Should Christians practice the law of Moses?
“Did not Christ come to fulfill the Law and set us free?”
The Law of Moses was given to the Jews to keep them pure and separate from the nations around them. The Jews were God’s special people from which Messiah was to come. The Law acted as a schoolmaster in order to bring the Jews to Christ. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.’’(Galatians 3: 24-25)
Once Jesus came and fulfilled the Law by his sacrifice unto death, the Law was no longer binding to the Jew providing he accepted Jesus. The Apostle Paul further explains this thought by commenting, ‘‘that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.’’(Galatians 2: 15) Christians, be they Jew or Gentile, are not required to follow the 300 plus laws stated in Leviticus or to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath or holy days, but are required to follow the Ten Commandments. In fact, as Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount, these commandments should be taken to a higher level than had ever been taught and now be written on our hearts.
In the Sermon, Jesus gave his followers the high principles that they and we, as Christians today, are to live by. Jesus said,
“You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, ‘but I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.’” (Matthew 5:43-45).
In these verses, Jesus is showing his followers the importance of the law of love, a law that is far greater than the Old Law Covenant that He completed upon His death on the cross.
To learn more about how the Old Testament law works for Christians today listen to, “Does the Old Testament Law Apply to Me?”