NEW v OLD TESTAMENT LAW
WHY DO CHRISTIANS FOLLOW SOME OLD TESTAMENT LAWS AND NOT OTHERS?
Key Facts
Hypocrisy is a significant barrier to Christianity for many. A recent U.S. survey of adults who do not attend church, not even on holidays, found that 72 percent thought the church ‘is full of hypocrites.’ [1]
There are around 613 commandments in the Old Testament. [2]
Key Scriptures
Luke 22:20 “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.””
Galatians 5:14 “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.””
Romans 7:6 “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
Hebrews 8:13 “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Galatians 3:24-25 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Matthew 22:40 “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Application
It is clear to anyone who has read the Old Testament that there are many laws that Christians do not uphold today. Some laws seem silly from our modern context but still carry severe consequences if broken. Many people have charged Christians with inconsistency for ignoring these commands often found in Leviticus and other books of the Law, saying that Christians only uphold the laws they agree with. However, Christians do not obey specific laws of the Old Covenant because Jesus Christ came and established the New Covenant. Christians have not been under the Old Covenant since Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again. The New Covenant reveals the expectations of obedience for Christians today.
What is the New Covenant?
The New Covenant is the covenant established by Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and mediated by Christ Himself (Hebrews 8:6-7). This Covenant allows for humanity to come into a right relationship with God through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 7:26-27). The New Covenant laws all hang on one command: to love your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14). The other New Testament writers continually unpack what love means. The old laws are not eliminated because of some arbitrary reason but because they are limited to a specific people and time. Christians are no longer under the law of Moses but the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21). The Old Testament laws that still persist are those which are indicated by the New Testament to be part of the law of Christ—that is, the law of love.
What of the Old Covenant?
This New Covenant does not mean that the old one is irrelevant. The Old Testament laws are still profitable. As Matthew 22:40 states, all of the law and the prophets hang on the commands to love God and love others. They were applied in specific ways in Israel’s theocracy, but the fundamental realities behind them are still valuable for us today. God’s character is revealed in both the Old and New Testament, which makes both testaments of special interest to Christians. As we recognize the progressive nature of God’s revelation in the Bible, it becomes clear why laws have differed between the Old and the New Testament. We are the recipients of the New Covenant, whereas Old Testament laws were given in a specific context to the nation of Israel.
What is Expected of Modern Christians?
We live in the New Covenant period which means the Old Covenant laws are not binding on the modern church. Jesus and His disciples teach Christians how to correctly apply the law in light of the New Covenant.
Some of the laws in the New Covenant reiterate those of the Old. This is not surprising because God does not change. The same morality revealed in the Old Testament law is revealed in the New Testament law. This is exemplified by a prohibition on adultery. Adultery is condemned in both the Old and the New Testament, which reveals God’s high regard for marriage and His desire for His people to fully and exclusively love the person they are married to.
Some of the Old Testament laws are further explicated in the New Testament by Jesus and the disciples. An example of this is the Sabbath. Jesus shows the ‘why’ behind Sabbath rest revealing that this was a command to benefit the individual (Mark 2:27). Because of this reasoning behind Sabbath rest, the New Testament does not mandate it but rather allows each Christian to make the choice according to his or her own preferences and convictions (Romans 14:5-9).
The New Covenant also fulfilled certain laws completely. Some of these laws are no longer practiced, such as dietary restrictions. In Acts 10:9-16, God commands Peter to eat the meat that they had previously considered unclean. God even states that Peter should call nothing unclean that God has made clean. It is clear these laws are no longer in effect for Christians following the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 14:1-4, Mark 7:19).
The fulfilment of these laws does not mean that God changed, but rather that the setting of the receiving people had changed. The laws of God must be applied to specific situations. This is what is often done in the Old Testament. Many of these incredibly specific commands like “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material” were for the purpose of setting the nation of Israel apart from other surrounding nations. God reveals Himself through His set-apart people today, but in a different way. God did not change, but the recipients of His message (and the context in which they live) did change.
Obedience to the law is one of the Christian’s ways of showing love and devotion to God. But it is important to remember that while obedience shows a person’s heart toward God, it does not change that person’s heart. God must change a person’s heart in salvation by grace through faith. No one is saved by the law, but obedience to the law is a response to salvation.
Conclusion
At first glance, it can be difficult to understand the biblical laws and why the church follows some and not others. However, through study of the Word, the church can recognize that this is not the result of an arbitrary acceptance of laws based on preference, but rather of Christ fulfilling the law and establishing a New Covenant with His people.