The Uniformity of God's Moral Standard

Chapter 5 of "By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today" argues about the uniformity of God's moral standard in both Testaments. This speaks a lot about the dependability of God's character and His word. Dr. Greg Bahnsen elaborated this subject by explaining that the New Testament did not abolish God's moral standard, that there are manifold administrations of God's covenant of grace, and that the Mosaic covenant itself is gracious. He then explained what's new in the New Covenant, and concluded with God's prohibition about the use of double-standard. 

God's Unchanging Moral Standard 

Read Psalm 89:34; 111:7-8; Matthew 5:19; Luke 16:17; 

If something was sinful in the Old Testament, it is likewise sinful in the age of the New Testament. Moral standards, unlike the price of gasoline or the changing artistic tastes of a culture, do not fluctuate.

Unlike human lawmakers, God does not change His mind or alter His standards of righteousness. When the Lord speaks, His word stands firm forever. His standards of right and wrong do not change from age to age.

Even the coming of God's righteous Son did nothing to change the righteous character of God's laws, even the least of them, for then they would be exposed as unjust and less than eternal in their uprightness. The advent of the Savior and the inauguration of the New Age do not have the effect of abrogating the slightest detail of God's righteous commandments. God has not changed His mind about good and evil or what constitutes them.

God Sticks by His Word

Read Psalm 19:1-14; 33:4-11; Isaiah 51:4-8; John 10: 35

The authority of His word for human life is as permanent as that word by which He created and governs the world. If God's word to us were not as stable as this, if He were subject to moods and changed His mind from time to time, then we could not rely on anything He told us. If God's law has a fluctuating validity, then so might His promises! If we say that a commandment given by God in the Old Testament is no longer a standard of righteousness and justice for today, then we can equally anticipate that a promise of salvation given by God in the New Testament will in some future day no longer be a permanent guarantee of His favor toward us. But praise the Lord that His word is stable! He never lets us down as did our human parents and human rulers with commands that are unfair and promises that are not kept.

The New Testament Did Not Abolish God's Moral Standard

Read Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 

The division of the Bible into two "Testaments" is better understood in the biblical sense as two "Covenants." Prior to the coming of Christ men lived under the Old Covenant which anticipated the Messiah and His work of salvation; after the coming of Christ and His saving work we live under the New Covenant.

Within the "Old Covenant" scriptures we find a few particular covenants, such as those made with Abraham and with Moses. The Abrahamic covenant is often characterized in terms of promise, and the Mosaic covenant is remembered for its strong element of law. Now some people would say that New Covenant believers are under the Abrahamic covenant of promise today, but not the Mosaic covenant with its laws. However, that is far from the outlook of the scriptural writers. In Galatians 3:21 Paul addresses this question to those who speak of being under one or the other covenant: "Is the law contrary to the promises of God?' And his inspired answer is "May it never be!" The fact is that all of the covenants of the Old Covenant (that is, all of the Old Testament covenants) are unified as parts of the one overall covenant of grace established by God. Paul spoke of Gentiles who were not part of the Old Covenant economy which included the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants as "strangers to the covenants of the promise" (Eph. 2:12).

Manifold Administrations of a Single Covenant 

Read Hebrews 8:6-13; John 1:17

The various covenants of the Old Covenant were all part of one program and plan. Not only were they harmonious with one another, but they are unified with the New Covenant which was promised in Jeremiah 31 and is enjoyed by Christians today. There is one basic covenant of grace, characterized by anticipation in the Old Covenant and by realization in the New Covenant. Given the unity of God's covenant throughout history and the Bible, then, is it true that Christians living under the New Covenant are not obliged to keep the Old Covenant law (the commandments of the Old Testament, especially those given by Moses)? Every covenant established by God-even the Abrahamic (Gen. 17:1)-not only declares His gracious work on behalf of His people, but lays down stipulations which they are to observe as a sign of fidelity and love to Him. For instance, the giving of the law at Sinai (Ex. 20-23) was preceded by God's gracious deliverance of Israel from bondage (cf. Ex. 19:4; 20:2). God identified Himself as Lord of the covenant and rehearsed his gracious dealings with His people (Deut. 1-4), and then with that foundation and background He delivered His law (Deut. 5ff.). The failure of the Mosaic generation can be called a failure in obedience (Heb. 6:4), but this was identical with a failure of faith (Heb. 3:9). The righteousness of the Mosaic law was always to be sought byfaith, not works (Rom. 9:31-32).

The Mosaic Covenant, a Gracious Covenant

Read Psalm 19

The law which we read in the Old Testament is a provision of God's grace to us. Every covenant carries stipulations which are to be kept, as we have seen. But prior to that we saw that all of the covenants of God are unified into one overall Covenant of Grace, fully realized with the coming of Christ in the New Covenant. So if there is one covenant enjoyed by the people of God throughout the ages, then there is one moral code or set of stipulations which govern those who would be covenant-keepers. Therefore, New Testament believers are bound to the Old Testament law of God. His standards, just like His covenant, are unchanging.

The Newness of God's Covenant

Read Psalm 89:34; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Hebrews 8:8-12

When we inquire as to what is new about the New Covenant under which Christians now live, we must allow the Lord to define the proper answer. We cannot read into the idea of a "new Covenant" just anything we wish or can imagine. The revealed terms of the New Covenant are given to us in both Jeremiah 31:33-34 and Hebrews 8:8-12, and when we look at them we find that the New Covenant is far from suppressing or changing the law or moral standard by which God's people are to live! Just the opposite is true. Contrary to those who think that the Mosaic law is not applicable to the New Testament believer, Scripture teaches us: "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and I will write them upon their hearts" (Heb. 8:10).

The establishment of the New Covenant does not imply the abrogation of the Mosaic law or its depreciation in any sense! The idea of a new law is ruled out altogether, for it is the well known law of God which He says He will write upon the hearts of New Covenant believers. Unlike the Old Covenant where God found fault with the people for breaking His commandments (Heb. 8:8-9), the New Covenant will give internal strength for keeping those very commandments. It will write the law on believers' hearts, for out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). The Holy Spirit of God will indwell the heart of believers, writing God's law therein, with the result that they will live according to the commandments. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances" (Ezk. 36:27). As Paul writes in Romans 8:4, those who now walk according to the Spirit have the requirement of the law fulfilled within them. America's twentieth-century orthodox Protestant leader J. Gresham Machen said, "The gospel does not abrogate God's law, but it makes men love it with all their hearts."!

God's covenant law is one unchanging moral code through Old and New Testaments. Once God has spoken His law and expressed His righteous standards He does not alter it. Indeed He pronounces a warning and curse upon anyone who would dare tamper with his stipulations in the slightest. Times may change, human laws may be altered, but God's law is an eternally just and valid standard of right and wrong.

Conclusion: God Hates Double-Standard.

Read Deut. 25:13-16; Lev. 19:35-37

One of the requirements of his law, which reflects His holy character, is the prohibition of using a double-standard. It is ungodly to use one measure or yardstick with some people, and then use an altered measure with others. "Divers weights and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 20:10). Accordingly God requires that we have but one standard or moral judgment, whether it be for the stranger or the native (Lev. 24:22; Deut. 1:16-17; cf. Num. 15:16). He abhors a double-standard of right and wrong, and we can be sure that He does not judge in such a fashion. Something that was sinful in the Old Testament is likewise sinful for us in the New Testament, for God's standards are not subject to fluctuation from age to age. He has one uniform standard of right and wrong.

Source: Bahnsen, G. L. (1985). By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today. Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics.