Question: Do Christians Have to Keep the Law?

Descipleship

14For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace.

Romans 6:14

Christians are not under the law (Romans 6:14). This applies in general and does not depend on how the law is used – that is, whether it is seen as a means of justification or as a guideline for life. It is also irrelevant whether one wishes to differentiate between the type of regulations – i.e., whether the commandments are moral or ceremonial.

The law is the law! Anyone who thinks they have to tithe must also keep the Sabbath. And anyone who believes that the Sabbath is binding for Christians must also bring a sin offering. There is no way around this. Those who place themselves under the law must keep the whole law and are also under the curse of the law because no one can keep it (James 2:10; Galatians 3:10).

We Christians are not under the law – and so you might think that the law has nothing more to say to us Christians. But that is not true. Many passages prove that the law has a great deal to speak to us Christians (1 Cor 9:9; 14:34; 2 Cor 8:15, etc.). But we do not follow it like the people of Israel did.

An example may make this point clearer: A widower in the 19th century has a housekeeper to whom he writes down 300 rules: How the egg should be cooked and much more. One day, he falls in love with this woman and marries her. The list of 300 points is no longer there to be ticked off. Because this woman will now do more out of love than is prescribed. However, the list of 300 points still shows how the master of the house thinks. But it no longer regulates the basis of the relationship because a loving relationship has replaced the working relationship. The woman keeps the list, but she no longer works through it as a servant. This is comparable to Christians and their relationship to the Mosaic Law.

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