Why do Christians ignore some Old Testament Laws?
Why do Christians ignore some Old Testament Laws?
The Question
The Old Testament/Covenant contains 613 laws, but even a casual observer can recognize that Christians don’t even attempt to keep them all. For example, most Christians don’t eat a kosher diet or keep the Sabbath day (Saturday) separate. Isn’t it incredibly arbitrary for Christians to pick some laws and ignore others?
The Answer
The truth of the matter is that Christians are not directly bound to any of the 613 Old Testament laws. Christians, by definition, are people who are directly bound to Christ and his complete authority.
Certainly Christ repeated some of the 613 laws (and that is why Christians obey some of them). But other laws were not re-instated under Christ’s administration. Many Christians have come to understand why certain laws were not re-instated.
In general, the Old Testament/Covenant contained 3 different kinds of laws. Some laws were moral in nature (do this, don’t do that), some were instructions regarding religious rituals (sacrifice this, don’t sacrifice that), and others were national in character (lead like this, don’t lead like that).
When we examine which laws Jesus repeated/re-instated, it is not surprising to find that they were the moral laws. After all, what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong no matter what administration you are under.
But Christ did not command his people to keep the Old Covenant religious rituals or national laws. Why would he? The religious rituals of the Old Covenant were symbolic of Christ. Once Christ had come, the symbols were no longer necessary. And the civil laws were meant for leading the people of Israel, but the New Covenant is not centered on an individual nation.
In most cases, common sense makes clear which laws are moral and, therefore, still in effect and which one’s are not. Christians, then, are not necessarily arbitrary in their submission to certain Old Covenant laws and their lack of submission to others. They are submitted to the law of Christ.
The Question
The Old Testament/Covenant contains 613 laws, but even a casual observer can recognize that Christians don’t even attempt to keep them all. For example, most Christians don’t eat a kosher diet or keep the Sabbath day (Saturday) separate. Isn’t it incredibly arbitrary for Christians to pick some laws and ignore others?
The Answer
The truth of the matter is that Christians are not directly bound to any of the 613 Old Testament laws. Christians, by definition, are people who are directly bound to Christ and his complete authority.
Certainly Christ repeated some of the 613 laws (and that is why Christians obey some of them). But other laws were not re-instated under Christ’s administration. Many Christians have come to understand why certain laws were not re-instated.
In general, the Old Testament/Covenant contained 3 different kinds of laws. Some laws were moral in nature (do this, don’t do that), some were instructions regarding religious rituals (sacrifice this, don’t sacrifice that), and others were national in character (lead like this, don’t lead like that).
When we examine which laws Jesus repeated/re-instated, it is not surprising to find that they were the moral laws. After all, what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong no matter what administration you are under.
But Christ did not command his people to keep the Old Covenant religious rituals or national laws. Why would he? The religious rituals of the Old Covenant were symbolic of Christ. Once Christ had come, the symbols were no longer necessary. And the civil laws were meant for leading the people of Israel, but the New Covenant is not centered on an individual nation.
In most cases, common sense makes clear which laws are moral and, therefore, still in effect and which one’s are not. Christians, then, are not necessarily arbitrary in their submission to certain Old Covenant laws and their lack of submission to others. They are submitted to the law of Christ.
posted by matthew at 2:00 PM
2 Comments:
um, any scriptural backing for the picking and choosing?
Christians are pickers and choosers
17 “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. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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.
The Scriptural backing would be the entire New Testament. Christians are followers of Christ. In the verse you quoted, it says that Christ came to fulfill the law. This applies to individual laws in different ways. If a law was moral in nature, the fulfillment means that He lived a perfectly moral life in that area. If the law was ceremonial in nature, it means that He fulfilled what the ceremony symbolized. If the law was civil in nature, His fulfillment means a transition from one sort of Kingdom to another (with its own administrative laws, the Law of Christ).
So yes, Christians are pickers and choosers. We pick and choose Christ.
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