Are Christians under the Law of Moses?
Introduction. The relationship between the Old Covenant (Law of Moses) and the New (Gospel of Jesus Christ) became controversial soon after Gentiles were invited into the kingdom of God (Acts 10). All Gentile nations had been excluded from the covenant given on Mount Sinai. Yet, some of Jesus’ disciples believed Gentile converts must become Jewish proselytes. “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed” said it is “necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” The Holy Spirit inspired Peter, Paul and Barnabas and James to reveal the truth. Under His direction a letter went out to the Gentile churches: “We gave no such commandment.” Their conclusion: Gentiles had no obligation to keep the Law. (Acts 15).
But this did not stop the problem. Paul encountered zealous Jews everywhere. After he preached the gospel, started a church and moved to the next opportunity, they would enter and seek to convince new converts among the Gentiles that they needed circumcision and to keep the Law to be saved. When they came to Galatia, they were successful in convincing many Gentiles as seen in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
This gave the Holy Spirit the opportunity to reveal the truth. Those who chose to add the Law to the gospel only created a “different gospel, which is not another; but some there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-7) This strong language revealed the grave danger of adding anything from the Law to the gospel. Those preaching a gospel modified with the Law of Moses had not only perverted the gospel, but also became “accursed” of God. (Gal. 1:8-9).
It did not stop there. Not only do those who preach a gospel yoked to the Law of Moses become “accursed”, but those who obey this gospel become “entangled with” a “yoke of bondage” and become “a debtor to keep the whole law.” Those believing and obeying this “perverted gospel” are “severed from Christ.” Any attempt to be “justified by law” leaves them “fallen from grace.” (Gal. 5:1-5).
Why these strong words? What is so bad about taking some of the good things out of the Law and adding them to the gospel? Even today, many borrow the tithe, instrumental music, and having a “priest” from the Law of Moses. Some consider Sunday the Christian Sabbath, thinking and teaching that the Ten Commandments are still binding upon Christians. What is so wrong about this?
The problem is simple. God gave “ALL authority in heaven and on earth” to Jesus (Matt. 28:18). He is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Authority given to any command in the Law must be taken from Jesus. If He wanted that command to be in the gospel, He would have put it there. If He did not put it there, it doesn’t belong in the gospel. Peter reminded Israel what God had promised Moses: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you.” “Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.” “Every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed.” (Deut. 18:18; Acts 3:22). Moses lost all authority when God raised up the prophet (Jesus). God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Heb. 1:1). Accepting Jesus as Christ means the gospel becomes our only guide.
The Holy Spirit then began to reveal why the Law could not be added to the gospel. When God called Abraham, He “preached the gospel to him beforehand,” giving him the covenant of promise (Gal. 3:8). If Abraham would first leave his country (Gen. 12:1-3), second believe God’s promise (Gen. 15:5-6; Rom. 4:13-25), and third offer Isaac (Gen. 22:15-19), God would make Abraham the father of a great nation, and later, bless all nations through the birth of the Christ. Once Abraham did those three things, this covenant of promise was confirmed with an oath. (Gen. 22:18). This covenant could never be “added to or annulled” in any way. Moses law which came 430 years later was for an entirely different purpose. (Gal. 3:7-9, 15-18). Never did God plan for the Law to be a part of the covenant of promise. No man has the authority to add to or annul the gospel with the Law.
The Law of Moses was a tutor and a guard to keep Israel intact until the seed (Christ) should come. Once Christ came, the need for the Law ended and the tutor was discarded (Gal. 3:23-25).
