You cannot keep the law

It is the Christian claim that it is impossible to keep the law.

The Mr. Batman argument wold go as follows,

• A: Have you ever told a lie?
• B: Yes (of course, everyone has told a lie at some point).
• A: That makes you a liar, and therefore you are guilty of sin.

The “Mr. Batman” argument is a way of stating that once you break the law, you are guilty of death and therefore you need the “blood of Jesus” to heal you or to save you from this punishment.

A simple reading of the text shows this is an incorrect opinion. Pasages such as Exodus 16 show that even when a particular law or commandment was broken, it did not represent a breech of covenant;

27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day to gather, and they found none.

28 And the Lord said unto Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

29 As the Lord has given you the sabbath, he will give you on the sixth day the bread of two days: Therefore abide every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.Exodus 16:27-30

Another famous example would be when King David was forgiven by the Lord (by Nathan).

The question then becomes whether or not this is just a case study or if in addition to this there is an actual law given in the Torah. In fact, there is;

6 “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt,

7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. […]

Frankly speaking, it is in fact a law itself to confess your sins;

7 […] And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.

8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.

9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.

10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.” Numbers 5:6-10

and further, there are means of restitution given by the torah – in this case a punishment (such as a fine) which fits the nature of the transgression.

Even in a case where the people of Israel commit a major breech of the covenant, God has already pre-ordained that he will never abandon his covenant with them:

44 And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.Leviticus 26:44-45

One may note that even within this passage is the idea that one may turn from his sins, from the covenant which he had broken, and return to the lord;

40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. Leviticus 26:40-42

We may also bring many other passages such as the entirety of Ezekiel 18; relevant quote,

21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Ezekiel 18:21-23

Even though we know God will not do this (see Lev. 26, etc.) Christians will still make this claim from time to time. This is in fact a misreading of Jeremiah. See: “Did God divorce the jews?” for a full exposition, but in short, Jeremiah 3:8 shows that even if we say that God divorced Israel (which he did not; see Jeremiah 3:12-13 next), this refers to the idolatrous nation of Northern Israel and not Judah, which is clear from the passage. So even if this happened, there is still the problem of righteous Judah – or at the very least a righteous remnant (see after).

The point here is in fact that directly after this God says that if Israel returned to him he would forgive them (Jeremiah 3:12-13). Jeremiah 3:14-18 continues to include Jerusalem. Therefore no rational person would believe that God had “divorced” or in any way abrogated the covenant he made with Israel. This message is in fact repeated again in Jeremiah 3:19-22, if reading it once wasn't enough!

There is a concept called the righteous remnant which all Christians agree with as even Paul acknowledges their existence. Ultimately if the above is not proof enough (then one would wonder what proper proof would be, if not the very word of God) then one may point out the existance of the righteous remnant.

The righteous remnant is in fact the mighty and outstretched hand of the Lord which is protecting and preserving the Jewish people according to his covenant with them. Please see Righteous Remnant for more information.

It is the Christian position that you do not need to keep the law because it was fulfilled in Christ. There are many ways of explaining this and many scriptures such as saying written on your heart, etc.

What does Paul say about this?

• Romans 8:3
  • 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do; By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh; and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh,
  • 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

• Galatians 3:24-26
  • 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
  • 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
  • 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

• Romans 6:14
  • For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

• Hebrews 7:18-19
  • 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

• 1 Corinthians 7:19
  • Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

It should be clear from the writings of Paul that his explicit permission is that the law is no longer meant to be kept because the Christians are now under a new covenant by whichever mechanism and purpose they are.

Our only question is whether or not this is scriptural.

It is the position of the word of God that the Law can only be kept by doing it. We will examine two classes of verse here; one, the statement that the law must be done (performed; by works) (A) and two, that this kind of observance will never change in the future (B).

These are verses which discuss that the covenant must be kept by doing it with works (performing an act of volition).

These are verses which discuss that the mode of observation will not change in the future.

• “All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” (Numbers 18:19 NSV)

• “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel, gave rule over Israel forever to David and to his sons by a covenant of salt?” (2 Chronicles 13:5 NSV)

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” 2 Samuel 7:11-16 (ESV)

• Psalm 105:8-10
  • He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
  • the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
  • which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
• Psalms 119:160
  • The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
• Ecclesiastes 12:13
  • Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
• Isaiah 40:8
  • The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.

• “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13 NSV)

• Deuteronomy 4:2
  • 2 Do not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

• Deuteronomy 11:22
  • “For if you keep the commandments which I command you, and do them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving unto him,”

• Deuteronomy 12:32
  • 32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

• Numbers 23:19
  • 19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

• Ezekiel 24:14
  • 14 I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

• Psalm 89:34-36
  • I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips. . . .

• Exodus 3:15
  • 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,[a] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
• Exodus 12:14

“14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”

• Exodus 12:17

“17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.”

• Exodus 12:23-24

“23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.”

• Exodus 19:9

“9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” […]”

• Exodus 27:21

“21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.”

• Exodus 28:43

“43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.”

• Exodus 29:9

“9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.”

• Exodus 30:21

“21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.””

• Exodus 31:16

“16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.”

• Exodus 31:17

“17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’””

• Exodus 32:13

“13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’””

• Exodus 40:15

“15 and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.””

• Leviticus 3:17

“17 It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.””

• Leviticus 3:36

“36 The Lord commanded this to be given them by the people of Israel, from the day that he anointed them. It is a perpetual due throughout their generations.””

• Leviticus 6:18

“18 Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed forever throughout your generations, from the Lord's food offerings. Whatever touches them shall become holy.””

• Leviticus 6:22
  • 22 The priest from among Aaron's sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the Lord as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned.
• Leviticus 10:9

“9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.”

• Leviticus 10:15

“15 The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the Lord hath commanded.”

• Leviticus 16:29

“29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.”

• Leviticus 16:31

“31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever.”

• Leviticus 24:9

“9 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.”

• Leviticus 25:34

“34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.”

• Leviticus 26:14-46
  • “… 44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”
• Numbers 10:8
  • 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
• Numbers 15:15
  • “15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord.”
• Numbers 18:8

“8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due.”

• Numbers 18:11

“11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.”

• Numbers 18:19

“19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is an eternal[a] covenant forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.””

• Numbers 18:23

“23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”

• Numbers 19:10

“10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.”

• Numbers 19:21

“21 And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.”

• Numbers 25:13

“13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’””

Summary: 33 sources; The covenant with Israel is forever (including the priesthood). Nation of Israel (Prophets, Writings)

• Jeremiah 32:40

“40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.”

• 2 Samuel 23:5

“5 “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?”

• 1 Chronicles 16:15-17

“15 Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 16 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 17 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,”

• Psalms 105:8-10

“8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,”

• Psalm 111:5-10
• “5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.”
• Psalm 111:7-8

“7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; 8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.”

• Psalm 111:9
  • “9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!”

• Hosea 2:19
  • “19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.”
• 1 Kings 9:3
  • “3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
• 2 Chronicles 7:16
  • “16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”