Should Christians Obey the Old Testament Law - An Unbiased View

Do we follow the Old Testament Laws? Some Christians claim that the Law of Moses does not apply today while others whole harder proclaim “we follow the Torah,” which is right? Is there a difference between the moral law vs ceremonial law. Maybe we should obey the moral law but not the ceremonial law. In this video we take an unbiased look at what the Bible says about obeying the Ten Commandments and the other aspects of the Law of Moses.

Video Chapters
00:00 Should Christians Obey the Old Testament Law?
00:46 Some commandment that dont apply to us today
01:36 The Covenant Contains the Ten Commandments
02:11 God made His covenant with Israel
04:08 God's Covenant was conditional
05:28 Israel didn't keep the covenant
06:47 God makes a New Covenant
08:00 Jesus brings the New Covenant into effect
10:18 Moral Law vs Ceremonial Law
13:36 Christians are not under the Law of Moses

[gysgtholpp]

Oh by the way the Ten Commandments are at the delight to keep not a burden.

[jonathanssali]

You bless me. I almost lost track when someone started dividing The law and making me think I was still under the Moral law. God bless you my brother

[timhamlin]

I really enjoy your teaching. Thanks for taking the time to do this

[genewileyopa]

Marty has a great way of explaining the Bible.

[_Mordion_]

Hello neighbor! I've been following you for a long time and I love all your videos on your channels. I even modeled my chicken coop after yours lol! This is going to be a long post but I wouldn't take the time to make it if I didn't care. I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I mean it in love and I hope you receive it the same.

What you're preaching isn't an uncommon gospel. In fact, its the most common belief in the most widespread religion in the world and spans across hundreds of denominations. Its called dispensationalism which is just repackaged Zionism for the goyim. The same people following this doctrine are very much encouraging Americans to be open to the idea of sending their children to die for the govt. of modern Israel which is not the regathered biblical Israel. That takes place much later. If we're to be on a narrow path that few will find, I'm sorry to say Martin, this isn't it. This doctrine is a huge highway with millions rushing down it. Its very easy to shoot down if you make your heart a clean slate and approach the scripture without looking at it through a lens of prior dispensational teaching. Nearly all of the results you get in google when searching for biblical information come from dispensational teachers. This is by design. Speaking from experience after living in 30+ years of dispensational preaching. Its a false gospel brother and I pray you can humble yourself and take another look. Understanding scripture requires us to humble ourselves and clear out all the leaven (ie. prior teaching) from our minds and just hear God's word with a fresh understanding.

Modern people have a hard time understanding Paul because they don't understand the culture at the time, the doctrines that were taught, nor the people involved. We hear his words with American ears and an American understanding which causes a lot of misunderstanding. Even people of that time period had a hard time understanding Paul which is why Peter warns about this (2 Peter 3:16). This has led to modern dispensationalism which I'm sorry to say, is very flawed and unbiblical. For instance, when Paul speaks negatively about the law, he's almost always referring to the oral man-made law (now called the Talmud), not God's law. In the verses people use to justify eating unclean, Paul isn't even talking about food, he's talking about man-made ceremonial washing rituals from the oral law that the jews practiced prior to eating. He's not giving us a pass to eat what God previously declared to be unclean. Also in the Hebrew context, the word "food" was understood to only mean that which was clean. So if the word food is used in the bible, we can always translate that to mean that which God has declared to be good for us to eat, not whatever a person -could- eat. This is just one example among many but suffice to say, almost all of what Paul spoke has been very misunderstood.

To make matters worse, people don't understand the new covenant. They think the old covenant was with the father who was a big meanie and the new covenant is with Jesus who wears flannel, eats bacon, drives a Chevy, wears a Trump hat, and has a lifetime NRA membership. In reality, it was Christ all along. In fact, the new covenant isn't even meant for gentiles. The new covenant is plainly written to reconcile the descendants of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah who broke the old covenant through idolatry. You see, its always been a marriage covenant. Under God's own law a man cannot remarry an adulterous wife once he has divorced her (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). By Yeshua dying on the cross, becoming the blood sacrifice for that sin among all others and becoming a new creation in the resurrection, he made a way for a new covenant with the formerly adulterous wife by washing away that sin. This is what it means by "not according to" the old covenant in the verse below because that covenant was broken and a new one was necessary according to God's law.

The new covenant:
[Jer 31:31-33 KJV] 31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Now as you can see in the new covenant, aside from it being a new marriage contract and the law not being written on stone but on our hearts, the law is still the center of it. The husband is Christ and the wife is Israel. Notice it doesn't say the church...? That's because where dispensationalism incorrectly asserts that the church is distinct from Israel, the bible shows them to be one in the same. If you want to abide in Messiah, then you get grafted into the tree of Israel and are part of the marriage covenant. Christ doesn't have two wives. Christ went out of his way to emphasize that he did NOT come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. This gets confusing because English speakers don't even understand this word in their own language let alone the original Greek word that was used. (Fulfill - Strong's G4137: to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally.) If you're still skeptical, lookup the word used for "abolish" and contrast it. In other words, in no way did he get rid of, remove, or make it obsolete but instead he made it full, caused it to abound and supplied it liberally. See the huge contrast..? He did accomplish the law of course, but we're also told to live as he lived and he lived according to it.

