As Christians we have been taught to minimize the law of God. His laws have been misrepresented by most Christian leaders as being only death and bondage because of their misunderstanding of what Paul wrote. But Jesus said the words He spoke to us were Spirit and LIFE; and Paul said that we know the law is spiritual. However, today we’re taught that under the New Testament we are liberated from God’s laws and now we’re free from any accountability for keeping them or breaking them. Is that true or is it a lie? What does God say about that in both the Old and New Testament? What are we really being taught to reject? We are being taught to reject the very character of God and His Holy Covenant of salvation. Please read what the New Testament prophesy of Isaiah 24:5-6 has to reveal about this.
Here is a scripture walk through of how God expresses the nature of His laws. It’s lengthy, but so valuable and worthy of time and effort. Blessings brothers and sisters, lots of love.
Isaiah 8:16
“Bind up the testimony,
seal the law among My disciples.”
(The term testimony can be used as a synonym for law. God uses them interchangeably.)
the testimony = the law
the law = the testimony
To “bind up” is to “seal”.
bind up = seal
seal = bind up
Where and what are they going to bind up and seal the law and the testimony (the word of God) INTO ?
Proverbs 3:3
“Let not mercy and TRUTH forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart”
Proverbs 7:3
“Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.”
Hebrews 8:10
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people”
Hebrews 10:16
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them”
Q: What else is called the testimony?
A: The Ten Commandments which are also called “the testimony” and “the covenant” and “the law”. All those things being the word of God which is His testimony. That testimony is also called His covenant and His law.
The ark of the covenant was also called the ark of the testimony.
Exodus 16:34
“As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.”
Exodus 25:16
“And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.”
Exodus 30:6
“And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.”
It’s called the ark of the covenant because it is an ark that contains the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 34:28
“And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
The Ten Commandments are called:
The Testimony and
The Covenant
The Ten Commandments are the laws of God. The Ten Commandments are the word of God. The Ten Commandments are the testimony of God. The Ten Commandments are a portion of the covenant of God, under the Old Testament and under the New Testament – Revelation 11:19 “And the temple of God was opened IN HEAVEN, and there was seen in His temple THE ARK of His testament…”
Psalms 19:7
“THE LAW of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: THE TESTIMONY of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
Psalms 78:5
“For He established A TESTIMONY in Jacob, and appointed A LAW in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children”
Revelation 12:17
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 15:5
“And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of THE TESTIMONY in heaven was opened”
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Romans 7:14
“For we know that the law is spiritual…”
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Isaiah 8:16
“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.”
Isaiah 8:20
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
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John 11:10
“But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light IN him.”
Proverbs 6:23
“For the commandment is a lamp;
and the law is light;
and reproofs of instruction
are the way of life”
Acts 26:18
“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.”
(law, judgment, light)
Isaiah 51:4
“Hearken unto Me, My people; and give ear unto Me, O My nation: for a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment to rest for a light of the people.
(know righteousness, in whose heart is My law)
Isaiah 51:7
“Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.”
Luke 1:79
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 2:32
“A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
John 3:19
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:20
“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
John 3:21
“But he that DOETH truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
God’s definitions of Testimony: words, law, covenant, proof, a witness and evidence. (There may be more definitions, but this is what I’ve found so far.)
God’s definitions of His law: His testimony, His word, part of His covenant, His ways, a lamp, a light, the truth, His judgment (as in reasoning), love, the works of God, righteousness, holiness, uprightness, cleanness, blameless, uncorrupted, undefiled, life, statues, commandments, charge, justice and precepts.
Proverbs 4:20-23
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are LIFE unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Psalms 119:1-15
“… Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly…
…. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”
2Corinthians 6:7
“By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left”
Ephesians 5:26
“That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word”
The testimony of Jesus Christ:
John 15:3
“Now ye are clean THROUGH the word which I have spoken unto you.”