Why Are Some Old Testament Laws Followed Today While Others Are Ignored?
1) Direct Answer
Because Jesus fulfilled the Law and brought in the New Covenant. The parts of the Old Testament that were shadows and rituals for Israel’s worship ended at the Cross, but the moral righteousness of God remains and is written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So we don’t “pick and choose”—we follow what the Bible itself carries forward in the New Testament and what it says has been fulfilled.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- “Think not that I am come to destroy the law… I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
- “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us… nailing it to his cross… Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday… or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:14-17).
- “The law having a shadow of good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1).
- “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24).
- The New Testament repeats God’s moral commands: “Thou shalt not commit adultery… kill… steal… bear false witness… covet… and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying… Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Romans 13:9).
- Concerning food laws: Jesus declared what enters the man does not defile him (Mark 7:18-19), and “every creature of God is good… sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4-5).
- Concerning sabbath days and feast days, the Scripture calls them “a shadow,” and says not to be judged in them (Colossians 2:16-17). Our true rest is entering into Christ (Hebrews 4:9-10; Matthew 11:28-29).
- Concerning circumcision: “He is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart” (Romans 2:29; see also Colossians 2:11).
- The apostles, by the Holy Ghost, laid only necessary things on Gentile believers (Acts 15:28-29), showing that the Mosaic ritual was not binding on the church.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
Now notice how the Bible itself makes the line clear:
- Temple/ceremonial laws (sacrifices, priesthood, feast days, dietary and purity rituals) were shadows pointing to Christ. When the Lamb of God came and shed His blood, the sacrifices and priestly system reached their fulfillment (Hebrews 10:1-14). To keep the shadow after the substance has arrived would deny the very fulfillment.
- Civil/national laws (land rules, penalties, kingship statutes) governed Israel as a nation. The church is not a political nation; our Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). We submit to civil authorities where we live (Romans 13:1-7), but the church does not enforce Israel’s state penalties.
- Moral law (God’s holy character—no idolatry, no murder, no adultery, no stealing, truthfulness, purity, love) never expires. The New Testament reaffirms and even lifts it higher—anger judged as murder in the heart, lust as adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:21-30). Under grace, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4). God writes His law on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
You see, it’s not three Gods and it’s not two Bibles. It’s one God unfolding His covenant. The shadow gives way to the substance, but the holy nature of God remains the same. That’s why we still reject sin but we don’t keep animal sacrifices, temple rituals, or feast-day obligations. Christ fulfilled them.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So the reason some Old Testament laws are kept and others are not is simple: the Bible says the shadows ended in Christ, and the New Testament repeats and deepens the moral commands. We’re not under the letter that kills, but under the Spirit who writes the law within and leads us to live holy.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Jehovah-Jireh
57-0612 §7
Now, the context... We'll have to go back now in the Old... Do you love the Old Testament? I just love it, because it's the nuggets of the Old Testament. We dig them up and polish them, and look at them. Each one speaks of Calvary. All of the Old Testament was a shadow of the things to come. And I just love to go prospecting, and get out the nuggets out of the Old Testament and type them with the New. And even in the simplicity of it, the children understand what it means. And now, God, when He called Abraham, He c...
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever
63-0604 §48
...to be God. And if it isn't right, then it isn't God. That's just... And so they knew to believe that. All Jews knew that---the true Jews. But in that day the church had got something like it is today---kind of soft and off on creeds---and gone off on class and complications of the ... and washing pots. And Jesus said, "You've took your traditions and made the commandments of God of no effect to you."---by their traditions. That's what they had did. A lot like today, a repeat of time.
The World is falling apart
63-0412M §104
I said, "What happened, sir?" I said, "You standing here, we're two men never met before in life. You're [he said he was seventy-something years old, just doing that on the side] ..." I said, "I'm a minister." And I said, "You represent the civil laws of the land. I represent the moral laws of the land." And I said, "Now, if somebody broke your civil laws, what happened? You put him in jail, didn't you? You sent them right to jail if they broke the civil laws." He said, "That's right." I said, "They break these law...
The faith once delivered to the saints
55-0501E §22
Now, we couldn't go to the Old Testament, because they wasn't called saints in the Old Testament. They were saints in the New Testament. Therefore, we'd have to begin from the New Testament. Well, then the New Testament was based upon Christianity, which come from Christ. And Christ was the first Administrator of the faith that we should contend for, because it was the faith that He introduced to the world. Christ born, virgin-born Son of God... John was between the law and the dispensation of grace. Luke 16:16 sai...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 1:E-71
...eiled in your mind by tradition here is one last illustration. No one can doubt but what the Scribes and Pharisees and the great scholars of the year 33 A.D. knew the exact laws of grammar and the exact meanings of the words in which the Old Testament was written; but for all their superb knowledge they missed the revelation of God's promised Word manifested in the Son. There He was set forth from Genesis to Malachi, with whole chapters devoted to Him and His ministry, and yet except for a few who were illuminated...