Well, we need to answer two questions first: (1) Why should we keep the law? (2) Which laws are we referring to?
1. Why should someone keep the law? One of the reasons people give for keeping the Bible laws is to be good people. Unfortunately, the Bible tells us expressly that if we want to be righteous before God, keeping the law will not work. Moreover, according to James 2:10, if we break just one law, we will have the book thrown at us – God will account us guilty of breaking all of them!
2. Which laws are we talking about? If we are talking about the laws in the Old Testament that were administered by the Levitical priesthood (such as the feasts and sacrifices), then no, we don’t need to keep those laws. God gave those laws to ancient Israel to keep, not to the whole world. We have a new priest in Jesus, and the Bible says nothing about his priesthood administering the OT laws. Hebrews chapters 9-10 are clear about this. He is instead the author and finisher of our faith, not our law-keeping.
If we believe that we are servants of God, and God still speaks to us today, then we necessarily believe that we will receive commandments from God. Those commandments must be kept, not because we are trying to be righteous before God or earn salvation, but because we are his grateful servants and children. The New Testament gives us many commandments that will help us lead lives well-pleasing to God when done in faith.
What Do You Think?
a. The New Testament contains plenty of commandments for believers. Does the Old Testament have any in particular that you wish to keep as well?
