Why do many Christians say that the laws of the old testament no longer apply?

Question

I noticed that when someone says that the laws of the old testament, especially the one's of Moses, seem to be cruel and very harsh (e.g: kill who curses his parents), Christians say they were limited at a specific time and place. Okay, then why did Jesus say this in the new testament?
Matthew 5:17 " Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. "
Matthew 5:18 "In truth I tell you, until HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS AWAY, not even the SMALLEST STROKE of a letter will pass away from The Law.'"
Matthew 5:19" 'So anyone who breaks the LEAST of these commandments or teaches others to do so will be called "least" in the kingdom of heaven"

btw: Clearly I'm not a Christian, I'm a Deist.

Occult, Jesus said in the NEW TESTAMENT that He won't abolish Mosaic laws!

Answer 1

clearly they've realized that some laws they made in the past are far too hard to follow themselves so they "personalized" their own laws.. lol ..trust me it will continue to evolve as time goes on..

Answer 2

You are right the Mosaic Law was not abolished and any who say that it was does not understand the scriptures. Christ came to fulfill or complete the Law not destroy it.
If you read Christ's teachings and compare them to the concepts taught in the Law of Moses you will find a pattern of raising to a higher standard. The reason the Law of Moses was given was to direct the children of Israel from there mind set acquired from there many years as slaves in Egypt to the eventual state that they would attain after they complete the commandment in Matthew 5:48 which by following his example and repenting when necessary you can accomplish.

Answer 3

Wow!! I think we managed to go a whole hour this time without this question being asked. That has to be a record (LOL)

The Law to which Jesus referred, and it is a technical term within the Jewish religion, refers to the rituals, feast days, and sacrifices that the Jews practices. As explained in the book of Hebrews, those were signs or shadows that pointed ahead to Jesus.

For example, Jesus is the Passover Lamb, whose blood is to be shed, his bones not broken, and his body eaten to provide salvation. He is the "first fruit" to be brought before God as an offering to make the rest of the harvest (humanity) holy and acceptable. He is the sin sacrifice, offered to make atonement for the sins of each person.

Like Jesus said in verse 17, he did not come to abolish, but to FULFILL them. He did through his life, death, burial and resurrection.

Realize that in terms of the Bible, the Law did not appear until about 1500BC. Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, and hundreds of others lived and died before the law was given. If you limit history to the 6000 years of the Bible, the law did not come into existence until over 1/3 of the way through history. If the scientific teaching of man being hundreds of thousands of years old is true, then the Law as only been around for about 2% of history. And then only know to the Jews and those immediately around them. So it has never applied to the majority of mankind.

Once those Laws have been fulfilled, there was no longer a need to practice them. We no longer need a sign that points to the coming of Jesus, because he has already come. So those rituals no longer serve a purpose. Instead, Christians use communion and baptism (among others) to look back to the sacrifice of Jesus. Again, it is all explained in the book of Hebrews.

I noticed that in quoting Matthew 5:18, you dropped the last words of the verse: not even the smallest stroke of a letter will pass away from the Law UNTIL IT IS FULFILLED. That happened at the crucifixion.

Answer 4

It is the teachings of Paul that say that the law no longer applies. However, if one read the teachings of Christ one cannot be in doubt.

Christ kept the laws, but also showed that if you have an important Mission like saving lives, healing people, etc then you can break the Sabbath. This doesn't mean that ones shouldn't keep the law.

As Maitreya from the Mission of Maitreya said in a Satsang:

"Some people say, “Oh you do not need to follow Laws, you need Grace.” Grace is the Law. The moment you have The Grace, you follow the Ten Commandments with no thinking.

Did Christ have The Grace? Yes. Did he follow the Ten Commandments? Yes, because he had The Grace. They go hand-in-hand. The Grace and the Law are one. The Essence and the Law are one."

Answer 5

Not all 613 laws are Mosaic Laws... many within the 613 are, what is called, Priestly Laws - laws set down by the High Priests at different times (which reminds me of all the Papal Bulls the Catholic Church has, set down by Popes at different times).

BUT, to answer your question more directly...... if the Old Test laws were still applicable... the Christians would be screwed, royally. I'm sure the majority eat pork and shellfish... touch leather (which is a dead animal and against Old Test laws). The women don't remove themselves from the main society when they have their periods. They mix fabrics *gasp*. In order to fit into the scheme of Christianity, they had to get rid of most of the laws of the Old Test. But, when Jesus talks about not doing away with the law, but fulfilling it... he's talking about the 10 Commandments themselves.... It is IMPOSSIBLE for Jesus to fulfill ALL 613 laws..... because at least a handful are for women only. ^_^

Answer 6

Because most Christians have a higher moral code than their own Bible, but they're still stuck with the OT.

...Well, except for Leviticus 18:22.

(Also, Exodus 20:1-17 is exempt from the exemption for some reason, after 20:8-11 is reinterpreted to attract the Mithraites, and 20:4 and 20:13 are sometimes conveniently mistranslated.)