The way God treated Abraham’s two sons revealed how God saw those who chose to remain under the Law. As Paul argues starting in Gal. 4:21, Abraham’s first son Ishmael by a bondwoman (Hagar) was born only through the flesh (human wisdom). The second son Isaac from the freewoman (Sarah) was born through God’s promise. Paul than makes the application: those who remain under the covenant from Mount Sinai are like Ishmael. Just as Ishmael was cast out because he was not part of God’s promise to Abraham, so those who continue under the Law and reject or modify the gospel will also be cast out. Only those with Abraham’s faith will obey the gospel. All who obey the gospel are therefore Abraham’s true sons, and “Like Isaac are the children of promise.” Abraham’s fleshly sons, remaining under the Old Law, will not inherit with Abraham’s spiritual sons of promise who obey the New Covenant. Those Gentiles who obey the gospel only to return to the Law become “debtors to do the whole law.” They are “severed from Christ” and “fall from grace.” (Gal. 3:27-29; 4:24-31; 5:1-3).
Jesus’ death on the cross ended all authority of the Law. He took “the handwriting of requirements that was against us,” “out of the way” and “nailed it to the cross.” He also “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” Since the Law of Moses was stripped of all its power and authority, “let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Col. 2:13-18; Eph. 2:14-18).
The binding nature of marriage also revealed what Jesus’ death accomplished. While a husband is alive, his wife is bound to him by law. But if that husband dies, she is free from that law and can be joined to another. In exactly the same way, “you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ,” and in this way, “we have been delivered from the law.” Those who obey the gospel “serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” After obeying the gospel, a return to the Law is like a woman seeking to return to her “dead” husband. (Rom. 7:1-6).
“God … made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:6) This is how the Holy Spirit wanted us to view Jesus’ apostles and prophets and their writings (NT Scripture). They are ministers of the New Covenant. It is not of the letter (the Old Covenant). When the Spirit said “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life,” He spoke of the Old Covenant, including the Ten Commandments, in a very negative manner. “The ministry of death, written and engraved on stones” can only be the Ten Commandments. When Moses descended from Mount Sinai and “they could not look steadily at the face of Moses,” only “the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand.” (Ex. 31:18; 32:15-16; 34:1-4, 29-30). After Jesus’ death, the Law of Moses with the Ten Commandments became “the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones.” It could not save; it could only bring death (kill). Moses’ veil came to represent those whose “minds were blinded,” refusing to obey the gospel and continuing under the Law. Only “when one turns to the Lord,” leaving the Law to obey the gospel “the veil is taken away.” (2Cor. 3:5-17).
More than any other book, Hebrews revealed and explained why the Law could not continue. The Holy Spirit used the prophesy in Psalms 110 five times: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’” (5:6,10; 6:20; 7:17,21). Being born from the tribe of Judah, Jesus could never be a priest as long as the Law was in force. “The priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.” The Law became an obstacle to all that God had promised to do with Jesus. He could never be a king and a priest on the throne of David until the law was annulled and removed. The reason it was “annulled” was because it was “weak” and “unprofitable.” “He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Heb. 5-8).
Along with the change in the priesthood, the earthly sanctuary and tabernacle had to cease. Not being a Levite, Jesus could never enter the sanctuary in Jerusalem’s temple. The Law had to be removed so Jesus could be “seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” He is now the “Minister of a sanctuary and true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man.” None of this could be accomplished “while the first tabernacle was still standing.” The first covenant’s “ordinances of divine service” were removed so Jesus could be the “High Priest of the good things to come” in “the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” He is now “the Mediator of the new covenant.” (Heb 9:1-28).
The most important reason the Law had to end and be removed centered on sacrifices. Under the Law, the only sacrifices for sin were the blood of bulls and goats. Yet “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Thus as long as the first covenant stood, there could be no true forgiveness. God had no pleasure in this. That is why Jesus came into the world. His death on the cross fulfilled God’s will. In that act, the Word gave God the blood that could forgive sins. By “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” the Old Covenant ended as Jesus took “away the first in order to establish the second.” (Heb. 10:1-10)
Conclusion. All authority in the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, ended at the cross. Its “weakness and unprofitableness” had to be annulled before “the good things to come” could begin. The New covenant has “better promises,” a “better hope,” “better sacrifices” and is a “better covenant.” But if a disciple “receives circumcision” or seeks to use passages in the Old Law to justify changing or adding to the gospel, that disciple becomes a “debtor to do the whole law.” They are “severed from Christ” and “fallen from grace.” That is a price far too steep to bring the tithe, instrumental music, or a priesthood into the New Covenant. All practices that only have the Law of Moses must cease. For the Christian, Jesus is Lord ... there is no other.
