Refutation: The Moral Law, the Sabbath, and the Harmony of Faith and Obedience
The argument presented is a classic form of antinomianism — the teaching that the moral law, including the Sabbath, has been abolished by the Spirit and by faith. According to the KJV Bible, this position rests on a fundamental category error: conflating the
law as a means of justification with the
law as a standard of righteousness, and conflating the
ceremonial law (which was abolished) with the
moral law (which is eternal).
1. The Fruit of the Spirit Argument — A Category Mistake
The argument states that since the fruit of the Spirit (
Galatians 5:22-23) includes love, joy, peace, etc., and makes "no reference to idolising the Sabbath," the Sabbath is void.
This confuses
evidence with
definition. The fruit of the Spirit describes the
character qualities the Spirit produces in a believer. It is not a replacement for the Decalogue — it is its
internal fulfillment. The Scripture declares:
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (
Romans 7:12, KJV)
"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." (
Psalm 111:7-8, KJV)
The Spirit does not replace the law; He writes it on the heart:
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." (
Hebrews 10:16, KJV)
A person filled with love will naturally honor God's commandments — including the Sabbath — because love is the fulfillment of the law, not its abolition:
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (
Romans 13:10, KJV)
The term "idolising the Sabbath" is a straw man. The Sabbath is not an idol; it is a
memorial of creation:
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." (
Genesis 2:2-3, KJV)
And a
sign of sanctification:
"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (
Ezekiel 20:12, KJV)
By the argument's own logic, since the fruit of the Spirit also omits "not killing," "not stealing," and "not committing adultery," shall we conclude those are void too? The apostle himself rejected this:
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." (
Romans 3:31, KJV)
2. "Through the Law I Died to the Law" (Galatians 2:19) — Died to Which Law?
The argument asks: "What laws apply to dead people?" The question is:
died to which law?
Scripture consistently distinguishes between the
moral law (the Ten Commandments — eternal), the
ceremonial law (sacrifices, feasts, circumcision — abolished at the cross), and the
law as a system of justification (attempting to earn salvation by works — condemned throughout Paul's writings).
The Decalogue was written by God's own finger on stone:
"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." (
Exodus 31:18, KJV)
The ceremonial law was written by Moses in a book:
"And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished... Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God." (
Deuteronomy 31:24,
26, KJV)
The Decalogue was placed
inside the ark; the book of the law was placed
beside it — two distinct categories.
When Paul says "through the law I died to the law," he speaks of the law as a
system of justification. The law condemned Paul as a sinner:
"For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." (
Romans 7:9-10, KJV)
In Christ, Paul died — his old life of self-righteous works was crucified:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." (
Galatians 2:20, KJV)
He died to the law's
condemning power, not its moral authority. A pardoned criminal is "dead" to the penalty, but the law against his crime still stands.
Paul also says that the ceremonial law was abolished:
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." (
Colossians 2:14, KJV)
This refers to the handwritten ordinances of Moses — not the Decalogue written by God's finger.
3. "Released From the Law... Serve in the New Way of the Spirit" (Romans 7:6)
Two verses later Paul asks: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid" (
Romans 7:7, KJV). He then uses the
tenth commandment as the very definition of sin:
"Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." (
Romans 7:7, KJV)
Far from abolishing the Decalogue, he appeals directly to it.
The "oldness of the letter" refers to
external, Spirit-less obedience — obeying mechanically or to earn righteousness. The "newness of the Spirit" is not the
absence of law but its
internalization:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." (
Hebrews 8:10, KJV)
Romans 8:4 confirms the goal:
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (
Romans 8:4, KJV)
The Spirit doesn't abolish the law — He
fulfills it in the believer. If the law were abolished, there would be nothing to fulfill.
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