First and foremost, thank you for visiting my site. I am proud to inform you that the Biblical law of the New Testament and The Old Testament are one in the same. Not as the popular Christian doctrine will describe it. It is a pesky rumor that the two central collections of documents are separate because of two distinct persons, Moses and Christ. The two testaments built and relied on each other, and they still do. However, most people are caught up in this useless understanding that the entire old law is nullified by Christ coming. Not quite so. Though some of the commandments cannot be implemented today we can still practice a good 85% of the Law of Moses.
Christ himself also said that he is not coming to destroy but to fulfill the Law of Moses Matthew 5:17. That being said we must focus on trying to understand, and implement the different standards of that law. In this article I will give you a breakdown of the Commandments of Moses alongside Christ’s evolution of it.
Law of Moses can be separated into eight sections.
- Civil Law
- Ceremonial Law
- Sexual Law
- Disciplinary Law
- Dietary Law
- Sanitation Law
- Spiritual Law.
These eight categories of the commandments are all important and still in effect today. The differences between the old and the New Testament are few. The coming of Christ had created some much-needed modifications to the original eight umbrella laws. First Christ’s sacrifice gave us a new tabernacle, and a new sin offering. This particular change amplified the spiritual nature of the old rules. Since these sections of the commandments are time consuming to explain, I will briefly summarize them in this article and elaborate on them individually later.
Civil
Among the most ignored aspects of the biblical standards are the civil standards. These rules are like our government regulations we have established today. They are designed to make sure that everyone is respected, cared for, punished and rewarded accordingly. These rules are similar to traffic, criminal and court regulations. It specifically deals with taxes, usury, payments, Slavery/employment, certifications, livestock and gardening. It is also about handling war, property, serving the king and the ranks of individuals in society. Exodus: 21-24.
Ceremonial
The Ceremonial laws govern the Biblical holidays, types of animal offerings, priestly duties and decorations of the temple. Unfortunately, a majority of these rules aren’t absolutely necessary to do today since there is no physical temple of The Highest God anymore. However, we can still practice the Biblical feast requirements. Christ death and resurrection has directly affected this umbrella law since prayer replaces the animal offerings and a baptism replaces the temple. Nonetheless the holidays can still be practiced. Leviticus 23
Sexual
Nowadays there really isn’t a sexual rules in place. People have this notion that they can have sex with whoever and whenever they want. Except that modern society has laws against child sexual abuse and incest. Aside from that, our modern restrictions do not compare to the Biblical sexual ordinances. The Biblical sexual law governs who we can and cannot marry. It is against types of incest, bestiality, divorce and prostitution. Leviticus 18. It also explains how we should go through the marriage process.
Dietary Law
Modern society doesn’t have much of a dietary rules in place. However, we are accustomed to using a nutritional food pyramid that can include any type of food as long as it contains the necessary nutrients our body needs. Of course, we should not eat harmful chemicals. The biblical dietary law is different in the way that it goes through the animal kingdom and separates healthy animals from unhealthy animals ideal for the human diet. There’s no particular issue with plants though, we know that there are poisonous plants we shouldn’t eat. The strict nature of this law makes many Christians uncomfortable. Leviticus 11.
Sanitation
Sanitation is extremely important for any society to flourish. Our modern hospitals, households and food service stores all adhere to strict sanitation regulations. The biblical sanitation law is very similar to the standards that we are used to. Washing your hands, bathing regularly and quarantines started in Israelite culture before they influenced the rest of the world. However, the biblical sanitation standards not only deals with hygiene, it addresses types of illnesses, dirty food and medicines. Exodus 19:10.
Spiritual
Spirituality is a wonderful thing for most cultures. Many people are attracted to the mystery of the spiritual and the messages we can receive from it. Other cultures have magicians, Fourtine tellers and witches. Likewise, biblical spirituality is much more basic than the most well known forms. It is based on how well you live your life according to The Highest Gods commands. Those who are great at it will experience new spiritual gifts and those who aren’t good at just won’t experience anything. The biblical spiritual rules deal with worshiping other gods, idolatry, astrology, sorcery, mediumship, angels, demons, death, life, hell and heaven. Deuteronomy 18:10.
Moral Law
The moral law is also a basic attribute of the entire law. It is a simple summarization of the entirety of the law’s above. It basically explains the simplicity of what The Highest God requires of us. The first ten commandments are the foundation of the moral standard which is only understood if we continue learning about the standards of those laws. Many Christians like to live their lives based on the morals themselves, not realizing that they have little understanding of how to implement the biblical morals. Exodus 20:12-20.
Disciplinary Law
People who do bad things should get a punishment. This set of laws are the end result of what someone deserves if they break any of the commandments above. There are death penalty laws, banishment laws, whipping laws and payment laws. These are the main four types of punishments we would expect in the Old Testament. This law is the most intimidating of all of them because we see pain and brutality. These days people are just exiled from society whereas Israelites dealt with the issue immediately. However, since we are living in the New Testament Christ made it “illegal” for anyone to severely judge someone and execute the brutal punishments anymore. We are influenced to help one another more than judging and punishing. Exodus 21:12.
Conclusion
The Biblical laws are not difficult to keep. In fat they’re easier to follow than the multiple laws we adhere to today. However, the biblical standards seem hard because it is perpetuated through a different cultural norm. If one approaches the law as if they were moving to another country, it will be easier to grasp. It’s simple Think of heaven as a new place you’d like to visit, but in order to get there you have to study about the culture that governs heaven.
Christ is the reason why the biblical culture became slightly easier to practice to some degree and slightly harder in others. I will write about the changes Christ made and how they apply to these laws in a later post but for now I hope that this summary helps you understand the functionality of the biblical law.