Today we will tackle the question: Should a Christian Keep the Law? The answer to that question significantly affects the way we live our Christian lives. If I read the Bible with a legalistic mindset, I will live under the bondage of the law—a perpetual effort to measure up and always coming short. That’s why Paul told the Galatians to not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage (Gal. 5:1). He was warning against bondage to legalism. On the other hand, if I read the Bible with an antinomian mindset,i I will indulge in sin that brings me into bondage. Jesus warned against that in John 8:34 when He said, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”ii No one can persistently violate the moral boundaries established in the New Testament and remain free. In contrast to both those errors, a biblical mindset produces freedom in a person’s life. Our behavior is driven by how we are thinking.
There is a lot of confusion about this subject in the Body of Christ. We are paying the price for not adequately teaching on this subject. Some are falling into error by rejecting law altogether. Others are falling into error by coming under ceremonial law that was fulfilled in Christ at His first Advent. In his book, The Chaos of Cults, Van Baalen said “the cults are the unpaid bills of the church.”iii People are going into error because we have not effectively taught them the truth from Scripture. The truth is our best defense against error.
Rather than running behind confused and deceived people, trying to correct them, we need to get ahead of the problem and establish people in truth so that they are fortified against error. Many of our pastors have lost sight of this responsibility. We become so focused on numbers and budgets that we fail to see what’s happening in this regard. In recent years I have had pastors tell me they are not interested in doctrine. They simply want to get people born again and let them figure out the rest. If the apostles had taken that attitude, we would not have the New Testament.
The Great Commission is not to just get people born again and into a church building. The born-again experience is essential (John 3:7). But the Great Commission includes teaching: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . .” (Matt. 28:19-20). Paul told Pastor Timothy, “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13). He went on to say, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine . . .” (1 Tim. 4:16).
I recently attended a “Bible Study” in a traditional Pentecostal church in which not one scripture was mentioned except the one I quoted during the discussion. Thinking that was probably not typical, I attended another such meeting and the same thing happened. People were not being taught “doctrine.” They were not being taught Scripture. They were being taught how to live the American dream, and the attendance was good. But they are not being equipped to deal with Satan’s strategies of deception.
Another reason this subject has not been adequately addressed is that it takes a comprehensive study of the New Testament to answer the question fully. People often want a quick proof text that gives an answer without much prayer and study. But the question cannot be answered that easily. When you consider the difficulty that the apostles had with this subject, you realize the challenge we face in clearly articulating how this works in the New Covenant. Fortunately, this issue was a major point of controversy in the early church. Therefore, we have a lot of information in Scripture to draw upon in answering our question. To answer it comprehensively could easily entail a semester-long seminary course. We cannot deal with the matter that thoroughly. However, considering the amount of confusion on the subject, we will put forth a few key principles that will help us rightly divide the word of truth on this matter.iv We will deal with two of those today, then finish next week.
PRINCIPLE #1: Jesus established a NEW covenant at His first Advent.
He did not simply patch and revise the old covenant. Luke 5:36-39 says, “Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them: ‘No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'”v
This passage follows complaints by the Pharisees of Jesus eating with sinners and the disciples’ failure to follow the traditional practices of fasting. Following this passage, we have two incidents in which Jesus’s approach to the sabbath differed from those of the Jewish leaders.vi So, the context is this clash between the old order defended by the Pharisees and the new order initiated by Jesus.
Jesus gives two metaphors to make his point. First, He addresses something nobody does because of the impractical results it produces. “‘No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one.” Why? It would end up ruining both. When the repaired garment is washed the new piece will shrink while the old will not. That results in a tear. Therefore, you have ruined the new garment to repair the old. And the old gets ruined as well.
Jesus’s point is this: He is fulfilling the intent of the Old Covenant and initiating a New Covenant. He is not just patching the Old. The Old had its purpose. But that is getting fulfilled. The New is much better. The New Covenant is not just a tweaking of the old. It is a whole New Covenant. The Old Covenant was an important preparation for the New. But the New is altogether New. There is a continuity in that the Old prepared for the New. But trying to mix the two will not work? In Romans 11:6 Paul made the point this way: “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
By giving two metaphors instead of just one, Jesus is demonstrating the importance of what He is saying. In verse 37 He says, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.” Wineskins were made from sheep or goat skins. When dried and prepared for use those skins were brittle. If you put new wine that has not been fermented in them, fermentation process would produce gasses that would burst the brittle skins, spilling out the wine. So, both the container and wine are wasted. Jesus did not come to just reform Judaism. He came to fulfill its purpose and establish a new, better covenant.