But this did not stop the problem. Paul encountered zealous Jews everywhere. After he preached the gospel, started a church and moved to the next opportunity, they would enter and seek to convince new converts among the Gentiles that they needed circumcision and to keep the Law to be saved. When they came to Galatia, they were successful in convincing many Gentiles as seen in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
This gave the Holy Spirit the opportunity to reveal the truth. Those who chose to add the Law to the gospel only created a “different gospel, which is not another; but some there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-7) This strong language revealed the grave danger of adding anything from the Law to the gospel. Those preaching a gospel modified with the Law of Moses had not only perverted the gospel, but also became “accursed” of God. (Gal. 1:8-9).
It did not stop there. Not only do those who preach a gospel yoked to the Law of Moses become “accursed”, but those who obey this gospel become “entangled with” a “yoke of bondage” and become “a debtor to keep the whole law.” Those believing and obeying this “perverted gospel” are “severed from Christ.” Any attempt to be “justified by law” leaves them “fallen from grace.” (Gal. 5:1-5).
Why these strong words? What is so bad about taking some of the good things out of the Law and adding them to the gospel? Even today, many borrow the tithe, instrumental music, and having a “priest” from the Law of Moses. Some consider Sunday the Christian Sabbath, thinking and teaching that the Ten Commandments are still binding upon Christians. What is so wrong about this?
The problem is simple. God gave “ALL authority in heaven and on earth” to Jesus (Matt. 28:18). He is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Authority given to any command in the Law must be taken from Jesus. If He wanted that command to be in the gospel, He would have put it there. If He did not put it there, it doesn’t belong in the gospel. Peter reminded Israel what God had promised Moses: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you.” “Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.” “Every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed.” (Deut. 18:18; Acts 3:22). Moses lost all authority when God raised up the prophet (Jesus). God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Heb. 1:1). Accepting Jesus as Christ means the gospel becomes our only guide.
The Holy Spirit then began to reveal why the Law could not be added to the gospel. When God called Abraham, He “preached the gospel to him beforehand,” giving him the covenant of promise (Gal. 3:8). If Abraham would first leave his country (Gen. 12:1-3), second believe God’s promise (Gen. 15:5-6; Rom. 4:13-25), and third offer Isaac (Gen. 22:15-19), God would make Abraham the father of a great nation, and later, bless all nations through the birth of the Christ. Once Abraham did those three things, this covenant of promise was confirmed with an oath. (Gen. 22:18). This covenant could never be “added to or annulled” in any way. Moses law which came 430 years later was for an entirely different purpose. (Gal. 3:7-9, 15-18). Never did God plan for the Law to be a part of the covenant of promise. No man has the authority to add to or annul the gospel with the Law.
The Law of Moses was a tutor and a guard to keep Israel intact until the seed (Christ) should come. Once Christ came, the need for the Law ended and the tutor was discarded (Gal. 3:23-25).
The way God treated Abraham’s two sons revealed how God saw those who chose to remain under the Law. As Paul argues starting in Gal. 4:21, Abraham’s first son Ishmael by a bondwoman (Hagar) was born only through the flesh (human wisdom). The second son Isaac from the freewoman (Sarah) was born through God’s promise. Paul than makes the application: those who remain under the covenant from Mount Sinai are like Ishmael. Just as Ishmael was cast out because he was not part of God’s promise to Abraham, so those who continue under the Law and reject or modify the gospel will also be cast out. Only those with Abraham’s faith will obey the gospel. All who obey the gospel are therefore Abraham’s true sons, and “Like Isaac are the children of promise.” Abraham’s fleshly sons, remaining under the Old Law, will not inherit with Abraham’s spiritual sons of promise who obey the New Covenant. Those Gentiles who obey the gospel only to return to the Law become “debtors to do the whole law.” They are “severed from Christ” and “fall from grace.” (Gal. 3:27-29; 4:24-31; 5:1-3).
