Are You Obeying the Old Law or the Law of Christ?

By Nab B.

October 17, 2022

Question: 

Was the old law destroyed or fulfilled in Jesus?

Why don't Christians keep the old law?

Answer:

When some bring up the subject of the Law, they don't see that the old law had ordinances and moral principles. They mostly argue over the ordinances.

Jesus fulfilled the WHOLE law. 

Old law ordinances were only a shadow, done away with, fulfilled in Christ, paving the way for their realities (Col 2:17). Unless a person refuses Jesus Christ, there is no point in observing any old ordinances.

Old law moral principles were also fulfilled in Christ by revealing their deeper meaning, which was not understood or followed by Israel in times past.

Perhaps now you could see why Jesus said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:20) 

Jesus called his teachings new commandments, not because they were newly invented, but because they were undiscovered! He urged us to possess God's righteousness, which surpasses that of humans, who could not fathom the heart of the law, "For we know that the law is spiritual." (Rom 7:14 ESV)

It was through Jesus Christ that God began to write His new commandments upon their circumcised hearts.

Why did Paul Say, "Jesus Abolished the Law?"

"(Jesus) Having abolished (Gk., katarego) in his flesh the enmity, the law of commandments (expressed) in ordinances." (Eph 2:15)

Paul used the Greek word katarego, translated as "abolishing." It means to "make idle, inactive, make of no effect, to make completely inoperative." It doesn't mean to destroy the law as if it were useless or bad. "Abolish" simply means it has completely fulfilled the law, served its purpose in Christ. As a result, it was no longer needed.

To paraphrase Eph 2:15 for clarity, it goes something like this:

"Through Christ's death, he fulfilled and made all ordinances of the old law completely inoperative and unnecessary."

Why did Jesus say, "I have not come to abolish the Law"?

On the other hand, Jesus used a different word (not so obvious in English) when he said, 

"Do not think that I have come to abolish (Gk., Kataluó) the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish (Gk., Kataluó) them but to fulfill them." (Matt 5:17)

This can be puzzling, since many Bibles render Ephesians 2:15 as saying, "Jesus abolished the law," while Jesus in Matthew 5:17 said, "I have not come to abolish the law." 

The puzzle can be easily solved by recognizing that Jesus used a different word than Paul. It can be easily seen by checking the original Greek.

• Jesus used the Greek word 'Kataluó' (to overthrow, destroy, tear down)

• Paul used the Greek word 'katarego' (abolish, cease, do away)

As you can see, these are two different words that could not simply be translated as "abolish!" By doing so, the meaning is lost.

The word Jesus used is Kataluó, which means "to overthrow, destroy, and tear down." In other words, Jesus did not come to destroy the old law, but to fulfill it completely. It was the Judaizers who falsely claimed that the early Christians wanted to destroy the law, demanding that they observe abolished ordinances, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and other feasts (see Acts chapter 15).

Christians are Under the Law of Christ

As said earlier, everything in the old law was completely fulfilled (not destroyed) in Christ. Christians live under a new spiritual law, called the "Law of Christ" (Gal 6:2). It freed them from the "law of sin and death" which the old law demanded. (Rom 8:2) 

The "law of Christ" or the "law of the Spirit" is written upon their hearts. They do not live by the letter of the old law, ordinances, and creeds; rather, they are "led by the Spirit."

The old law led to death, not because it was lacking, but rather to show humanity the dire need for a Saviour. The new "Law of Christ" provided the "Saviour" who imparts life through his death for the forgiveness of sin and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. 

"But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that which we were bound, in order for us to serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." (Rom 7:6 BLB)

The Old has become New!

Some of the ordinances of the old law were a shadow of SPIRITUAL realities, all centred upon Jesus Christ. Note how Paul makes this clear in Colossians 2:16-17,

"Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." (ESV)

Here are some old ordinances that have become new, transformed from being "natural" to "spiritual" in Christ Jesus:

• Our Passover is Christ. (1 Cor 5:7)

• Our sacrifice is Christ. (Heb 10:12)

• Our High Priest is Christ. (Heb 4:14)

• Our circumcision is of the heart. (Rom 2:29)

• Our sabbath is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt 12:8)

• The Temple of God is the Body of Christ (1 Cor 3:16). 

Jesus condemned the rituals and the traditions of the Pharisees, which made God’s word of no effect in Matt 15:6. Christians who prefer traditions, rituals, ordinances, and creeds over God's weightier matters of the Spirit: love, mercy, justice, and righteousness are gravely mistaken

Warning

Keepers of the Old Law!

Israel was the sole nation on earth bound by the old covenant with God. Other nations were not. Why would then some Christians (who are Gentiles) want to keep the sabbath, abstain from certain foods, impose tithing, fasting, etc, as if they were under the old covenant law?

According to scripture, when a Christian tries to keep one ordinance of the old law (be it the sabbath, prohibiting certain foods, tithing, circumcision, etc), he is bound to keep the whole law or risk standing condemned by God! Keeping ordinances amounts to an unrecognition of Christ fulfilling the old law, freeing us from its condemnation.

“I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision (or other ordinances) that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:3-4).

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils . . . commanding to abstain from meats (foods), which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Tim 4:3)

To insist on observing certain ordinances taken from the old law is a dangerous affair. No one or church ought to insist or impose a rule or some aspect of the old law to be observed as if it has a lasting value in the eyes of God. Being in Christ, who is the fulfillment of the law, is all that a believer needs to be perfect and complete before God our Father.

"But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit." 

(Rom 7:6 NLT)

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