Which Old Testament laws are Christians obliged to keep, which are they not obliged to keep, and why?
At first glance, Jesus’ words in Matthew 5.17–20 seem to indicate that Christians are obliged to keep each and every commandment in the Old Testament. But, as I pointed out in yesterday’s devotional, we know that the New Testament Christians did not feel obligated to observe any number of laws.
Those very same Christians looked to the Old Testament laws for ethical guidance on other issues, however. In Romans 13.9–10, Paul writes: “The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Why are some laws obligatory, but not others?
Christian theologians usually answer that question by distinguishing three kinds of Old Testament laws. Ceremonial laws pertain to the worship of ancient Israel: the Temple, animal sacrifice, the priesthood, kosher diet, and circumcision. Civil laws pertain to the government of ancient Israel: the boundaries between the twelve tribes, criminal offenses and their punishments, taxes, and military policy. Moral laws pertain to the behavior of God’s people. The Sixth through Tenth Commandments (Exodus 20.12–17)—covering parent-child relationships, murder, marital fidelity, theft, perjury, and envy—are the most obvious examples.
Generally speaking, Christian theologians argue that Christians are not obligated to keep the ceremonial laws. “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Col. 2.17). In other words, according to Paul, God gave the ancient Israelites a Temple, priesthood, and sacrificial system as a prophetic example of what the coming Messiah would be and do. So, the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as “a high priest…who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man” (Heb. 8.1, 2) and as the one who “was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people” (9.28). When the Messiah came, the Temple, priesthood, and sacrificial system would no longer be necessary.
The New Testament does not treat the civil laws of ancient Israel in depth. However, Christian theologians generally argue that they are not obligatory for Christians because they were intended only for the nation of ancient Israel while it lived in the Promised Land (although they may give us examples of how a just government can operate).
That leaves the moral laws. New Testament writers explicitly argue that Christians must keep these commandments. To keep them is to fulfill “the law of love” (see Rom. 13.1, 2 above). Jesus seems to have these commandments uppermost in his mind when he says, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5.19), for these are the commandments he discusses when he describes a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law (5.20–48).
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