"Law" in the New Testament
The law of God is a reflection of His character, will and purpose, it is therefore eternal. Jesus came to reveal the essence of the law to us, so let's examine what the New Testament has to say about the law and summarise the main points to get a better understanding of how we are to approach the law under the New Covenant.
The Law in the Gospels
Below is a summary of the main points which Jesus makes regarding the Law:
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Jesus did no come to abolish the Law
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Jesus came to fulfill (“πληρόω”- “pléroó”: to make full, to complete) the Law
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Nothing will pass away from the Law until everything is accomplished (“γίνομαι“ - “ginomai”: to come into being, to happen, to become)
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The one who breaks and teaches others to break any commandment will be called least in the kingdom of heaven
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The one who practices and teaches others to keep the commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven
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To enter the kingdom of heaven your righteousness has to exceed keeping the letter of the law
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The essence of the Law is to do to others as you would have them to do to you
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Workers of lawlessness will not enter the kingdom of heaven
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At the end of the age all who practice lawlessness will be weeded out of God’s kingdom and thrown into fiery furnace
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The first greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind
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The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself
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All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments
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The weightier matters of the Law are justice, mercy and faithfulness
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It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law
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Everything that is written about Jesus in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled
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The Scripture cannot be broken
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 I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
12 In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
40 As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. 42 And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
37 Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
16 The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
44 Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
46 And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
16 From His (Jesus’) fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
23 If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
2 Early in the morning He (Jesus) went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them. 3 The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them 4 and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?” 6 They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. 7 When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” 8 And again He bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”
34 Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?
As much as Paul has written about the Law, he will need his own page. For now we'll just list the main points Paul makes about the law in his letters:
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The main purpose of the law is to expose sin and to lead us to Christ
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Sin will be judged by the law
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Through faith in Christ under grace we become workers of righteousness and doers of the law
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Circumcision is a matter of the heart through faith expressed through love
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We are justified only by faith in Christ apart from our works of the law
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The law is not based on faith, but faith upholds the law
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The promise of redemption comes by faith and not through the law, so it can be guaranteed to all
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Walking in the Spirit fulfils the righteous standard of the law
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Flesh is contrary to the Spirit
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Love fulfils the law
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The righteousness of God is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ, bringing the end to righteousness by the law and reconciling jew and gentile
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Levitical priesthood was a shadow of the coming Messiah
James, John and the Law
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The one who continues to do according to the perfect law of freedom will be blessed in what he does
22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23 For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, 24 and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
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If you love your neighbor as yourself, you fulfil the royal law stated in Scripture
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If you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressor
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Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it
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Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom
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Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful
8 If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. 13 For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
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Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it
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If you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it
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There is only one Lawgiver and Judge
11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
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Sin is lawlessness
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No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning
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No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him
4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
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When we love God we keep His commandments
2 By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
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The dragon (Devil) will persecute the children of the woman (Israel) who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus
17 And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
12 Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Now we have an overview of what we can learn about the law from the New Testament, we’ll go into more depth and detail in further studies. For now we can get an idea how the law applies to us.
Other studies on the "Law":