Many people struggle to grasp the Old Testament’s significance and role in their lives, given its laws, rituals, holidays, and sacrificial system. Some claim the Ten Commandments must be obeyed for salvation. Others insist the customs and dietary requirements must be followed to earn God’s favor. Many others view the Old Testament as obsolete, playing no part in the lives of believers today.
The Scriptures clearly state the purpose of the Ten Commandments. They were given to reveal God’s perfect standard of holiness (see Exodus 20:3-17) while exposing how far people fall short of it. Paul wrote in Romans 3:20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” He also stated in Romans 7:7, “I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’”
Yet, as faultless as the Old Testament law was in defining God’s holy standard and revealing how much people fall short of it, it could not make sinners righteous. Only Jesus’ shed blood could accomplish such a feat. Therefore, God instituted a temporary sacrificial system for sins until the time of Christ, which foreshadowed what Jesus would ultimately accomplish at Calvary, once and for all.
When Jesus came to the earth, He lived a perfect life of obedience to His Father on behalf of all sinners. His sinless obedience satisfied each of the Old Testament’s righteous requirements. Likewise, His suffering and substitutionary death on the cross paid for all sin in full, making salvation and redemption possible for sinners who trust Him for it.
Jesus' death and resurrection established a far superior Covenant than the first one—making the Old Covenant and its requirements obsolete. Hebrews 8:7 says, “For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.” Hebrews 8:13 states, “By calling this covenant new, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Those who trust Jesus by faith for salvation are redeemed from the law’s curse and rendered righteous before God (see Galatians 3:13-14 and Romans 3:22). As such, they are not required to follow the Old Covenant system of regulations, rituals, restrictions, and laws because Jesus’ obedient life and sacrificial death satisfied the law’s demands and requirements on their behalf. In other words, Jesus' life and death render believers perfect before God as if they fulfilled every point of the law flawlessly themselves (see Colossians 2:13-14; Ephesians 2:13-16; Galatians 3:19). For Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," and Galatians 2:21 states, “If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Consequently, born-again believers are under the New Covenant of grace and should follow the “law of Christ” described in Luke 10:27. It says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Believers should obey Jesus' instructions in response to God's great love for them, not as a means to maintain or sustain their salvation (see 1 John 4:19). Why? Because salvation is only attainable through faith alone and not by works (see Ephesians 2:8-9).
For further study on Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament law and its requirements, read Hebrews and Galatians. For additional information on believers not being required to keep the Old Testament law, read Acts chapter 15. For additional verses on this topic, click here.
