Has the Mosaic law been totally abolished?

[John Wilson]

I believe the Law was given to Jews because they were coming from slavery in Egypt. Their culture was infected by idolotry, paganism, and Egyptian sorcery. They were Jews as a race, but not anything close to religiously faithful. At every step they fell back to sin. They were more Egyptian than anything else.

God gave Moses the Law to give the Jews a guidebook for how to live and how to know God's will. They were spiritual babies. They knew less than nothing. The Law spelled out the standards God has set to be righteous. You cannot be totally righteous, you cannot fulfil the Law- but God tells us what that fulfillment would require.

Jesus did fulfil the Law. He is righteous. Then he paid for our sins under the Law and freed us from it. By faith we accept this gift.

I agree with Engin. Every act we commit is a work for God or a work against. Once we know what righteousness is we can no longer get a pass because of our ignorance.

Salvation is a choice we make one decision at a time.

[John Wilson]

Since this is a scriptural question, here is the scripture directly:

The purpose of the Law is not to justify anyone who follows it. The purpose of the Law is to teach us what is sin:

Romans 3:19-20 19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

...no flesh will be justified. Our righteousness, or salvation, does not come from being perfect in the letter of the Law.


People who trust in God instinctively follow the intent of the Law. Why? Because we do not seek to sin. That does not mean that we don't sin, obviously, just that we know better and we are to try to do better. Romans 1:19 supports this: "since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."

Romans 2 goes further in explaining how people who never received the Law still live by the meaning of the Law:

Romans 2:14-16 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.


I believe that the opening statement in Romans 2 is a very clear explanation of why we have the Law:

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?


The point is not to use the Law to condemn others. The purpose of having the Law is to know when we have failed to live up to God's standard for ourselves.

[Anthony Edens]

I wish we were in person to discuss this topic, because you keep emphasizing that we shouldn't use the law to judge others. That is not my intent in asking the question at all. I am genuinely seeking to know whether I am committing willful sin when/if I chose to eat pork/crab/shrimp/catfish? I have chosen to abstain from these foods at least until I can study more on the topic. From what you have brought to the discussion, it seems to support my belief that we should try to follow the law. Am I correct in discerning that?

[Ryan Thames]

There is a difference in judging to acknowledge what something is and to judge in the sense of condemnation.

[John Wilson]

I think it's a great question, Anthony. My answer is no, unless you are Jewish and living as a Jew then the Law is not yours.

I believe Christ fulfilled the Law and gave us all salvation through Faith. This applies to Jews, and for those Jews who accept Christ they are no longer bound by the Law, either. Jews who do not accept Christ only have the Law, since they do not have Christ and therefore no salvation through Him. For them there is only the Law. This can go on a tangent quickly, so I'll leave it there.

Paul says that what is sin for one may not be sin for another. There is no way to know what God has put in the heart of another. More that that, I believe the Law is about intent. I also believe that the Law as given to Moses is a great deal less than the Law found in Leviticus. I believe that the passages in Leviticus were put there because they applied to an ignorant people who had grown up in an Egyptian metropolis and were now living in the wilderness as clueless imbeciles. Leviticus is full of laws that taught them how to be sanitary, how to wash dishes, how to treat sick people. Much of it is a training manual on physical survival. It had its time and place. I do not believe these passages have anything to do with God's plan in your life and I believe they were added to Levitius as the means to govern at that time because the Law of scripture was the only Law of governance.

Jesus came and fulfilled the Law. He came AFTER the time in the desert. It was the next stage in God's plan for us. We as a people were ready for faith and not just rules. Spiritually, we had moved from children to adults. Children are taught HOW because they are not able to understand WHY.

Jesus changed our thinking from HOW to WHY. Without knowing HOW, there is no way to understand WHY. That is why the Law will never pass away, because without the Law how will you teach your children what sin is? HOW will they know you are teaching them correctly? They need God's rules to know.

As Paul said, how will they know unless they are taught? But learning does not stop with HOW, it must progess to WHY. WHY requires a relationship with God and inner searching because that WHY can be different for all of us depending on the mission or calling God puts in our hearts.

[Johnny Edwards]

Good post John.