Do You Need the Law?

Some people claim that the law of God that the Israelites were given on Mount Sinai is not the same law of God that applies to Christians today, while still others claim that no law at all is relevant for Christians today. In Romans, Paul writes to a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles who have had problems with certain Jews saying that salvation is by the law rather than by faith in Christ. Paul makes it clear that this is not the case, but notice that he simultaneously defends the keeping of the law:

Romans 2:10-12

But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Take careful consideration of what it says here: “as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.”

Perishing is what happens to you if you don’t inherit eternal life (John 3:16); therefore, we can easily conclude that the law is required for eternal life, since, as Paul says, if you live without it, then you also perish without it. Paul makes it obvious that we do not want to live “without the law,” because then we will “perish without the law.” Therefore we must be “under the law,” so that we will be “judged by the law.” But wait! Didn’t Paul also say in Galatians that we are not under the law?

Galatians 3:23-25

Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 

Keep in mind that Paul is writing to another mixed congregation here who is having a more severe problem with the same issue of whether to trust in the law or in Christ. Paul says that the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ. Now consider the analogy that Paul used. When it says, “we are no longer under a tutor,” it does not mean that we are no longer required to live as the law taught us to live. When you hire a tutor, you follow their instruction in order to learn what you need to learn. When you study on your own without the tutor, do you disregard what the tutor has taught you? NO! The law, our tutor, has taught us how we ought to live in order to please God, and now that faith has come through Christ, we have been given the ability to keep that law through God’s Holy Spirit living in us. According to the prophets, a central feature of the New Covenant is that the law will be written in our minds and on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27). So yes, there is a law in effect for Christians today. 

So... How do we know which law these scriptures refer to? What law did God promise to write on our hearts and minds? Just the 10 commandments? Or simply “love your neighbor as yourself,” or “be a good person and help others?” In view of the scriptures presented here, it is clearly seen that Paul is consistently discussing same law that the Jews were trying to exalt over Christ’s sacrifice – the law given in the Old Testament. If it were not so, then God would have made it a point to make this distinction somewhere in the New Testament, but this is nowhere to be found. The only reasonable conclusion is that the Old Covenant law that the Jews were wrongly ascribing salvation to is the same law that teaches us how to live in a way that pleases God. In the book of Hebrews, it is made clear that certain ceremonial components of the Old Covenant law (specifically the sacrifices and the laws concerning the priesthood) are now being fulfilled by Christ. It's not that these laws are no longer enforced, but rather Christ is our both our High Priest and the sacrifice for our sins, thus fulfilling them perpetually. Hebrews explicitly states what administrative changes in the law have been made, but we still must do our part to walk according to the law just as Christ walked according to the law. In fact, if we don't walk according to the commandments, then we don't even know Him.

1 John 2:3-6

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him… He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 

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• Unfulfilled Aspects of God's Law: Trumpets