(From dietary restrictions to Sabbath rules, the Bible’s laws can seem to be overwhelming, and the question of their relevance sparks debate among believers. Which Old Testament laws are Christians expected to follow?

The Reformed tradition offers a biblically grounded answer that avoids both the trap of legalism and the pit of lawlessness. Christians are freed from the law’s condemnation but called to embrace its moral instruction.

 

THREE TYPES OF LAW, THREE DIFFERENT ANSWERS

The key to understanding our relationship with Old Testament law lies in recognising Scripture has three distinct types of law. Each has its own purpose and application for Christians today.

Ceremonial Law: Fulfilled in Christ The ceremonial law encompassed the sacrificial system, temple worship, dietary restrictions, and ritual purity laws. These weren’t arbitrary rules but profound pictures pointing forward to Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

When Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled what every animal sacrifice had symbolised. When He rose from the dead, He accomplished what the temple ceremonies had foreshadowed. The writer of Hebrews makes this crystal clear: “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). But Christ “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:12).

This means Christians are no longer bound by ceremonial law. We don’t need to avoid shellfish or offer grain offerings because Christ has become our perfect offering.

Civil Law: Principles Remain, Applications Change As a theocratic nation, ancient Israel had a unique civil law. The laws covered everything from property disputes to criminal justice, designed for a specific people in a specific time and place.

While the specific applications don’t bind modern nations, the underlying principles of justice remain instructive. For instance, we’re no longer required to build parapets around our rooftops (Deuteronomy 22:8), but the principle of preventing harm to others through reasonable safety measures certainly applies.

In Reformed theology we call this “general equity”—the enduring moral principles embedded within time-bound applications.

Moral Law: Permanently Binding The moral law reflects God’s unchanging character and humanity’s fundamental duties. The Ten Commandments serve as its summary, addressing our relationships with God and neighbour.

Unlike ceremonial law, the moral law wasn’t a temporary picture pointing to something else. It’s the permanent expression of God’s will for human flourishing. Jesus affirmed this when He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). We’re to keep the moral law—not to earn salvation but to express gratitude. Not from fear but from love, not in our own strength but through the Spirit’s power.

 

HOW THE LAW FUNCTIONS: CALVIN’S THREE USES

John Calvin identified three ways the law works in God’s economy, helping us understand its ongoing relevance.

• First Use: To Mirror The law reveals our sin and drives us to Christ. Like a mirror showing us our flaws, the law exposes our failure to meet God’s perfect standard. “Through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). This use of the law continues throughout the Christian life, keeping us humble and dependent on grace.

• Second Use: To Restrain Even among unbelievers, the law restrains evil through conscience and consequence. This is why societies with biblical foundations tend toward greater justice and human flourishing. The law written on human hearts (Romans 2:15) works alongside civil authorities to maintain order.

• Third Use: To Guide Here’s where many Christians get confused. For believers, the law serves as a guide for grateful living. Not as a means of earning salvation—that would be legalism—but as instruction for how to love God and neighbour well.

The Psalmist captures this beautifully: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The law doesn’t save us, but it shows us how saved people live.

 

CHRIST: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING

Jesus is the interpretive key to the entire law. He fulfilled the ceremonial law through His sacrifice, making it obsolete. He perfectly kept the moral law in our place, freeing us from condemnation while establishing its righteousness in our lives.

This creates what theologians call the “already/not yet” tension. We’re already justified freely by grace, yet we’re being sanctified gradually through Spirit-empowered obedience to God’s moral will.

 

LIVING UNDER GRACE, WALKING IN OBEDIENCE

This framework transforms how we approach Christian living. We’re simultaneously free from the law’s curse and delighted by its instruction.

1. Freedom from Condemnation: Our standing before God doesn’t depend on law-keeping. Romans 8:1 declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This gives us unshakeable assurance.
2. Delight in God’s Ways: Yet grace doesn’t make us lawless. Instead, it makes us grateful law-keepers. The Ten Commandments become a framework for expressing love to God and neighbour. As Jesus summarized, the entire law hangs on loving God supremely and loving our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40).
3. Wisdom for Modern Life: The threefold division helps us navigate contemporary challenges. Ceremonial principles inform our worship practices without binding us to specific forms. Civil law principles guide our citizenship without requiring theocracy. Moral law addresses modern ethical issues with timeless truth.

 

OLD TESTAMENT LAWS: AVOIDING COMMON PITFALLS

The Reformed understanding guards against several dangerous errors:

Antinomianism says grace makes moral law irrelevant. This misses how the law guides grateful Christian living.

Legalism makes law-keeping contribute to salvation. This undermines the gospel of free grace.

The Reformed approach avoids both extremes. We’re neither bound by every Old Testament regulation nor free to ignore God’s moral will. Instead, we embrace the law as God’s gracious instruction for human flourishing.

The law serves as mirror, restraint, and guide—showing us our need for grace, maintaining order in society, and directing our grateful obedience. This isn’t burden but blessing, revealing how the God who saves us also sanctifies us.

 

OLD TESTAMENT LAWS: RELATED FAQs

What about the Sabbath commandment? Is it ceremonial law or moral law? Reformed scholars Richard Gaffin and Sinclair Ferguson argue the Sabbath principle is moral (one day in seven for rest and worship) while its specific timing is ceremonial. The shift from Saturday to Sunday reflects Christ’s resurrection and the new creation. Most Reformed churches teach that Christians should observe the Lord’s Day as a Sabbath, though they differ on how strictly to apply Old Testament restrictions.

• How do Reformed scholars view the relationship between natural law and biblical law? Reformed theologians David VanDrunen and Stephen Grabill emphasise God’s moral law corresponds to natural law written on all human hearts. This means the Ten Commandments don’t introduce entirely new obligations but clarify and specify what conscience already testifies. Biblical law provides the clearest expression of natural law, explaining why non-Christian societies often develop similar moral intuitions.
• Do food laws have any application for Christians today, or are they purely ceremonial? While Reformed scholars unanimously agree dietary laws are ceremonial and non-binding, some like Douglas Wilson suggest they may contain wisdom principles about health and self-discipline. However, the mainstream Reformed position, represented by scholars like Michael Horton, emphasises food laws primarily taught spiritual lessons about holiness and separation. Christians are free to eat all foods, though they may choose certain diets for health or stewardship reasons.
• What’s the Reformed view on capital punishment in light of Old Testament civil law? Contemporary Reformed scholars are divided on this issue. Some like Wayne Grudem argue Genesis 9:6 establishes capital punishment as a creation ordinance predating Mosaic law, making it permanently valid. Others like Christopher Marshall contend Christ’s fulfillment of the law transforms our approach to justice toward restoration rather than retribution. Most agree that while governments have authority to punish crime, the specific penalties in Mosaic law don’t directly bind modern states.

How do Reformed scholars handle apparent contradictions between Old Testament laws and New Testament teachings? Leading Reformed biblical theologians like Geerhardus Vos and Richard Gaffin emphasise progressive revelation—God revealed His will gradually throughout redemptive history. What appears contradictory often reflects different stages in God’s unfolding plan. For example, ceremonial laws weren’t contradicted by the New Testament but fulfilled, while moral laws were clarified and internalised. The key is understanding each law’s place in the broader story of salvation.

 

OLD TESTAMENT LAWS: OUR RELATED POSTS

• Moral Law Before Moses: How Did People Know Right from Wrong?
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