Answer 7

Friend may I try to explain, There is still prophecies in the OT that needs to be fulfill in the time we live in. Bascially the OT laws pertain to Israel,Jesus did not do away with the law as you said, But On Jesus was all the laws, OT & NT laws. You seem to be a very bright young person, So it seems like I can talk to you without having to explain everything. Read Romans 10:4 For Christ is the END of the LAW for righteousness to every one that believeth. Read also Romans 10:5 -21 Therefore in Jesus Christ when he hung there on the cross there also hung every law in the OT & NT, all the laws pointed to Jesus Christ,

Answer 8

The Mosaic Law was abolished and then replaced by the laws Jesus put, and followed himself, thus leaving a model for us to copy afterward.

Oh yeah, Jesus laws are simple, but are more difficult to follow than the Mosaic Laws. We don't have to sacrifice, and we don't get killed if we make a mistake, but we need to have more love etc.

Romans 4:13-15.

If you want more info feel free to e-mail me.

Oh by the way, read matthew 5:18 (The half you didn't put)- "will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Talk about not reading in context. You just missed the last half of the last text. When everything is accomplished, the Law is abolished, and it was abolished.

Answer 9

Your bible quotes are taken from the New testament, meaning in Christ's time. Christs arrival fulfilled prophecies from centuries before, that is the fulfillment.The rest basically means this, before Christs death under Jewish law, men had to go to the temple and offered their prayers through the priests there, they had no direct prayer life with God. With Christ's death in exchange for mankind, a new era began and the old ways ended. The ripping of the curtain in the temple opened the way for man to pray directly to God, meaning the old ways had ended, as Christ paid for their sins, another chance for men to come back to the Father God. Christ fulfilled the prophecies by his crucifixion and shedding His blood for ALL men. The Jewish way was for Jews only, Gods chosen. We call it Christianity and being a Christian, meaning following Christ, not the Jewish nation and old testament. However we recognize without the old ways, there would not be a new. Old is the history lesson, the Gospels and new testament are for followers of Christ.
Until Christ's death, the old laws still applied, He was there as a teacher and a Savior, not to appear a troublemaker but to show a way back to the Father, and fulfill prophecies in ways many never foresaw.

Answer 10

The only reason Christians still cling to the Hebrew Bible is to claim authenticity. Without it, Christianity has no validity. The entire Christian Bible was written in order to gather converts and to make their religion accessible to everyone. How many Romans do you think Paul could have converted if they were required to be circumcized and live by the 613 Jewish commandments?

The Tanach (Old Testament) is about the relationship between God and His holy people, Israel. Other nations are not bound by the Jewish covenant -- they all have a share in the afterlife by following the seven Noahide laws.

All this would have worked out very nicely if they hadn't decided to destroy those wicked Jews who refused to convert.
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Answer 11

Yes, Jesus said he didn't come to abolish the law... and in the next few words he PREDICTED that the law would cease to be operative... Wow, you posted MOST of verse 18 but LEFT OUT THE PREDICTION!!! THAT IS INTELLECTUALLY DISHONEST!

Jesus said he didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. (Matt 5:17) The effect was the same. Once fulfilled it was no longer in effect. The very next verse, Matthew 5:18, looks forward to the time when the law would be set aside. "...Not even the smallest stroke of a pen will disappear from the Law UNTIL EVERYTHING IS COMPLETED." This “UNTIL” clause reinforces the temporary nature of the law. It ONLY makes sense when we understand that it was TEMPORARY!

Since you are MISQUOTING SCRIPTURE and TRYING TO MISLEAD PEOPLE with your FALSE ASSERTIONS, here is a CORRECT POSTING of the paragraphs from Matthew 5:

17 “Do not think I have come to get rid of what is written in the Law or in the Prophets. I have not come to do that. Instead, I have come to give full meaning to what is written. 18 What I’m about to tell you is true. Heaven and earth will disappear before the smallest letter disappears from the Law. Not even the smallest stroke of a pen will disappear from the Law UNTIL EVERYTHING IS COMPLETED.
19 “Do not break even one of the least important commandments. And do not teach others to break them. If you do, you will be called the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. Instead, practice and teach these commands. Then you will be called important in the kingdom of heaven.

Ephesians 2:15 Through his body on the cross, Christ put an end to the LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS AND RULES. He wanted to create one new group of people out of the two. He wanted to make peace between them.

Colossians 2:14 He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

Galatians 2:16 ...No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.

Galatians 2:21 ...What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Galatians 5:4 Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. You have been separated from Christ. You have fallen away from God’s grace... The ONLY verse that talks about falling from grace, and they did it by trying to follow the law!

On the cross, Jesus' last recorded saying, "It is finished," is an important milestone. Because of Jesus life, Satan had been defeated. The law was finished and would no longer stand between God and mankind.

The 10 commandments along with the rest of the law ("commands and rules" from Ephesians 2:15) were "set aside" when they were fulfilled or completed at Jesus' resurrection. We are NO LONGER bound by that law.