Does the Old Testament Law apply today?

How the OT law should be applied was one of the most debated issues during the ministry of Jesus and in the early church. The Jewish authorities constantly were offended by Jesus’ actions and teachings on the law (for example, see Matt 12:1–8).

The early church had a major disagreement over whether circumcision should be required of Gentile Christians (Acts 15). Paul even had to warn against useless quarrels about the law (Titus 3:9).

Law in the Teaching of Jesus. The popular notion that Jesus set aside the OT law is wrong, in Matthew 5:17 Jesus stated explicitly that He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it.

The discussions of the law in Matthew 5:20–48 show that obeying the law is not accomplished by some external act. Rather, obedience to the law of God includes the “heart,” what people think and feel at the core of their being.

Jewish teachers understood the focus of the law to be on proper religious observances and on separation from unclean foods and unclean people. Jesus had little concern for such ritual purity. He focused instead on mercy and love for all people (Matt 9:9–13). Jesus summarized the law with the two greatest commandments, the commands to love God and neighbor (Matt 22:34–40).

The Law in the Early Church. 

For the early church, the law was still the word of God and a guide for life, but it was no longer the center of attention. Jesus was now the focus of Christian thinking. In light of Jesus’ coming, early Christians concluded that certain parts of the law were no longer in effect. Still, all of the Ten Commandments are reaffirmed in the NT except the command to keep the Sabbath holy.

 Such decisions about how to apply the law took time and often caused disagreement, as the Book of Acts shows. Stephen deemphasized the role of the Jerusalem temple (Acts 7:47–50). Peter had a vision about unclean foods from which he concluded that neither food nor people should be called unclean (Acts 10:9–16, 28; compare Mark 7:19).

The Jerusalem Council decided that Gentiles did not have to keep the Jewish law to be Christians (Acts 15). Gentiles did not have to be circumcised. This was a crucial decision that made mission activity easier and kept Christianity from being a sect of Judaism.

The Epistle to the Hebrews set aside the ineffective priesthood of the OT with its animal sacrifices (7:11–18). Jesus is viewed as the eternal Priest whose death and resurrection was once and for all effective. The sacrifices mentioned in the law are only shadows of what is now a reality in Christ (9:11–14).

The Law in the Writings of Paul. Paul wrote most of the explicitly negative statements about the law in the Bible. He viewed the law as in some sense temporary (Gal 3:19–25). He argued it did not lead to salvation or righteous life. In fact, Paul thought the law was powerless to bring life (Rom 8:3). That is the work of God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Rather, the law created an opportunity for sin and led to death (Rom 7:7–13;  5:20).

However, Paul still valued the law as holy, good, and spiritual and as an indication of the will of God to be lived (Rom 7:12, 14; 8:4, 7). Even while saying that Christians are not under the law, Paul also expected Christians to fulfill the law by loving their neighbors as themselves (Gal 5:14–18; Rom 13:8–10).

Paul’s conflicting statements have created frequent debate about how he viewed the law. For example, does Paul’s statement “Christ is the end of the Law” (Rom 10:4) mean “Christ is the goal of the Law” or “Christ is the setting aside of the Law”? Probably his intention is “Christ is the goal of the Law.”

(Compare the use of the same word translated “end” in the KJV in Rom 6:22.)
 For Paul the important point was not the law itself but whether God’s Spirit is at work in a per son’s life. Without God’s Spirit, the law is an occasion for sin and rebellion and leads to death (Rom 7:5–13). With God’s Spirit, the law is an occasion for obedience and showing love to one’s neighbor.

Relevance for Modern Christians. The OT law cannot be ignored by modern Christians. The focus can never be on its ritual and ceremonial practices or on legalistic observance. Christians should study the law in light of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection to learn about God’s relation to humans and His desire for them to live in love. They can then understand why James 1:25 refers to the law as “the perfect law that gives freedom.”



Dockery, D. S. (Ed.). (1992). Holman Bible Handbook (p. 702). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.