Whole Bible Christianity, chapter 6, ‘Only the Moral’
The next objection you have heard is that the Word (the Law) is split into three parts: ceremonial, civil, and moral. Ceremonial commands are supposed to be about sacrifices and holidays, laws of clean and unclean, and similar stuff. Civil commands, it is claimed, are the ones for government and punishment for violations. Moral commands are said to be universal in nature. These commands are allegedly fewer in number and include laws such as the prohibition of murder or stealing.
After dividing the Word into these non-biblical sections, some teachers pass judgment (James 4:11) on which parts apply to modern believers. In their opinion, the civil or ceremonial laws don’t apply. But I say to you the Bible doesn’t divide itself this way. No believer described in the Bible ever sets aside any part of it. There is nothing that gives us the right to toss anything out, no matter what fantasy divisions we make.
The rich truth is that the designations of civil, ceremonial, and moral are not found in the Word. We are warned on many occasions in the Word not to add to or take away from it. There is no hint that God thinks of any part of His Word as simply ‘ceremonial’ and therefore not worth doing, or limited only to Jewish people.
Everything God says is moral, whether we call it moral or invent some other category. All of His Words are eternal, and we are not to change any. That, of course, doesn’t keep us from trying, which we’ve been doing ever since the Garden.
A simple reading of the Word, by a humble and tender heart willing to respond, is sufficient to overturn the complicated, extra-biblical arguments for disobedience. Anything He asks us to do is part of His morality, whether we think it’s important or not.