IF WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES, DO WE NEED TO OBEY IT?

The simple and best answer to this question is this – We need the New Testament to guide us into proper use of the Old.

It is true that we are no longer under the Mosaic Covenant. In fact, no one is under it any longer:

·       Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)

·       Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary…Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, (Galatians 3:19, 23-25)

·       Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?...For if what [the Mosaic Covenant] was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. (2 Corinthians 3:7-8, 11)

·       then he [the Messiah] added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first [the Mosaic Covenant] in order to establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)

·       In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)

But what does it mean to not be under the Mosaic Law? Does it mean that we can now commit adultery and kill? Of course, not! While the Mosaic Covenant has been fulfilled and has passed away, many of the moral laws still pertain. They have been carried over by the New. Therefore, Paul had cautioned:

·       Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:31)

What does it mean to “uphold the law?” Does this statement contradict the fact that we are no longer under the Law of Moses? No! While we are no longer under the Mosaic Covenant, many of its moral laws have been carried over into the New Covenant. One indication of this are the many New Testament citations from the Old Covenant, indicating that these laws are still normative for us. Here are some examples:

·       Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. (2 Corinthians 13:1; referencing Deuteronomy 19:15)

These NT citations of the OT, prove that certain of its moral teachings still apply:

·       Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight [quoting Proverbs 3:7]. Repay no one evil for evil [alluding to Proverbs 20:22], but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all [alluding to Psalm 34:14]. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine [quoting Deuteronomy 32:35], I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” [quoting Proverbs 25:21-22]. (Romans 12:16-20)

Paul applied an obscure law to make a case for the Church to provide for pastors:

·       For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain” [Deuteronomy 25:4]. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? (1 Corinthians 9:9-11)

More central to our relationship to God, Peter quoted Leviticus 11:44 regarding holiness:

·       but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

James quoted Leviticus 19:18:

·       If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”], you are doing well. (James 2:8)

This is also true of the Ten Commandments, even when their applications might have been modified. For example, there seems to be greater flexibility in practicing the Sabbath. Paul wrote:

·       Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. (Romans 14:4-5)

However, we find less modification when it comes to the other nine Commandments. The first three Commandments remain first:

·       And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Love was to be the guiding principle to interpret and apply the Law and the Prophets. It didn’t replace the teachings of the Bible but would enable us to apply them properly.

·       Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Love does not replace the law, but it fulfills the law. In general, the teachings of the Bible served as a portal into the mind and heart of our Lord characterized by love. Loving God by obeying His Word would remain the fixed measure of our relationship with Him throughout the entirety of the Bible. If we love Him, we will keep His commands:

·       Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24)

However, when Jesus sent His disciples out to perform His Great Commission, loving God was no longer to be equated with taking Moses to the nations, but rather Jesus teachings:

·       And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me [and no longer to the Mosaic Covenant]. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Interestingly, there is no mention here of teaching the Mosaic Covenant, just the Good News of Jesus, which had long been prophesied (Isaiah 40:9-10; 52:7-8; Nahum 1:15)

However, evangelism under the Mosaic Covenant had been different. Sojourners would come to Israel and would behold the beauty and wisdom of the Mosaic Covenant:

·       “Keep them [God’s commandment] and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” (Deuteronomy 4:6-7)

Some commands have been modified. Under the New Covenant, Jesus would send His disciples out into the world with His Gospel of the love of God.

Some of the Ten Commandments have been absorbed by the New Covenant without modification:

·       Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” (Ephesians 6:1-3)

While we are no longer under the Law we still have to obey many of its moral teachings.

The New Covenant does not legalize crimes like murder and adultery. Therefore, citing the Seventh Commandment, Jesus taught:

·       “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)

Was Jesus modifying this Commandment, or was He merely bringing to light its broader spiritual application? I would suggest the latter.

Jesus would also fulfill laws that had only been symbols of what was to come. Hee even HHHHh would even forgive sins, something that could only be done through the Temple, the Levites, and the blood offerings (Mark 2:7-11). Jesus had even been secretly preparing for the New Covenant all along, cryptically replacing the Old with the New:

·       And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19)  

In contrast, under the Mosaic Law, certain foods and external contacts would make us unclean. However, Jesus cryptically revealed that these laws were only symbolic. The Israelite would no longer be defiled from contact with food, disease, or blood (Matthew 15:16-20). Consequently, Mark commented, “Thus he declared all foods clean.”

Jesus, the Lamb of God, also cryptically declared that He was the new temple:

·       Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:19-21; Matthew 12:6-8)

Before His crucifixion, Jesus formally initiated the New Covenant:

·       And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the [New] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)

Under the New Covenant, sins would now be utterly eradicated (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Under the Mosaic Law, they had been “forgiven” but not eradicated. Consequently, the consciences of the Israelites had never been cleansed, God had never been propitiated, and the Israelites could not enter into His presence (Hebrews 9:13-15; 10:19-23). This was why Jesus came to initiate the New Covenant in place of the Old, which failed to bring about any real forgiveness and cleansing (Malachi 3:1-3; Hebrews 10:5-10).

·       Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

Since Jesus is the reality which has fulfilled the shadows, we longer need to go to the temple with our blood offerings or avoid certain foods. Even though many of the Mosaic requirements had been fulfilled, they still shed light on the New.

We are now under Christ (1 Corinthians 9:20), and therefore, we should not expect to be under another covenant or master (Matthew 6:24). Nevertheless, we have no choice but to respect the Hebrew Scriptures as God’s actual words and to derive from them whatever light we can, even if symbolic. Jesus certainly did and quoted from them as if to say, “If Scripture says it, that settles it.” How then do we uphold them? Through the guidance of the New Testament! Yet, all Scripture comes from God:

·       All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

However, I have not given you a simple formula as to what to obey literally, what to obey loosely or figuratively, and what laws were merely shadows of the coming Christ and have entirely been fulfilled. For this, we have to meditate on the Scriptures day and night.

Questions of application still remain. A common one is “Should we still tithe?” However, these questions find their solution in the Light of the NT.