Christianity Plain and Simple

Our Relationship With the Law

One of the biggest complications we have in the Christian religion is what is the Christians relationship with the law? I think to start it would be good to make sure we all understand what the law is. The law is the formal rules laid out orally by God to the nation of Israel when they first became a nation. They were the rules they had to follow as a country to be allowed to live in the land and be blessed by God on a national and personally level.

So, that being said, is that law the same as God's expectation of righteousness and laws today in all places?

It is not. The law, as we see in the Bible, is not the ultimate law of God but a set of rules specifically for the county of Israel, just like the USA or England has its own set of laws. With that in mind, a lot of the rules and consequences for them that we find strange make a lot more sense. God does not expect us to pass down our land legally the same way they did or punish adulterers and thieves the same way, because that was specific for their country.

John 1:17 - For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Romans 9:4 - Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Another thing to keep in mind is why God had this system. The Bible shows that it mainly existed to keep the country pure to bring the Messiah into the world and to be a testimony of the true God to the entire world. Many of their rules involving such as making idol worship illegal and forbidding marrying non-Jews make more sense when looking at it this way.

A clear destination is made between the law of Israel and the ultimate law of God when Jesus says while the legal law said a person could have an eye for an eye, the law of God has us love our enemies. While the legal law allows divorce because we are hard hearted, God's law forbids it. Things like this that there is a higher law then any legal law can truly provide. God is not replacing or abrogating the law, or even strengthening it, but rather showing the legal written law is inferior to the perfect law of God, which goes beyond our actions to our hearts.

Matthew 5:22 - But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

A clear distinction is made between the judgement of a law court (the Torah) and God's laws.

Anyway, since this law was specifically created for Israel, a holy covenant between God and that nation, Christians are under no obligation to keep it unless maybe if they live in Israel or are a descendant of Jewish people. Even this is debatable though.

That does not mean the Jewish law holds no value for Christians though. It is still the Holy Word of God, and important for historical context, understanding God, and how to deal with things and people on legal vs personal level. The foods God forbade the Israelites eat have been proven to be much more likely to carry diseases or be bad for you. Other things like sacrifices and not mixing fabric symbolize different things in the Christian life or Jesus Christ. These things have great value to Christians, but this does not mean we are commanded to keep the laws. If we do have that attitude, there tends to be a lot of cherry picking as to what laws we should and shouldn't keep. They are rather a guide to good behavior, God, and other things such as are mentioned above.