Does the Law of Moses apply today?

Introduction

There seems to be confusion about the relevance of Old Testament rules to modern life. People read them and notice a mixture of rules, some that seem to make sense today (“don’t steal”) and some that don’t (“no mixed-fibre clothing”). It seems wrong to ignore all of them because of those that don’t seem relevant, because then it seems like a licence to disobey quite reasonable moral precepts. But then the question arises, which ones do we keep, which do we ignore, and why?

Then people often quote Jesus’ statement, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets,” while ignoring many more statements in the New Testament that seem to state something contradictory. It seems that there has been a failure to teach basic Christian doctrine on this issue and as a result there is confusion.

To address this topic, I think it’s better to work chronologically to see how divine revelation and human understanding by the Biblical writers developed over time.

God’s Covenant with Israel

After the Exodus from Egypt, God made a covenant with the Israelites and gave them many commands. Before crossing the Jordan, Moses told them:

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it” (Dt 6¹).

The covenant came with a benefit. If they kept the terms of the covenant,

“being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth” (Dt 28¹).

But it also came with a warning:

“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you” (Dt 28¹⁵).

In Deutoronomy, the commands in the Law of Moses were demanded of the people of Israel as their side of the covenant. If we look at scripture carefully, however, we see neither such a covenant nor a demand to obey this body of laws presented to anyone else. This is an important point that comes up later.

Israel’s failure and new covenant promised

Needless to say, Israel broke the covenant. As a result, the “curses” of Deutoronomy came to pass. Yet all was not lost. God promised a new covenant:

“… the days are coming … when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel … not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke … But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days …: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor … saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest …; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer 31^31–34)

In the old covenant, commands had to be expressed in writing, people knew God by being taught, and forgiveness of sins required daily sacrifices. In the covenant to come, God’s law would be in our hearts, we will know God without needing to be taught, and our sins will be permanently forgiven.

Jesus comes

Jesus is sometimes referred to as a “moral teacher”, but in his discussions with people on moral issues Jesus referred people to “Moses”. What is significant, however, was his emphasis not on keeping the letter of the law but on following the purpose behind it. One can keep the commandment by not murdering, for example, but treating obedience to God in terms of following a written regulation is insufficient (Mt 6²²). God’s way is not to entertain murderous thoughts in the first place:

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.” (Mt 15^18–19)

Not only so, but Jesus acknowledged the need for commandments to be broken if the intent is to do good and avoid harm.

“Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry … how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat …?” (Mt 12^3–4)

“What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?” (Mt 12¹¹)

Not only did the Law of Moses have these shortcomings, but it itself was based on something more fundamental. When asked which is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied:

“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.” (Mt 22^37–40)

Finally, Jesus instructs the apostles with the “new commandment”.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (Jn 13³⁴)

The Law of Moses, based on loving one’s neighbour as onself is insufficient in the light of the example Christ set for us. We are instead to love one another as Jesus loved us. I will let you ponder the significance of this difference.

Gentile converts

The early church was at first predominantly Jewish, but soon enough gentile converts appeared. The difference between Jews and gentiles was that the former followed the Law of Moses, while the latter did not.

A matter of much dispute and division arose in the early church as to whether the gentiles should also follow it (Acts 15², Gal 2¹², Rom 14¹). Upon meeting to discuss the issue, they decided against imposing the Law on the gentiles for three reasons:

Paul and Barnabas’s testimony that the gentiles had shown evidence of repentance and living faith;
Peter’s argument regarding the Law’s ineffectiveness, “why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15¹⁰); and
the scriptures that foretold the gentiles would “seek the Lord” (Acts 15¹⁷).

Bear in mind with these points that Jews saw gentiles as those “who have not the law” (Rom 2¹⁴), for they were never God’s covenant people and so never received it.

It is key to note that the answer was an all or nothing. They asked the gentile believers to be sensitive about a few issues that might upset Jewish believers. But they did not decide to distinguish some “timeless” or “moral” rules that gentiles would still have to obey while ignoring the rest.

Paul develops a theology

The early church’s understanding not to impose the Law of Moses on the gentiles was largely based on the evidence that gentiles had a living faith without it. While they did cite some scriptural support, they did not at first have a solid theology about it. Over time, however, Paul developed that theology.

In Galatians, Paul explained why neither circumcision nor obedience to the Law of Moses are necessary for salvation, and that holy living is the fruit of the Spirit. By loving one another, we satisfy the law.

“… the law was our custodian until Christ came … But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian” (3^24–25)

“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (5¹⁴)

In Romans, understood to be written later, Paul expanded on this theme, arguing that the Law is ineffective not only for salvation but for holy living in the Christian life as well. He reiterates that loving one another is sufficient to obey all God’s commands.

“But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” (7⁶)

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (13^8–9)

In Ephesians, he wrote that in the past, the Law divided God’s people from outsiders. Now that it has been annulled by Christ’s coming, Jews and gentiles can be united as God’s people in the body of Christ.

“… remember that you [gentiles] were … separated from Christ … strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you … have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances …” (2^12–15)

Remaining questions

The idea that certain rules can be extracted from the Old Testament as “moral” or “timeless” has sometimes been offered as a way of resolving the tension between the obvious irrelevance of most of the rules and the sense that throwing them all away would condone lawless behaviour. However, neither in the Old Testament nor in the New do we see any classes of rules. The Law of Moses is always referred to monolithically. Furthermore, we have no basis for distinguishing the ones we are to still to keep. And even some rules still relevant today sometimes contain aspects that are irrelevant—honouring one’s parents promises a long life in a middle eastern land—or even immoral—not coveting our neighbour’s slaves! The issue arises out of a failure to see Christian morality in terms of the new commandment and the fruit of the Spirit, and a lack of understanding of our freedom in Christ.

People sometimes cite Jesus’ words, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets,” as teaching that the Law of Moses is still in force. But we need to note that “the law and the prophets” is the way the Jews referred to the Old Testament as a whole, and that the word translated “abolish” there has a strong meaning. What Jesus seems to be saying is that the changes that come with his coming do not mean that we can throw away God’s revelation, and certainly not the moral instruction embodied in the Law. What sense would it make to throw away the very scriptures that Christ fulfilled: he is the second Adam, the seed of Abraham, the prophet like Moses, the king in David’s line, the ultimate sacrifice and great high priest, and the one in whom there was no sin who followed all God’s commands. When Paul confusingly spoke of Christ “abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances”, that word translated “abolish” had a milder meaning of “annul”. In other words, the scriptures including the Law are still “profitable for teaching … and for training in righteousness”, but the old covenant has been annulled and its rules are no longer in force. Christ did not come to bring lawlessness, absolving us from obeying God’s commands; rather, we obey them by following the new commandment, bearing “the fruit of the Spirit”.

Conclusion

The Law of Moses as part of the old covenant has well and truly been annulled and is no longer binding. However, it has not been thrown away but stands as part of God’s revelation. It’s precepts can still remind us of our sin and our need for obedience, but we obey “not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit” (Rom 7⁶).

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