Abolition of the Law?

[thaddaeus417]

There are 613 laws (some debate about that number) broken into 248 Positive Commandments (do) and 365 Negative Commandments (don't). The following is copied from an ebook I have, "The message of Colossians and Philemon; David K. Bernard."

The church today is not under God’s covenant with
Israel as epitomized by the Ten Commandments but
under the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans
7:5-6; Galatians 3:23-25; 4:21-31; Hebrews 8:6-13). As a
result, the church no longer observes the physical signs
and ceremonies of the old covenant, such as circumcision
(Galatians 6:15). God and His Word are unchanging, but
some of His commands relate only to certain people or a
certain time. While God’s moral law never changes,
Christians are not subject to the ceremonial law of the

Old Testament (Acts 11:5-9; 15:1-29).
Specifically, Christians are not compelled to obey the
dietary laws (Mark 7:14-19; Acts 10:11-16; I Timothy
4:1-3). Nor is physical Sabbath keeping a requirement
under the new covenant (Romans 14:5-6, 13; Galatians
4:9-11).
The Sabbath was given uniquely to the nation of Israel
(Exodus 31:13; Deuteronomy 5:15; Ezekiel 20:12-13). It
was ceremonial in nature, not inherently moral. (See
Isaiah 1:10-20; Matthew 12:1-13.) Jesus and Paul
affirmed the moral law of the Old Testament; they
referred to some of the Ten Commandments as stating
eternal moral standards, but it is notable that they did not
mention the Sabbath law in these references (Mark
10:19; 12:28-31; Romans 13:8-10).
Of course, Christians are to be faithful to local church
meetings whenever they are held (Hebrews 10:25), and
from the earliest times, Christians have usually conducted
their main worship services on Sunday (Acts 20:7;
I Corinthians 16:2). Early believers chose the day of
Christ’s resurrection to emphasize that they were not
under the old covenant, which the Sabbath symbolized,
but under the new covenant, which His resurrection instituted.
Nevertheless, any day is appropriate for a special
spiritual observance (Romans 14:5-6).
Verse 17 explains the purpose of these superseded
ceremonial laws. Literally, they were a shadow of things
coming; they were prophetic or typological. (See Hebrews
8:5; 10:1.) Like the shadow cast ahead of someone who is
walking around a corner, they provided significant preliminary
information about the One who was coming.
The body (substance, reality) is of Christ. He is the

One who cast the shadow ahead of Him. Now that we possess
the reality, we no longer need the shadow. Now that
we can learn of Him directly, we no longer need to participate
in rituals that teach about Him indirectly and
incompletely. God used the ceremonial law—including
blood sacrifices, dietary laws, circumcision, Sabbaths,
and feasts—as types of truth to be found in Christ and His
gospel. Since we now have the substance, we no longer
need to observe the types and shadows.
In particular, the dietary laws separated the Israelites
from all other nations and taught Israel a clear distinction
between the clean and unclean, the holy and profane.
(See Leviticus 11:47; Ezekiel 22:26.) These principles of
separation and distinction are vitally important in a spiritual
sense today (II Corinthians 6:14-7:1).
The Sabbath provided a weekly day of rest for Israel
and also served to separate it from all other nations. It
pointed to the spiritual rest that Jesus provides and that
we enjoy every day under the new covenant (Matthew
11:28-30; Hebrews 4:9-11). We partake of that rest today
through the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial sign
of tongues. (See Isaiah 28:11-12; Acts 2:38; 3:19.) We
also receive sanctification, or power to separate from sin
and identify with Christ, through the indwelling Holy
Spirit (II Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:2).
Just as the physical Sabbath provided physical rest
and sanctification for the Israelites under the old covenant,
so the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, provides spiritual rest and sanctification for the
church under the new covenant. Just as the Sabbath was
a constant reminder of Israel’s deliverance from bondage
and of their covenant relationship with God, so the Holy

Spirit is a constant reminder of our deliverance from sin
and of our new covenant relationship with God. The Spirit
gives us power over sin (Acts 1:8; Romans 8:4), and the
Spirit effects the new covenant in our hearts (II Corinthians
3:3; Hebrews 8:8-11). By living in the Spirit, we
enjoy the true Sabbath every day.