Are Christians constrained by the Old Testament and the Mosaic law or are they finished. This is a heavy duty question and I honestly don’t know if I am the one to discuss it because I don’t have a broad enough understanding of the theology and scriptures that are key to understanding it.
There is a question that brings a perspective to this conundrum and it goes like this. “Is it possible for person living today to gain salvation by following the law as it it laid out in the Old Testament?” The answer to that question is a resounding “No it is not possible to gain salvation through the forgiveness of sins by the law any longer.”
Why? Well because Jehovah sacrificed his only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for our sins. So if you believe on the only begotten Son of God then you have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He became the sacrifice once for all and far better and more acceptable sacrifice than the blood of animals sacrificed under the mosaic covenant.
Christians are under the new covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31 starting at verses 31 through 34. Reprinted below.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to[a] them,[b]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
This covenant was brought to fruition on the eve of Jesus arrest in the upstairs room with the disciples at the Lords Supper. I Corinthians 11 verses 23 through 26. Reprinted below.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
So we live in a different era with a new and better covenant in Jesus Christ our Lord. The law is now written in the hearts of those who believe on Jesus Christ and have salvation in his name. However, what does this say about the Old Testament and the Mosaic Law in the life of the believer?
Well if you’re ever stranded on a dessert island and all you have is a copy of the Old Testament. The likely hood of you finding Salvation in Christ Jesus is practically nil. But if all you have is a copy of the New Testament then the likely hood of you finding salvation in Christ Jesus is quite good. This is because the gospel is woven into the New Testament from start to finish because it is about the new covenant whereas, the Mosaic Covenant is woven into the Old Testament and that will no longer provide you with a path to salvation on its own.
Does this mean a person does not need to read the Old Testament. Let me put it this way. You could be a New Testament reading Christian all of your life and never read the Old Testament and be saved. The converse is not the case. But, you would never know of the other covenants and dispensations of God. You would never know of the great flood. You would never know of the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt or of Moses and the dispensation of the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments. You would not know of the return to Canaan of the people of Israel. You would not know of Rahab the Harlot and the fall of the walls of Jericho or, how Rahab was a part of the lineage that proceeded through David the King of Israel down through Mary to the Messiah, You would not know of the Judges, the Chronicles or of the Kings of Israel. You would not know of two fine women Esther and Ruth. You would not know of books of the Psalms or Proverbs. You would not know of Lamentations or of the books of the Prophets. If you did not know of Jeremiah or Daniel or Ezekiel and you would not know of the prophecies that support the New Testament book of Revelation. You would not know of Jonah who was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh and how they repented and were spared. You would not know of Jeremiah 31: 31-34 and the new covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
So the Old Testament is not crucial to your salvation but is really essential reading for every Christian. It also brings and understanding to the Christian of the nation of Israel and of the Jewish world view. Which is essential if we are to lead Israel to the New Covenant in our Lord Jesus Christ (Yeshua Hamashiach). Yeshua the Anointed One.
So is the Law now redundant? No because as the prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 31 verse 33 “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts...” When I was a child we lived in a much more Christian country than it is today. Now when there are many more Christians around. That is, people indwelt by the Holy Spirit who have the law in their minds and written on there hearts. It is apparent because the law is obeyed. There is little murder, There is little theft. There is little profanity, The Lords Day is kept holy, there is little adultery, there is more honesty and there is less coveting. Virtually everyone back then left their homes unlocked. It was common to see a car parked with the window down, the keys in the ignition and a wallet on the front seat. People cared for each other. My mother often baked for others and when ever contractors came to the farm they were catered for, which almost never happens these days.
So the law is not redundant. It is enacted in the hearts of the believers by the indwelling Holy Spirit and he reveals Christ’s nature in us. But we do not look to the law for Salvation that is only available through Christ Jesus. It does no harm to learn the ten commandments but in the same breath the Christian is not saved through the law but through grace in Christ Jesus. The law is not done away with but is enabled in such away that it could never have been before our Lord suffered and died for us on the cross. Before he shed his blood to atone for our sins and was resurrected that we might be resurrected on the last day. We are under a new covenant and it is a covenant that is prophesied in the Old Testament but enacted and enshrined in the New Testament.
One final matter is the fourth commandment. Keep the Sabbath. I do not address this matter lightly in this article. It is written that that Jesus said that he came not to destroy the law that substantiate it (Matthew 5:17). Therefore when we don’t keep the seventh day Sabbath, are we breaking Gods law which we have learned from the prophet Jeremiah is now written in our hearts.
There are a not a few points to consider when we speak about keeping the seventh day sabbath. I will only address the main points. One point is identifying which day is the seventh day. The Hebrews use a luni-solar calendar to map the sabbath day. Others use the current weekly calendar to calculate the sabbath day and simply settle on Saturday as the Sabbath. It comes down to whether accuracy is problem or not. If accuracy is essential then it is important to establish the actual sabbath day. We must then know which day was the sabbath back to the first sabbath on which Jehovah Elohim rested from the work or creation. If we can’t accurately decide that date then does it matter which day becomes the sabbath.
A second point is that much is assumed about this issue. For instance that the Godly line kept the sabbath in an unbroken line from Creation until Noah’s time and then on down to Abraham’s time and, then down to the time of Moses. Remember Moses was given the law by Jehovah and the keeping of the Sabbath was given in the law through Moses. We don’t know for sure that the sabbath was kept by believers in the Godly line before that time but we assume it to be the case. Remember also that Moses is ascribed to have written the first four books of the Bible and he doesn’t mention sabbath keeping habits before the giving of the law.
Paul says in Romans 14 verses 1 through 5.
1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Further Paul says in Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17.
“16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
So, if we can’t decide on which day is the sabbath and an arbitrary weekly sabbath is not acceptable because if you can have an arbitrary seventh day sabbath. What is to say that an arbitrary first day Lords Day is not on the actual sabbath? If we listen to the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. These things are irrelevant and are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.
So as to the Old Testament and the Law they are full of good information for Christians and we should study them as such. To be wise one must know the Old Testament. However, we live in the law of grace and love in Jesus Christ which is found in the New Testament. Salvation is found in the New Testament as is the New Covenant in Yeshua Hamashiach. Jesus the Anointed One.
Reference List
KJV Scriptures from https://www.biblegateway.com/
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