Should Christians Follow Old Testament Law?

Q. Matthew 5:17 says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”-Jesus.  Does that mean that we should be following old testament law?  There is a lot of crazy stuff on the OT like you are supposed to stone your wife if you find out she’s not a virgin on your wedding night Deuteronomy 22:20 and also there is random stuff like “Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” Leviticus 19:19.  But then of course there are certain old laws that the early church decides no longer matter like eating kosher and circumcision.  How do we know what we can discard and what we must uphold?

The law was (is) very complicated and extensive.  At the time of Jesus it represented over 300 biblical instructions (those recorded in the Torah) and over 300 unwritten and later to be recorded human, traditional, additions called the Talmud which were later placed also into a written record.

The Torah represents certain legal compartments which can be understood as…

• Civil (land measurements and distributions, corporal and capital consequences, civil law things)
• Ceremonial (or religious, Sabbaths Ex 20:8, feasts and festivals Lev 23 etc., purification things, tithes)
• Moral (e.g. most of the 10 commandments, Ex 20 “not murder, not commit adultery, not steal”)

Israel was commanded to observe the Civil, Ceremonial and Moral laws of God to represent their distinction…their uniqueness (Ex 31:13 for example).

Jesus was a Jew, and therefore of course he would keep the law, the only person ever to live on earth who did, perfectly. Additionally, at times Jesus would have to clarify or re-interpret the law (just because Israel knew the law and attempted to observe it, didn’t mean they fully understood it) Jesus says “You have heard” Matt 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43 and then he goes on to clarify. “Have you not read”  Matt 19:4 …and then he reminds them of things they were suppose to know.

The church is not Israel…a reading of the New Testament will support the church’s observance/obedience to the Moral law of the Old Testament, and that, of course, to reveal sons of God, not to produce sons of God.

Galatians 2:16 “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ”

This entry was posted on March 15, 2010 at March 15, 2010 and is filed under Christian Living, The Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.