When we choose to take the Bible seriously, it's hard to ignore the Old Testament. At least, it should be. After all, the Old Testament makes up almost 3/4 of the Bible in terms of total word count. It also covers thousands of years of recorded history, whereas the New Testament centers almost exclusively on the decades surrounding the life of Jesus and the birth of the church.

One of the obstacles that often prevents modern Christians from engaging the Old Testament more deeply is confusion regarding the level of authority it carries in our lives.


Many Christians are trained even as children that the Old Testament was for the Israelites -- God's chosen people who lived and worshiped Him before the arrival of Jesus.

According to this line of thinking, the Old Testament does not have much to say to modern Christians. In other words, many people believe the Old Testament is old and obsolete. Those who follow Jesus are bound by the New Testament -- the new covenant -- not the old.

As we'll see, such teaching is almost true, but it ultimately falls short. In reality, modern followers of Christ have much to gain from reading, engaging, and obeying the laws of the Old Testament.

Two Kinds of Laws

One of the reasons Christians often feel confused about the Old Testament laws is that some of them seem reasonable and helpful for modern life, yet others are way off the charts toward unreasonable.

The 10 Commandments, for example, have been viewed positively for centuries; they remain an important foundation for behavior today. After all, who can argue with such eminently practical commands as "You shall not murder" and "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife"?

There are many other Old Testament laws, however, that have clearly been ignored for centuries. For example:

Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
Leviticus 19:19

Certainly the second part of that law would wreak havoc among the modern fashion industry. But why do Christians feel justified in ignoring such a seemingly trivial law, yet insist on following others -- such as the prohibition against homosexuality in Leviticus 18?

We need to understand there are two types of laws in the Old Testament. Specifically, there are "moral laws" and "ceremonial laws."

The ceremonial laws in the Scriptures are commands that relate to ritual cleanness or uncleanness among the Israelites. Part of God's relationship with the Israelites involved His presence dwelling in the midst of the people -- specifically in the tabernacle and the temple. For that reason, God required that individuals keep themselves ceremonially clean in order to approach His presence. This need for cleanness applied to occasions such as skin diseases, blood flow, clean and unclean foods, and so on. When a person was unclean, he or she had to leave the camp in order to avoid tarnishing God's presence; that person also had to perform specific rituals (and in some cases offer sacrifices) in order to be declared "clean" and return to the camp.

Looking at our examples above, the prohibition against making clothes with two types of fabric is an example of a ceremonial law. God's people were to be ceremonially set apart and pure. Wearing clothes containing only one type of material was a ceremonial representation of purity.

The moral laws of the Old Testament included commands that were connected to sinful practices. These laws reflected the character of God Himself -- they helped the Israelites understand what was right and wrong. The 10 Commandments are all part of God's moral law, for example. So are the laws prohibiting adultery, homosexuality, murder, and so on.

Moral and Ceremonial Laws Today

We know from the Gospels that Jesus' death and resurrection has fulfilled -- but not replaced -- the Old Testament laws. Jesus told us that:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17-18

So, we can say that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection fulfilled the ceremonial laws because it made us clean in God's sight. We are able to approach God and stand in His presence because we have received the righteousness of Jesus.

In fact, in a vivid word picture, the apostle Paul wrote that, when God looks upon someone who has experienced salvation, He no longer sees any hint of our sin. That's because He sees only the righteousness of Jesus, as if we are wearing Christ as a robe that covers over our sinfulness:

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27

What all of this means on a practical level is that modern Christians no longer observe the ceremonial law in order to become ceremonially clean in God's presence. We have been made permanently clean because of Jesus.

The same is true when it comes to the moral law -- to a point. The Israelites of the Old Testament made several different kinds of sacrifices in order to receive forgiveness for their sins. This process is known as atonement -- the shedding of blood removed the guilt and penalty of sin in order for people to once again enjoy a relationship with God.

The moral law was important because it helped the Israelites recognize what thoughts and actions were sinful, and therefore required atonement. Things are different for modern Christians, however, because we no longer worry about making atonement for individual sins. Instead, Jesus' death and resurrection has paid the price for all sin -- everything we have done wrong and everything we will do wrong has been paid for by the blood of Christ.

This change in our status is one of the primary themes in the Book of Hebrews, including this passage:

¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:12-14

Should We Or Shouldn't We?

Back to the original question for this article: Are modern Christians required to obey the laws of the Old Testament?

When it comes to the ceremonial laws, the answer is no. We are no longer made spiritually clean through rituals and ceremonies. Instead, the only way we can approach God is by receiving the righteousness of Christ through the blessing of salvation.

The moral laws are more complicated, however. In one sense, we are no longer required to follow the moral law in order to receive forgiveness from our sin. As mentioned above, all of our sins have been forgiven because of the atoning work of Jesus on the cross.

In another sense, however, the moral laws still reflect the character of God Himself. Therefore, they are still important for modern-day Christians. That's because they teach us what God considers to be sin -- what thoughts, actions, and attitudes represent a rebellion against His will.

In other words, if something is labeled as a sin in the Old Testament as part of God's moral law, then chances are good it will be a sin in today's world. This is especially true if the law in question is repeated or affirmed in the New Testament.