I have been asked several times in the past few months if we as Christians are required to keep the Mosiac Laws of Ordinances which total 613 found in the Torah. They are traditionally broken down into 365 negative ones and 248 positive ones. To respond as clearly as I can, I referred back to a summary I wrote about 20 years ago. I am sharing it here today, hoping to address this issue as best that I can.
The 365 negative laws that were against us was nailed to the cross of Christ and abolished. And the 248 positive ones were later reaffirmed under the new covenant through the Ten Commandments also referred to as the "Royal Law" as spoken of in James 2:8.
The Ten Commandments were the only Laws that were written by the finger of God in stone and handed down to Moses to give to the people. By writing the Commandments in stone was a way of illustrating that they were eternally unchangeable.
The Mosiac Laws of Ordinances on the other hand were not written in stone indicating that they could in the future be erased or abolished, as the 365 were in fact discarded as they were described as being against us in Colossians 2:14.
The laws given through Moses under the Old Covenant included moral, ceremonial, and civil commandments.
The moral law is seen most clearly in the Ten Commandments:
Exodus 20:3–17 (KJV excerpts)
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above...
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain...
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour thy father and thy mother...
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Thou shalt not covet...”
These were spoken directly by God and written on stone.
Exodus 25:16 (KJV)
“And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.”
Exodus 34:28 (KJV)
“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And God wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”
These tablets were placed inside the Ark.
Deuteronomy 31:26 (KJV)
“Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”
This “book of the law” contained ordinances, statutes, and regulations written by Moses.
So scripture distinguishes:
The law was given to reveal sin and lead people toward redemption.
Romans 3:20 (KJV)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Galatians 3:24 (KJV)
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The law exposes wrongdoing but cannot save.
Yeshua HaMashiach fulfilled the law’s purpose.
Matthew 5:17 (KJV)
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
He fulfilled:
Colossians 2:14 (KJV)
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”
This refers to regulations and ordinances that stood against humanity.
Ephesians 2:15 (KJV)
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”
The ordinances were removed as barriers and fulfilled in Yeshua HaMashiach.
Hebrews 8:13 (KJV)
“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Galatians 2:16 (KJV)
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua HaMashiach... for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
Romans 6:14 (KJV)
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Believers are now under the law of Yeshua HaMashiach.
Galatians 6:2 (KJV)
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
(This refers to the law fulfilled and taught by Yeshua HaMashiach.)
James 2:8 (KJV)
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.”
Matthew 22:37–40 (KJV)
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV)
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel... I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”
Romans 8:3–4 (KJV)
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son...
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
1 John 5:21 (KJV)
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
Romans 13:9 (KJV)
“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal... and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Hebrews 13:4 (KJV)
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
John 14:15 (KJV)
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Galatians 5:1 (KJV)
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.”
(This liberty is given through Yeshua HaMashiach.)
The Mosaic Law served a divine purpose for Israel under the Old Covenant. Its ceremonial and civil ordinances were temporary and prophetic, pointing toward Yeshua HaMashiach. These were fulfilled and removed through His death and resurrection.
The Ten Commandments reflect God’s eternal moral nature, but under the New Covenant they are written on the heart through the Spirit rather than enforced as external ordinances.
Believers are no longer under the Mosaic covenant but under the law of Yeshua HaMashiach and the Royal Law of love, walking in obedience through the Spirit rather than the letter.
Lifepointe Church
A True Sabbath-Keeping
Non-Denominational Fellowship of God's Own People