Christians are not under the Mosaic Law as a binding covenant. That is the clear teaching of the New Testament — and understanding why makes all the difference between reading the Old Testament as a confusing rulebook and reading it as a living story leading to .
A Covenant, Not Just a List of Rules {v:Galatians 3:23-25}
The Torah — the law given through Moses — was a covenant between God and Israel. It was specific to a specific people at a specific moment in redemptive history. Paul describes it plainly:
Before faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
This is not a minor administrative update. The entire Mosaic covenant — the sacrificial system, the dietary restrictions, the purity codes, the civil legislation for ancient Israel — pointed forward to something it could not itself provide. When Jesus arrived, the thing it pointed to had come.
What Jesus Said About the Law {v:Matthew 5:17-18}
Jesus did not abolish the law — he fulfilled it. That distinction matters. Abolishing something renders it void and meaningless. Fulfilling it means bringing it to its intended completion. A promise is not abolished when it is kept; it is honored.
The New Covenant, announced by the prophets and inaugurated by Jesus, does not erase the moral fabric woven into creation. It relocates it — from stone tablets to transformed hearts.
The Three Categories: A Useful Framework
Most theologians distinguish three types of laws in the Mosaic code:
Ceremonial laws governed worship, sacrifice, and ritual purity — dietary restrictions, priestly protocols, festivals, and the handling of unclean things. These were fulfilled in Christ. The book of Hebrews makes this case at length: Jesus is the final sacrifice, the true High Priest, the reality that all the shadows depicted. Eating shellfish is not a sin. Wearing mixed fabrics is not a sin. These laws were never moral absolutes — they were the ceremonial vocabulary of a particular covenant moment.
Civil laws governed Israel as a theocratic nation-state. Laws about property disputes, warfare, and judicial procedures were designed for that context. Christians are not governed by ancient Israelite civil code any more than they are governed by the Code of Hammurabi, though both may reflect genuine wisdom.
Moral laws reflect the unchanging character of God and his design for human flourishing. The Ten Commandments — don't murder, don't steal, don't commit adultery — are not arbitrary Israelite customs. They express the moral order built into creation. Jesus does not abolish these; he deepens them. He extends "do not murder" to the inner life of anger, "do not commit adultery" to the inner life of lust.
This three-category framework is widely held among evangelical scholars, though some theologians — particularly in the Reformed tradition — press harder on the continuing relevance of certain aspects of civil law, and others in the Anabaptist tradition draw sharper distinctions. These are honest internal debates.
The Sabbath Question {v:Colossians 2:16-17}
The Sabbath is the clearest test case because it appears in both the ceremonial calendar and the moral law. Paul writes:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus himself as our Sabbath rest — the one in whom we cease striving for our own righteousness. Sunday worship among Christians is not a replacement Sabbath law; it is a practice of celebrating the resurrection. Christians are not obligated to observe Saturday rest, though honoring rhythms of rest remains wise and human.
So What Guides Christians Now? {v:Romans 13:8-10}
Grace is not lawlessness. Paul answers the obvious objection — "Shall we then sin because we are not under law?" — with a flat no. The moral teaching of the New Testament is more demanding, not less. Love your neighbor. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Pursue holiness. Care for the poor.
The difference is the motivation and the power. Under the old covenant, obedience was required to maintain standing. Under the new, obedience flows from a transformed heart and the indwelling Spirit — not to earn grace, but because of it.
The law was never meant to save. It was meant to show us what we need saving from, and to point us toward the one who could.