Christians and the Law of Moses

Are Christians bound by the Law of Moses?  Many in the religious world hold that we are.  Others maintain that only some of the law (usually the Ten Commandments) is still enforced upon the people of God today.  But what does the Bible say?

To begin with, the Old Testament law was given as a whole and was to be kept as a whole.  When some Jews tried to bind circumcision, as part of the Old Testament law, on those Gentiles who were obeying the gospel Paul opposed them openly.  Much of the apostle’s letter to the churches of Galatia dealt with this very issue.  In Galatians chapter five Paul told those Christians, “I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.”  We cannot pick and choose parts of the Law of Moses, if we must keep any of it we must keep all of it including animal sacrifices and the three yearly feasts in Jerusalem.

So, is the Christian obligated to keep the Law of Moses?  Let us consider some passages relevant to this question.  Paul said in Rom. 6:14, “You are not under law but under grace.”  In Rom. 7:6 he says, “We have been released from the Law.”  And in Col. 2:14 Paul declares that Christ took the Law out of our way and “nailed it to the cross.”  Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Law (Matt.5:17) which he did by his death on the cross.

The Law was a covenant between God and Israel. God spoke of a new covenant even while the old was still in place (Jer. 31:31).  Before the new covenant could be established the old would have to be removed.  This is what Christ did according to Heb. 10:9.  And now he is the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 12:24).  Today we live under a new covenant.  There are some similarities between the new and the old but they are not the same.

In Christ,

Thomas Sneed

Pond Church of Christ