His cross'. The ten commandments, which contain God's moral, holy law, has never been nailed to anything, or abolished. And will remain for all eternity.