New Law Theology

Shortly following the Exodus from Egypt, Yahweh established a new covenant: the Mosaic covenant.  The Mosaic covenant was established in the wilderness at Sinai.  At that moment, the covenant was given by the Lord to Israel through Moses.  The Mosaic covenant was God's desire to make a holy nation for Himself, a chosen and priestly nation.  

There were two major parts of this covenant that distinguished and sealed it: the Law, and the Sabbath.  The Sabbath served as a sign of the covenant, sealing it much like circumcision sealed the Abrahamic covenant.  More significant than the establishment of the Sabbath though was God's deliverance of the Law.  The Law was God's most significant revelation of His character in all of history up to that point and it came to dominate and define Israel.

A general synopsis and simplification of Mosaic Law would be that it is a revelation of God's holiness.  Mosaic Law is the majority content of the Pentateuch, especially Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.  It is often oversimplified to just the Ten Commandments but it entails much more.  The major theological thrust and purpose of the Law was to reveal God's character, particularly His holiness.

Holiness is defined in two ways: to be set apart and to be pure.  The Mosaic Law was a set of regulations for cleanliness and sacrifice, offerings that covered the sinfulness of man in order for man to come near the holy presence of God.  The problem with this was that the blood of bulls and goats is unable to cleanse sin or truly forgive iniquity; therefore, a holy offering had to be made.  Enter Christ.

Jesus became the perfect, sinless, spotless sacrificial lamb.  In a real sense, He was the final sacrifice under the Mosaic law.  He in fact abolished the law and made it obsolete by His death and resurrection (Col. 2:13-14; Heb 8; 10).  Now man can become holy by the blood of the holy lamb that is Christ.  Whereas the Mosaic covenant exposed the sinfulness of man but was unable to truly atone for sin, the New covenant, made in Jesus, atones for man's iniquity and restores the right relationship with the Lord that sin had broken.

The point is that the Mosaic law, its regulations and requirements, has been made obsolete in that it is no longer necessary to sacrifice bulls and goats to obtain the holiness of God. Now, holiness is attained through confession and belief in Jesus as God.  The Law does serve a purpose though.  It still reveals who God is as holy and perfect, pure and set apart.  

Although, thankfully, believers do not need to hold to the regulations of the Mosaic law as Israel did, the law still serves to expose sin.  The difference is that while the Mosaic system was unable to atone for the iniquity that it exposed, Christ, through His death and resurrection, has perfectly atoned for the sin that the law reveals.  Praise be to God that He would condescend into the world in order that we would be able to draw to Him by His righteousness!