Jesus’ death on the cross ended all authority of the Law. He took “the handwriting of requirements that was against us,” “out of the way” and “nailed it to the cross.” He also “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” Since the Law of Moses was stripped of all its power and authority, “let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Col. 2:13-18; Eph. 2:14-18).
The binding nature of marriage also revealed what Jesus’ death accomplished. While a husband is alive, his wife is bound to him by law. But if that husband dies, she is free from that law and can be joined to another. In exactly the same way, “you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ,” and in this way, “we have been delivered from the law.” Those who obey the gospel “serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” After obeying the gospel, a return to the Law is like a woman seeking to return to her “dead” husband. (Rom. 7:1-6).
“God … made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:6) This is how the Holy Spirit wanted us to view Jesus’ apostles and prophets and their writings (NT Scripture). They are ministers of the New Covenant. It is not of the letter (the Old Covenant). When the Spirit said “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life,” He spoke of the Old Covenant, including the Ten Commandments, in a very negative manner. “The ministry of death, written and engraved on stones” can only be the Ten Commandments. When Moses descended from Mount Sinai and “they could not look steadily at the face of Moses,” only “the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand.” (Ex. 31:18; 32:15-16; 34:1-4, 29-30). After Jesus’ death, the Law of Moses with the Ten Commandments became “the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones.” It could not save; it could only bring death (kill). Moses’ veil came to represent those whose “minds were blinded,” refusing to obey the gospel and continuing under the Law. Only “when one turns to the Lord,” leaving the Law to obey the gospel “the veil is taken away.” (2Cor. 3:5-17).
More than any other book, Hebrews revealed and explained why the Law could not continue. The Holy Spirit used the prophesy in Psalms 110 five times: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’” (5:6,10; 6:20; 7:17,21). Being born from the tribe of Judah, Jesus could never be a priest as long as the Law was in force. “The priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.” The Law became an obstacle to all that God had promised to do with Jesus. He could never be a king and a priest on the throne of David until the law was annulled and removed. The reason it was “annulled” was because it was “weak” and “unprofitable.” “He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Heb. 5-8).
Along with the change in the priesthood, the earthly sanctuary and tabernacle had to cease. Not being a Levite, Jesus could never enter the sanctuary in Jerusalem’s temple. The Law had to be removed so Jesus could be “seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” He is now the “Minister of a sanctuary and true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man.” None of this could be accomplished “while the first tabernacle was still standing.” The first covenant’s “ordinances of divine service” were removed so Jesus could be the “High Priest of the good things to come” in “the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” He is now “the Mediator of the new covenant.” (Heb 9:1-28).
The most important reason the Law had to end and be removed centered on sacrifices. Under the Law, the only sacrifices for sin were the blood of bulls and goats. Yet “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Thus as long as the first covenant stood, there could be no true forgiveness. God had no pleasure in this. That is why Jesus came into the world. His death on the cross fulfilled God’s will. In that act, the Word gave God the blood that could forgive sins. By “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” the Old Covenant ended as Jesus took “away the first in order to establish the second.” (Heb. 10:1-10)
Conclusion. All authority in the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, ended at the cross. Its “weakness and unprofitableness” had to be annulled before “the good things to come” could begin. The New covenant has “better promises,” a “better hope,” “better sacrifices” and is a “better covenant.” But if a disciple “receives circumcision” or seeks to use passages in the Old Law to justify changing or adding to the gospel, that disciple becomes a “debtor to do the whole law.” They are “severed from Christ” and “fallen from grace.” That is a price far too steep to bring the tithe, instrumental music, or a priesthood into the New Covenant. All practices that only have the Law of Moses must cease. For the Christian, Jesus is Lord ... there is no other.