The point Jesus is making here is also made in Hebrews. That epistle not only teaching the replacement of the Old Covenant with the New, but also warns Christians about going back under the Old Covenant ordinances. In Hebrews 8:6 the writer says Jesus is the, “Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” Then we read verses 7-13:
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ 13 In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
This was predicted in Jeremiah 31. In fact, the writer of Hebrews was quoting verses 31-34 of that chapter. Notice the emphasis in verse 13: “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Jesus did not just refine or improve the Old Covenant. He established a New Covenant. The Old Covenant is taught in the Old Testament. The New Covenant is taught in the New Testament. The Old Covenant teaches truths that prepare for the New Covenant. We do not cast it away altogether as many of the Gnostics did or many of the Modernists of our day do. But we are warned over and over in the New Testament to not go back under that covenant. We have a new and better covenant in Christ.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). In that comparison, John is not diminishing the law. It was given by God through angels to Moses. It was inspired of God. It served a divine purpose. But in comparison to what we have in Christ, it is far less. John is comparing a good thing to something far better. The law provided types and shadows to give glimpses of truth, but the full light of truth and grace came through the person of Jesus Christ.
There is both continuity and discontinuity between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. We must understand from the New Testament what that is. It takes a diligent study to sort out what is common between the two and what is not common between the two. We must understand how the Old prepares for the New, and how the New fulfills the old. George Ladd writes, “In this new order, a new relationship has been established between humanity and God. No longer is this relationship to be mediated through the Law but through the person of Jesus himself. . . .”vii
The New Covenant was not established until Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus came as a Jew living in and fulfilling the Old Testament law.viii His life was a time of transition in which He was challenging the Old and introducing the New. But the New did not come into full effect before He made the ultimate and final sacrifice on the cross. For that reason, some people get confused when interpreting His actions. Everything He said and did must be understood in the context.
PRINCIPLE #2: The MORAL boundaries taught to Israel in the Old Testament are also taught to Christians in the New Testament.
It was wrong in the Old Testament to steal; the New Testament declares it wrong as well. Adultery was wrong in the Old order, and it is wrong in the New Order. Murder was a violation of God's command in the Old, and it is condemned in the New. Why did that not change? God's nature does not change. God is love.ix Love does not do take another man's wife. Love does not steal his hard-earned money. Love does not attack and kill him. God is love in the Old Testament, and God is love in the New Testament. Romans 13:9 says, “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” When teaching the Galatian church on this subject Paul reiterated the principle. Galatians 5:14:” For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
The moral nature of God is expressed in the Ten Commandments, and His moral nature never changes. However, the way those commandments are adhered to in the New Covenant can be different than the way they were followed in the Old Covenant. We no longer stone adulterers, but adultery still violates the moral boundaries God places on human behavior. The principle of the Sabbath is lived out differently in the New Testament than it was in the Old Testament. This continuity of underlying principle along with the change in the way the principle is obeyed is often hard for people to understand. That's why it was such an issue in the early church. Read Acts and you will see the struggle they experienced in transitioning from the old mindset to the new. Read the epistles and you will see the apostles helping congregations get this right. It is both challenging and essential. That's why the subject is so prominent in the New Testament.
Here are a few passages that state moral commandments in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” If we didn’t even have an Old Testament, those commandments are clearly stated in the New Testament. Notice the condemnation of both heterosexual and homosexual sin. I once heard President Obama say on a news interview, if you’re going to condemn homosexuality you have to condemn eating pork as well because the Bible condemns both. What he did with that statement was display his lack of sound theology. The Old Covenant condemned both.x But the New Covenant does not condemn the eating of pork; it does condemn homosexual behavior.xi
Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Again, these moral violations are all condemned in the New Covenant. It’s easy to see how this statement reinforces moral boundaries set by the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament.
When you study the New Testament, especially Romans and Galatians, you see that keeping moral commandments is not the way we get righteousness. We get righteousness as a free gift because of the price Jesus paid on the cross in our behalf. Under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit comes into the believer bringing a new nature. That new nature produces righteous behavior as a fruit. The evidence that the new nature is there, and the person is saved is the moral behavior it produces. First John 5:2 states the matter very clearly, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” There are other passages that reinforce this truth. The person who lives an immoral life is simply demonstrating his lack of salvific relationship with the Lord.xii
James asks the question, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” (James 2:14). If a person’s life does not reflect the moral nature of God, the faith he claims to have is not a saving faith. James goes on to say, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:17-18/). Jesus said to His followers, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10). There is a very big two-letter word in that statement: “If”: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.”
First Corinthians 7:19 says, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.” That verse makes a very clear distinction between the ceremonial law and the moral commandments given to us in the New Testament. Physical circumcision was of upmost importunate in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant it is of no importance at all. The New Covenant talks about a circumcision of the heart—an internal cutting away of the flesh that is spiritual. That does matter. Paul concludes a discussion of this subject in Romans 2:28-29 saying, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Notice the two sides of 1 Corinthians 7:19: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, [that addresses the ceremonial statues of the Old Testament] but keeping the commandments of God is what matters [that addresses the moral commandments affirmed in the New Testament].”