Unless personal bias blocks your understanding there is really no denying this. We are to live according to God's laws and they are not burdensome. Is it really hard to not murder, to just rest for a day and devote that day to Him, to not take his name in vain, etc.? When asked what the greatest commandment is, Yeshua responds with, "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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." The modern church thinks this means we can arbitrarily decide what "love" looks like which has led to things like LGBT churches. God is love right...? The modern church really isn't too much different from the LGBT church. They both say we get to decide what love looks like rather than carefully observing how God has taught us to love both Him and each other. God has a framework for love that he has already clearly laid out in the 10 commandments. Modern Christians don't even realize that he was quoting the old testament..

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
Leviticus 19:18 "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."


Its no wonder that in the 10 commandments, the first 4 are how to love God and the rest are how to love your neighbor. The law is very much alive and well and its a great blessing to us, not a curse. Only the condemnation of the law was a curse but THAT was indeed nailed to the cross if we are in Messiah. Christ observed God's holy feast days, the sabbath, he lived according to the law and if we are to live as he lived, then we can't ignore these facts.

[1Jo 2:6-7 KJV] 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

[curtisharlan]

🎉yes sir we need to follow the 10 commandments

[claireusilton]

Very interesting. Never heard the law explained this way before. Got to mull this over a bit. Makes sense though and it would answer my question about - has the sabbath changed from Sat to Sun? 👍🏻

[jawjuh]

Thank you so much. That was a great explanation! Question. I have fretted over Matt 5:17-19 for so long. I certainly don’t want myself or any Deciple of Christ to be least in the kingdom of heaven. I’ve tried to answer the question what laws is He talking about in this passage that I should not break or teach anyone else to break. Any chance you could help clear that up for me? How does that mesh with your teaching today? Thank you in advance.

[reneeupdike]

What a great analogy of the old law and the new law with the pre-Revolutionary War and the new US! Thank you for making this for me to be able to understand. Thank you for creating this channel.

[herbertsherman]

i was raised Catholic, , but have not been to church in a while. my wife was Baptist, but also have not been to church. we both are religious and watch religious shows and talk about the bible. my question is, do I pray to God which I have all my life, or do I pray to Jesus? my wife always says, In Jesus name we pray.

[dwightr]

I was raised in a Catholic Church ⛪️ and School 🏫, but never baptized because my parents wanted me to make that decision as an informed adult. As an adult I studied and then was baptized in the Baptist Church which I attended for many years. The Baptist Church ⛪️ I most recently attended decided to leave the SBC and the Inspired Word of God, and decided to join the Inspired Word of Satan and go totally Woke especially with regard to sexual depravity. The Preacher himself fell into sexual depravity with church members, which led to my leaving that church and also a divorce.

I’ve been studying numerous Christian churches and Christian faiths, but find conflict and controversy not only between the faiths, but also within the faiths and the churches, which is why I feel church attendance has drastically dropped across all Christian Faiths/Groups/Churches.

I also find deep controversies between which Bible to use.

After much praying and deep thought and research I’ve settled on the ESV Bible.

I pray daily asking God to enlighten me on which Christian Faith and Church to trust that will adhere solely to the Word of God and not to the Word of Satan. I haven’t found that Church yet, but i believe the Lord has directed me to YouTube where I’ve been able to learn more than in 8 years in Catholic school, and many more years of listening to preachers in various churches.

I find your channel to be one of the better channels especially with your Bible references which I do look up. The icing on the cake is your use of the ESV Bible which I find to be the best English translation Bible available and is now my go to Bible.

May God bless you in continuing your work on YouTube in preaching/teaching the words of the Bible as inspired by God…!

[KHayes]

I'm not comfortable with a number of these interpretations, as a Christian who teaches in a mixed christian-jewish context. And I immediately have to challenge "unbiased" here, not in a begrudging manner but I'm hoping a constructive one. We are very quick to believe Paul, with his more greek-like prose to not also have been a superiorly trained Pharisee but just a westernized Jesus follower- he might as well be Baptist. Similarly to his Lord and the Rabbi of the disciples, the eastern perspective is critically important in understanding Pauline literature. Early church literature like the Didache points to very early adherence by the church to the jewish laws, so I think claiming it's not applicable to Christians doesn't hold up and has led to all kinds of abuses. For the sake of discussion, look at Christ's teaching on fulfilling the law. Matthew 13:17-19 and let's note some things.

