Bahnsen's theonomic hermeneutic

In By No Other Standard, Bahnsen notes that a distinction between the ceremonial and moral law can be validly drawn and alludes to Hosea 6:6 and Ephesians 2:5 to support this. While noting that some laws have both ceremonial and moral elements to them he suggest that Israel did not need Old Testament law to be "written out in delineated literary subsections in order for them to be, nevertheless, clearly distinguishable." Further, Bahnsen claims that with the "coming of New Covenant revelation which helps us understand even better the meaning and purpose of Old Covenant commands, the cogency and necessity of something life the moral/ceremonial distinction becomes all the more apparent." (BNOS 97)

The distinction between moral and ceremonial laws can be explained thus:

Moral laws reflect the absolute righteousness and judgment of God, guiding man’s life into the paths of righteousness; such laws define holiness and sin, restrain evil through punishment of infractions, and drive the sinner to Christ for salvation.

On the other hand, ceremonial laws — or redemptive provisions — reflect the mercy of God in saving those who have violated His moral standards; such laws define the way of redemption, typify Christ’s saving economy, and maintain the holiness (or “separation”) of the redeemed community. (BTS 135-6)

Ceremonial laws were binding to Jews not Gentiles and displayed the way of redemption. Moral laws, on the other hand, were to be emulated as the effect of redemption. Thus Judaizers are those who seek to enforce ceremonial boundary marking laws on Gentiles under the New Covenant, laws that had been abrogated under Christ (Eph. 2:15). For Bahnsen it is then, ceremonial law that is the schoolmaster whom, "we are no longer under in our Christ-given maturity".

But in that Bahnsen can affirm that ceremonial law was a "foreshadow of the Messiah and His redemming work, applied to the Jews (and to us) by faith", he does not deny that Old Covenant ceremonial ritual has import into New Covenant ceremony.