Dr Paul Allen

There have always been groups of Christians who believe that in order to honor God ’s authority in the Old Testament we must continue to obey the food laws and other ceremonial laws, lest we be found in disobedience. There is a good impulse in this and a profoundly bad impulse in this. The good impulse is the desire to obey God. There’s nothing wrong with that. That belongs to what it means to be a Christian. The bad impulse is the failure to obey Christ who teaches us how to obey God in regard to the Old Testament. “In the Old Testament, God always intended for the consummation and end of the ceremonial laws.” Tweet Share on Facebook So, the good impulse starts, perhaps, with a text like  Matthew 5:17–18 . Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accompl...

God rules His universe by law. Nature itself operates under His providential government. The so-called laws of nature merely describe God’s normal way of ordering His universe. These “laws” are expressions of His sovereign will. God is not accountable to any laws outside of Himself.  There are no independent, cosmic rules that God is obligated to obey. Rather, God is a law unto Himself. This simply means that God acts according to His own moral character. His own character is not only morally perfect, it is the ultimate standard of perfection. His actions are perfect because His nature is perfect, and He always acts according to His nature. God is therefore never arbitrary, whimsical, or capricious. He always does what is right.  As God’s creatures, we are also required to do what is right. God demands that we live according to His moral law, which He has revealed to us in the Bible. God’s law is the ultimate standard of righteousness and the supreme norm for judgi...