Chapter III: “Ceremonial” and “Moral” Laws

At this point I want to read to you the leading sentence in this Adventist pamphlet we are reviewing:

“The New Testament Scriptures clearly present two different divisions
of the Old Testament laws: the moral law as summed up in the Ten
Commandments, which is binding on Christians as a rule of life and
conduct; the ceremonial law of typical ordinances, which was abolished
at the cross and from which Christians are entirely free.”

I want you to carefully note what that quotation says. It says that the New Testament Scriptures _clearly present_ two laws in the Old Testament—the “moral law” and the “ceremonial law.” Now I want to ask you a simple question. How in this world could the New Testament Scriptures clearly present something that is not even mentioned anywhere in the Bible? Friends, think of it! “Moral” law and “ceremonial” law are not mentioned in your Bible. That is not Bible language. In order to prove the sabbath theory by the Bible it will be necessary to find each of these four texts:

1. The text which says that the “ceremonial” law was abolished.

2. The text which says that the “moral” law is still binding.

3. The text which says that Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 are
the “moral law.”

4. The text which says that the rest of the law given through Moses is
the “ceremonial” law.

How can such texts be found when you may search your Bible from the first word in Genesis to the last word in Revelation and you will find neither the word “moral” nor the word “ceremonial”? Those words are not in the Bible. I challenge the Sabbatarians to find either of them.

Even if the first two texts named above could be found, the Adventist theory would not be established unless the last two could also be found. In fact, it would be destroyed, for in the very nature of the case the sabbath commandment is a ceremonial one. There is nothing moral about it. According to _Webster_ (the _Bible_ doesn’t mention the word) a _moral_ commandment is one that’s based on common sense and on our natural knowledge of what rules should guide us in our relationships one to another. The sabbath commandment does not come in this class. There’s nothing moral about one day in the week any more than another. Nothing could distinguish one day from another, except a positive decree from God Almighty. In that case it would be ceremonial. If you were to sleep for an indefinite period, upon awaking you wouldn’t know the day of the week. You couldn’t tell Saturday from any other day to save your life. As far as our natural senses go, one day is just like another. There is no authority, Biblical or otherwise, for calling Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 the “moral law” and the rest of the Mosaic code the “ceremonial law.”