In the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:12-13, Jesus says, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Notice the word “work” in that statement. Our works matter. We do not earn salvation by our works, but our works reflect who we truly are. A theology that dismisses moral accountability is an apostate theology. The inspired passage goes on to say, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev. 22:14-15).
When it’s all said and done, who will and who will not enter the heavenly city? Those “who do His commandments,” will “have the right to the tree of life,” What commandments? The commandments taught in the New Covenant! We know these are moral commandments by the contrast given in the next verse. Who will not enter? Is it those who have not been circumcised? Is those who ate pork? No, it is those who live outside the moral boundaries that God established for humanity. “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie”.
The New Testament establishes MORAL commandments that Christians are to live by. Those who teach otherwise are condemned in Scripture. Jude confronted the antinomian error in verse 4 of his brief epistle: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice these ungodly teachers use “grace” to justify the moral laxity. Paul taught extensively about the grace of God in Romans, but then in Romans 6:1-2 he writes, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Because of the overall message concerning commandments in the New Testament, we know that the sin Paul is talking about is the violation of the moral boundaries established in the New Covenant.
In his second epistle Peter confronted the false teachers of his day who were promising liberty but actually leading people into the bondage of sin. Notice the moral nature of the commandments they are violating.
2 Peter 2:12-22:
“But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. [So, there are two of the Ten Commandments they are violating: You shall not commit adultery and you shall not covet.] 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”
So why do we honor the moral commandments written in the Old Testament. We do so because the moral commandments are confirmed in the New Testament. We would need to respect those boundaries on behavior even if we didn’t have an Old Testament.
Conclusion
Today we have addressed two principles that inform our answer to the question: Should a Christian Keep the Law? The first principle is the recognition that Christians are under an altogether different covenant than Old Testament believers. The Old Covenant was to the nation of Israel. Gentiles were never a part of that to begin with. A gentile could become a Jewish proselyte and participate. But the Old Covenant was uniquely given to Jews as a preparation for the first Advent of Messiah. It was preparatory and served an important purpose. However, when Jesus, through His death and resurrection. established a new and better covenant, the old passed away (Heb. 8:13).
The second principle is the moral boundaries taught to Israel in the Old Testament are also taught to Christians in the New Testament. We don’t abide by those commandments because they are in the Old Testament. We abide by them because they are affirmed in the New Testament.
Next week we will deal with a third principle: The ceremonial statutes taught in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ and are no longer applicable in the New Testament. Should a Christian keep the Law? The answer is yes and no. He should live by the moral law of God that never changes because it is based on the nature of God. But he should not live by the ceremonial statues which foreshadowed Christ and were fulfilled at His first advent. May the Lord give us wisdom to rightly divide the two types of law.
ENDNOTES:
i Antinomian is the term referring to “one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary for salvation.” 51.
ii All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
iii Jan Karel Van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults: A Study in Present-Day Isms, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1973 [1938]) Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10 ed. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1993) s. v. “antinomian,” 12. Cf. Rom. 6:1-2; 2 Pet. 2:19; Jude 1:4.
iv 2 Tim. 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
v Jesus is quoting a common saying in his day that roughly equates to or saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” These Pharisees were so attached to the old ways, they were not willing to embrace the new that Jesus was introducing. They were saying “The old is better.” Jesus is not endorsing that mentality. He is confronting that inflexible attitude in the Pharisees. Kaiser, Davids, et. al. write, “‘The old is good’ or ‘The old is berrer,’ far from expressing the mind of Jesus, could well express an attitude that he deplores because it hinders the advancement of the kingdom of God.” Walter Kaiser, Jr., Peter Davids, F. F. Bruce, Manfred Brauch, Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downs Grove, LL: InterVarsity Press, 1996) 458. 136. Bruce Barton, Dave Veerman, Linda Taylor, Luke, Life Application Bible Commentary, ed. Grant Osborne (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997). See also Matt. 9:14-17 and Mark 2:18-22.
vi The first controversy revolved around the disciples plucking corn on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-5) and Jesus healing on the Sabbath (Luke 6:6-12). The recording of these two incidents is a continuation of the theme stated in Luke 5:36-39.
vii George Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993 [1974]) 123.
viii Cf. Gal. 4:4-5.
ix Cf. 1 John 4:8; Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019) 248-262.
x Cf. Lev. 11:7; 18:22.
xi See also Matt. 19:4-5; Rom. 1:26-27; Jude 1:7; Rev. 21:27. For an extensive discussion of theological consideration concerning homosexuality see Ray S. Anderson, The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001) 266-283.
xii Cf. Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John, 313-317.
