Q 9: What are the religious or ceremonial laws?

A 9: The religious or ceremonial laws guided ancient Israel in the proper ways of loving and worshiping God; these have passed away with the cessation of the Israelite priesthood and the inauguration of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. (Heb. 7-10)

The ceremonial laws consisted of guidelines for worshipping God and means whereby a sinful people could maintain a favorable relationship with Him. All the components of the religious laws were provided by the grace of God, and only because of His grace were any of them able to accomplish the purposes of revival and renewal among the people of God.

The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that, with the coming and work of our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, a change in this facet of the Law has come about. It’s not that, in the era of grace, the Lord offers no instructions concerning how His people must approach Him. The principles of holiness, cleanness, humility, and so forth, which are encoded in the ceremonial laws of ancient Israel, continue today and come to expression in the requirement of Christians to honor the Lord’s Day, assemble for worship, submit to baptism, participate in the Lord’s Supper, and seek the Lord through the various means of grace.

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