The LAW for Christians
Contra theologians such as Charles Ryrie, who said, “the law was never given to the Gentiles and is expressly done away for the Christian,” 1Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life, 88. – Christ did not come to abolish the law (Matthew 5:17). The law is a gift to all men who are in Christ though it was received first in the form of commandments by the ancient people of Israel.
If we take Jesus’ words seriously in Matthew 5:17-20, we must conclude that every law in the Old Testament remains valid until and unless God Himself cancels it. And the New Testament clearly indicates which kinds of laws no longer apply. The book of Hebrews, for example, expressly teaches that the ceremonial laws of sacrifice have been fulfilled because Jesus was the final sacrifice. But Scripture nowhere indicates that the moral law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, has been done away with. Jesus even said all the law and prophets hang on love of God and neighbor. This is a far cry from saying all the law and prophets are annulled. The sermon on the mount is the moral Law spoken and recapitulated by Christ.