Abolish and fulfill. This was a rabbinic idea, so search this " abolish fulfill rabbinic". Multiple sources will describe, fulfill is all about proper interpretation with how you live it out. Abolishing is misinterpreting with your life. We know Jesus lived a perfect life, he walked out the "works of the law", ergon-nomos, (greek), (MIQSAT MA'ASAY HATORAH, hebrew) perfectly. But the law can't go away, then as we are also called to walk as Jesus did... what does Paul say of the law, that it was a tutor, our gaurdian? That word is paidagōgos,  the idea being it's saving the inheritance until the recipient comes of age. It's preserving the truth of God's word until Christ can come. And he has. And fulfilled Torah. And the truth is still truth... and will be. "...untill heaven and earth disappear", which is when? Let's not conflate the law with the old covenant, here. The law's truths are irrevocable. For those struggling, maybe look into the jewish understanding of the 10 phrases, Magnify has a great set of videos on this. And the covenant- well, when God enters covenants and secures them himself, when does the covenant fail? With Abraham, he secured both sides of the covenant himself. With Israel, when they failed, he restored them in spite of it to keep his covenant and allow the Messiah to come. As Christ, he lived out a new covenant fulfilling Torah. These are additive- nothing "obsolete" there as I mentioned in a previous video, that's not a great translation. It's certainly old, worn out and weathered which is a better understanding.

The total observance of Torah was always debated, as to how one walks out the law when say, there are contradictions (like Jesus demonstrates on the sabbath), even into Jesus day and he sides with the rabbinic teachings of several well-respected teachers of the time. If this sounds familiar- "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole of Torah (the Law), the rest is commentary. Now go and study." It's because Jesus referenced Rabbi Hillel in stating his 2 greatest commandments. Counter to the school of Hillel was the school of rabbi Shammai, which contested many different interpretations of Torah within his school. Jesus aligned with both on different occasions. And historically, we know these much more hardlined literalist Shammai jews settled in this area of Galatia that Paul would eventually have to convince the gentiles thereabouts of not to become jews for the societal benefits or because the judaizers wanted them to. The covenant doesn't require it now in Christ for gentiles. Now, for Israel? They have broken the law, but has God divorced or disowned them? No. To say so is to ignore Jesus did his ministry in front of the pharisees for 3 years- why? Or that the early church was a sect of judaism at the start. Or that his followers took the word to the synagouges first. First to for the nation of Israel, then the gentiles. And just like Jesus, Paul and the others, they still taught the full inspired word with all authority.

We do a huge disservice to the jewish and messianic populations thinking we know their context better than them as we read the new testament. It's embarrassing, the stories I hear of believers quoting Paul back to Jews who understand the context better than Christians do! God still has a unique expression for them to live out- if they come to Christ by your loving explanation of how he is a better fulfillment of that covenant, even better! Understand the onus of bridging the gap with the gospel is on us to respect the cultures we take it into though, the cross of Christ has been a hate symbol for hundreds or thousands of years in many parts of the world because of what Christendom did earlier in history. Understand that needs reconciled. And I challenge you many of the precepts we have in our faith, doctrines we grew up with were written from people with very twisted worldviews- crusaders, antisemitic priests and monks. It should cause us to question where we stand and if we are doing our due diligence to intake the text in the fullness of it's context. If not for the Spirit, it's a wonder how anything in the Kingdom would get done, thank His graciousness for that.

[cherisefabusuyi]

So what are the laws of the new covenant in your opinion

[bpdm]

I have heard people seperate the 10 commandments versus the law of Moses. As if one is better than the other. But Jesus proclaims the 2 greatest commandments which are not part of the 10. This is the same command that John speaks about in his letter and Paul mentions how the law can be summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself. The reality is that it is impossible to keep all 613 because some were for certain types of people: male, female, priest, etc. Even more so, there is no temple to keep many of the laws. Jesus’ yoke (interpretation of Torah) is easy and light and is summed up in the greatest commandments. The reality is, as gentile Christian’s we like to do our own thing and we find verses to justify it. Speaking of the new covenant, what law (Torah) would the hearers of Jeremiah think about when Jeremiah mentions of the coming of the new covenant. It will be interesting when Jesus returns and teaches us His ways and the law (Torah) will go forth from Zion. Imagine the people in the age to come telling Jesus that they don’t want to keep the feast of tabernacles because they were told that it was done a way with and because we are under a new covenant. As a result they don’t get rain and they are protesting that it was wrong for Jesus to punish them for a law that has been abolished (Zech 14:14-19) Just a thought. Keep up the great videos that you are doing. As a follower of Jesus it’s important to have these types of discussions.

[brandonharris]

Good afternoon from Lone Grove Oklahoma, my friend

[kylemoseley]

I have a question what if you was circumcised as a baby do you have to keep the law would that person be considered falling from Grace I'm just curious

[nicolehanshaw]

Does anyone know if this is king James bible that he is reading from

[laurenlaurenzo]

Can you explain why it says FEW will enter the kingdom of God?

[andrewwalkerscotland]

Where are the commandments reiterated in NT? Jesus explains the Golden Rule - loving your neighbour as yourself - encompasses all the commandments. And in Matthew 21 he talks about adultery and murder. Is there anywhere else, am I missing something?

[Wherethetruthis]

I teach Bible study on FB, could you give me the limitations in your opinion of a female teaching m