Christ’s life,
death, and resurrection fulfilled the Old Testament Law and ushered in a new
era of God’s grace, changing the way we apply the laws of the Old Testament[i]. The Old Testament Law can be subdivided into
three major categories: moral laws, civil
laws, and ceremonial laws. Let’s look at
how Jesus’ fulfillment of these three kinds of laws affect the way Christians
apply these laws today.
Moral Laws (The 10 Commandments, sexual ethic,
etc.)
The
moral laws show us our sins
so we know how much we need Christ.
Also, they teach us how to act in love towards our neighbors. Jesus fulfilled the moral requirements of the
Law to perfection since we couldn’t, but he also restated many of the moral
laws and said we should follow them—including the sexual ethic of the Old
Testament. These moral laws are also
restated by the other New Testament writers so they still apply to Christians today.
Moral laws guide us to love God and love our neighbors—which are the
greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36-40).
Civil Laws (Laws about
slavery, stoning, etc.)
In the Old Testament, the people of God were the nation-state of
Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus
reconstituted the people of God so they are a universal Church embodied in
numerous local gatherings around the world and subject to the laws of secular
governments. The Old Testament laws relating to the civic life of Israel (such
as requiring the death penalty for grave sins) no longer apply to believers
today in the same way as they did in the Old Testament.
Ceremonial Laws
Ceremonial laws
encompass two subcategories—cleanliness
laws (don’t touch lepers or eat pork or shellfish, etc.) and worship laws (sacrifices,
circumcision, etc.) Jesus declared all foods
clean (Mark 7:19) and also touched lepers and dead bodies, and was not made
unclean by doing so. Thus, Jesus ended the cleanliness and food
laws of the Old Testament. Yeah! We can all enjoy our pork BBQ and bacon! Jesus also taught his
body was the true Temple and his death was the ultimate sacrifice for sin (John
2:21, Mark 14:36). Thus, his death opened the way for us to approach God,
making Old Testament regulations concerning the Temple and its sacrificial
system obsolete.
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