Below is content posted on the Naver Cafe, "Victims of the Korean Church" community.

[Question]

I don’t remember exactly, but I heard someone at the "Hase Church" quoting Hebrews and various other verses to claim that the abolished law refers to Moses' law in the Old Testament, while Christ’s law still needs to be observed. There were several verses mentioned, but I couldn’t recall them well enough to counter the argument at the time. Could you provide a rebuttal to this claim?

[Answer]

The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) asserts that the Old Testament laws are shadows and types of the New Testament. They claim that if the Sabbath, Passover, and Feast of Tabernacles were observed in the Old Testament, then they must also be observed on the same days in the New Testament. However, they argue that while sacrifices were made in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, these are observed in the form of Bible-based worship services. WMSCOG describes this as the difference between Moses' law and Christ's law.

Scriptural References Cited by WMSCOG

• Acts 15:5: “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.’”
• 1 Corinthians 9:21: “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.”

However, their claims distort the true meaning of Scripture.

1. Jesus Fulfilled the Law

• Jesus clearly stated that He came to fulfill the law. Here, "law" refers to the regulations associated with the earthly temple worship.

  • Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

• In the Old Testament, God resided in the innermost part of the temple, the Holy of Holies, and forgave sins from there. However, entering the Holy of Holies required a specific process because sinful humans could not enter without facing death. These processes were governed by ceremonial laws such as the Sabbath, Passover, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles.

2. The Old Testament’s Shadow and Christ’s Fulfillment

• The sacrificial system in the earthly temple involved animals offered for the people's sins. The high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. These were all shadows and types of the work Jesus would accomplish.

  • Hebrews 8:5: “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”

• Jesus’ death on the cross fulfilled the prophecy of the sacrificial lamb. His ascension into heaven fulfilled the prophecy of the high priest entering the Holy of Holies. His victory over Satan, casting him down to earth, fulfilled the Day of Atonement ritual of sending sins to the scapegoat and driving it into the wilderness.

3. Fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles

• On Pentecost, a Jewish feast, the Holy Spirit was given to believers, making their bodies temples of God. This fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles, observed after the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament.

• After the Day of Atonement, Israelites built booths (tabernacles) and lived in them while reading God’s Word. Similarly, believers, now filled with the Holy Spirit, became God’s temples and proclaimed His Word, fulfilling the prophecy of the Feast of Tabernacles.

4. Jesus Completed the Law

• Jesus fulfilled all the ceremonial laws in the order of the Sabbath, Passover, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. Therefore, the Apostle Paul emphasized that there is no longer any need to observe sacrifices for sin.
  • Hebrews 10:18: “And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

Conclusion

• The laws of the Old Testament served as shadows and types, pointing to Christ. Now that Jesus has fulfilled these laws, they are no longer binding on believers. Observing Old Testament ceremonies, as WMSCOG suggests, is unnecessary.

The visual chart below may help clarify this further.