A common question at a community event or over coffee is, “Do Christians still follow Old Testament laws?” It is a fair question. Christians read the Old Testament as God’s Word, yet most do not offer animal sacrifices, avoid shrimp, or wear tassels on their clothes. So what changed?
The short answer is that Christians believe Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law and established a new covenant with God’s people. That does not mean the Old Testament is outdated, embarrassing, or irrelevant. It means its commands must be understood through the person, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Do Christians Still Follow Old Testament Laws?
Not in the same way Israel was commanded to follow them under the covenant God made through Moses.
The Old Testament Law was given to Israel after God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. It shaped them into a distinct people who worshiped the one true God in the middle of surrounding nations that did not. The Law addressed worship, sacrifices, food, clothing, farming, justice, family life, sexual conduct, care for the poor, and much more.
These laws were not random rules meant to make life difficult. They revealed God’s holiness, exposed human sin, protected the community, and pointed forward to a deeper rescue that people could not accomplish for themselves.
Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). To fulfill something is not to treat it as meaningless. It is to bring it to its intended goal. Christians believe Jesus did what no one else could do: He perfectly obeyed God, carried the consequences of sin at the cross, and opened the way for people to be made right with God through faith.
That is why the New Testament does not call Christians to recreate ancient Israel’s entire legal system. It calls them to follow Jesus.
Why Some Laws Are Not Practiced Today
The Bible does not place every Old Testament command in exactly the same category, although Christians often use helpful labels such as ceremonial, civil, and moral laws.
Ceremonial laws included sacrifices, priesthood requirements, ritual purity practices, and worship regulations connected to the temple. Christians do not continue animal sacrifices because Jesus is understood to be the final and sufficient sacrifice for sin. The book of Hebrews spends considerable time explaining this: the earlier sacrifices pointed ahead to Christ.
Israel’s civil laws addressed how the nation functioned in its particular land and historical setting. Rules about property boundaries, penalties, debt, and courts taught real principles of justice, but they were not handed to every modern government as a complete legal code.
Other commands reveal enduring truths about God’s character and the kind of life He calls His people to live. For example, Christians are still taught to reject idolatry, dishonesty, adultery, cruelty, greed, and murder. But even here, Christians do not simply pull a verse from Leviticus and apply it without context. They ask how Jesus and the apostles teach God’s people to understand and live out that truth under the new covenant.
The categories can be useful, but they are not a shortcut around careful reading. The Old Testament itself is one connected covenant story, and the New Testament helps Christians see how that story reaches its fulfillment in Jesus.
What About Food Laws and Circumcision?
Food laws are one of the clearest examples. Israel was told to avoid certain foods as part of its covenant identity and worship. In the New Testament, Jesus taught that what comes out of a person’s heart is what defiles them, and the early church recognized that non-Jewish believers were not required to keep Israel’s food laws.
This became especially important as people from many nations began following Jesus. In Acts 15, church leaders considered whether Gentile believers needed to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to belong to God’s people. Their answer was no. Salvation was not earned by becoming Jewish or by taking on the full Mosaic Law. It was received through the grace of the Lord Jesus.
That decision mattered then, and it still matters. No one needs to adopt a particular ethnic culture, diet, or religious checklist before coming to Christ. Jesus welcomes people from every background.
Does Grace Mean Christians Can Do Whatever They Want?
No. Grace is not permission to ignore God’s goodness or harm other people. It is God’s undeserved gift that forgives, restores, and changes us.
The apostle Paul strongly rejected the idea that forgiveness gives people a reason to keep choosing sin. Christians are not saved by rule-keeping, but saving faith is meant to produce a new kind of life. The New Testament speaks of the “law of Christ,” summed up in love for God and love for neighbor.
Jesus did not lower God’s moral vision. In many ways, He brought it closer to the heart. Anger can be the seed of murder. Lust can be adultery of the heart. Love is not merely avoiding obvious wrongdoing; it seeks the good of another person, including an enemy.
This is challenging because following Jesus is not less personal than following a list. It reaches our motives, relationships, words, money, sexuality, forgiveness, and use of power. Yet Christians are not left to manage this alone. The Holy Spirit helps believers grow in obedience, repentance, wisdom, and love.
What About the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments remain deeply important to Christians because they reveal God’s holiness and give a clear picture of faithful love: worship God alone, honor parents, tell the truth, do not murder, do not steal, and do not covet.
Still, Christians recognize that they read even the Ten Commandments through Jesus. The command about Sabbath rest is a good example. Christians agree that rest, worship, and trust in God matter. But they do not all agree on precisely how a weekly Sabbath should be observed, or whether Sunday practices directly replace Israel’s Saturday Sabbath. Faithful Christians have reached different conclusions.
That disagreement is a reminder to be humble. Not every question is as simple as saying, “Old Testament command equals modern rule.” Christians should hold tightly to what Scripture makes clear and show patience where sincere believers differ.
The Old Testament Still Matters
If Christians are not under the Mosaic Law as Israel was, why read the Old Testament at all?
Because without it, the story of Jesus makes far less sense. The Old Testament tells us who God is: holy, faithful, just, merciful, patient, and committed to rescuing people. It shows the seriousness of sin and the human inability to fix it through effort alone. Its promises, sacrifices, prophets, kings, and psalms all prepare us to understand Christ.
It also gives practical wisdom. The call to seek justice, care for the vulnerable, practice generosity, tell the truth, and honor God is not discarded. Christians do not obey these things to purchase God’s acceptance. They respond this way because they have received grace.
Reading the Old Testament well also protects us from caricatures of God. The God who showed mercy to the undeserving in the Old Testament is the same God revealed in Jesus. And Jesus, who welcomed sinners, also spoke seriously about sin, truth, judgment, and repentance. God’s love and holiness are not competing sides of His character.
A Better Question to Ask
Sometimes the question behind “Do Christians still follow Old Testament laws?” is more personal: “What does God expect from me?” Or, “Am I good enough for Him?”
The Christian answer is not that you must first master hundreds of commands, clean up every failure, or become someone else before you can approach God. Jesus invites people to come to Him honestly. He offers forgiveness and new life, then teaches His followers to walk with Him.
If you are sorting through these questions, you do not need to have every passage figured out before you begin. Bring your real questions. Read the Gospels. Look closely at Jesus. The heart of Christianity is not a confusing legal system. It is God’s invitation to know Him through His Son.
