Should A Christian Keep The Law? (Pt. 2) Series

We are answering the question: Should a Christian Keep the Law? The biblical answer is yes and no. We should keep the moral commandments that are rooted in the immutable nature of God. God is holy. God is a moral being who holds people morally accountable. God does not change. So, the moral boundaries that flow out of who God is are eternal.

Why do we keep the moral commandments of God? They are restated in the New Testament. “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.” Those are commanded under the New Covenant as well as the Old Covenant. We don’t abide by those because they are stated in the Old Covenant. We abide by them because they are stated in the New Covenant. Should we Keep the Law? Yes, we should live in the boundaries of God’s moral law, not to become righteous, but because we are righteous by the grace of God.

Should we keep the Law? No, we should not keep the ceremonial laws in the Old Testament because those were fulfilled by Christ at His first Advent. We cannot deal with these matters thoroughly, but we are addressing a few biblical principles that help us answer the question. In a previous teaching, we explored two principles.

Principle #1: Jesus established a NEW Covenant better than the OLD Covenant set forth in the Old Testament.

Hebrews 8 explains this thoroughly. Then in verse 13 says: “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.”i The whole book of Hebrews is a warning for Christians to not go back under the Old Covenant system. So, we must decide which covenant we will live under: the Old Covenant of types and shadows or the New Covenant of grace and spiritual reality in Christ. We err if we try to mix the two.ii Grace and works are like oil and water. They simply don’t mix.iii So, the first principle the Christian must understand is that “in Christ” he is not under the Old Testament covenant. He is under the New Covenant as defined in the New Testament. The Old Covenant provided valuable revelation and preparation for the New. But it was set aside when the New and better covenant was established at the cross.

Principle #2 was also discussed in that message: The MORAL boundaries taught to Israel in the Old Testament are also taught to Christians in the New Testament. We demonstrated that truth with several New Testament passages and showed how the abandonment of God’s commandments concerning moral behavior (known as antinomianism) is condemned as apostasy by the apostles.

There were two kinds of apostasy going on in the early church, and those same errors are occurring today. The most prevalent is antinomianism. In a distorted interpretation of love and grace, many are abandoning the moral commandments set forth in the New Testament and heaping upon themselves God’s judgment.

The other apostasy is a return to the Old Law that Jesus fulfilled at the cross. To do this dishonors the work of Christ. In Galatians 5:2 Paul said, “Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” He says that in the context of an extensive teaching against going back under the Old Testament system. I had a discussion with a Christian who was falling under the legalism that the Galatians were exercising. As I quoted this verse and others, the person interrupted me and said, “Wait, you cannot use Paul’s writings because Paul was a false prophet.” The deception that began subtly had progressed to a rejection of New Testament inspired Scripture. According to Galatians and Hebrews that thinking can progress into apostasy. It’s a slippery slope. It is spiritually very dangerous.

Scripture predicts a great falling away in the last days. There are signs that is happening as we speak. If the devil can’t get a person to go into antinomianism, he will push them into the ditch on the other side of the road: legalism. People have all kinds of distorted definiens of legalism. Some call living by the moral boundaries established in the New Testament as legalism. Others justify keeping Old Testament ceremonial law and think that is a higher form of spirituality. How do we get a sound definition of legalism? We let the New Testament tell us what it is. And if you study the New Testament as a whole, you will see this distinction between eternal moral commandments and temporal ceremonial commandments. There is a reason orthodox Christianity has honored that distinction. It is in the Bible!

Today we will discuss 5 other principles that will clarify the distinction in the New Testament between the moral versus ceremonial rules that were given under the old Mosaic covenant. In an effort to be clear, there may be some repetition with what was previously said. Four additional principles that help us answer the question: Should Christians keep the law?