What is the law in the Bible, and do Christians have to keep it?

Romans 7:12

¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

New International Version (NIV)

The answer

Christians are not required to keep the law of Moses as their covenant or as a means of earning salvation; but grace never permits sin. Believers are required to obey Christ, love God and their neighbour, and walk by the Holy Spirit.

What “the law” means

In passages discussing salvation and obedience, “the law” usually means the commands God gave Israel through Moses. These include the Ten Commandments and laws governing Israel’s worship, sacrifices, purity and national life. Exodus 20:1-17 records God himself speaking commandments concerning idolatry, his name, the Sabbath, parents, murder, adultery, theft, false testimony and coveting.

The law is not defective or sinful. Romans 7:12 says, “Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good.” Psalm 19:7 likewise describes the LORD’s law as perfect.

One of its God-given purposes is to expose sin. Romans 3:20 explains that knowledge of sin comes through the law. Galatians 3:24 compares the law to a tutor leading people to Christ so that they might be justified by faith. It identifies transgression and condemns it, but it cannot provide the righteousness that sinners lack.

What Christians are not required to do

• Earn salvation through law-keeping: Romans 3:28 teaches justification by faith apart from works of the law. Ephesians 2:8-10 adds that salvation is God’s gift, while good works are what he prepares for his people to do afterwards.
• Seek atonement through the old sacrifices: Hebrews 10:1-4 explains that the repeated sacrifices reminded worshipers of sin and that the blood of bulls and goats could not take sins away. Hebrews 10:10-14 declares that Christ offered himself once for all and by that one offering perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
• Require circumcision and Mosaic law-keeping for Gentile salvation: Acts 15:1-11 records this demand being rejected at Jerusalem. Peter taught that Jews and Gentiles alike are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus. Acts 15:28-29 records the council’s refusal to impose the proposed greater burden, while still giving specific instructions concerning idolatry, blood, strangled things and sexual immorality.
• Bind consciences where God leaves matters free: Romans 14:5-6 addresses eating and the esteeming of days, directing each believer to act unto the Lord without judging another. Colossians 2:16-17 likewise warns against judgment over food, drink, feasts, new moons or Sabbaths, describing these as shadows whose substance is Christ.

What Christian obedience looks like now

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. Fulfillment is not permission to disregard God’s righteousness. Romans 6:14-16 says believers are “not under law, but under grace,” then immediately rejects the idea that they may therefore continue sinning. In 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul describes himself as “not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ.”

• Love God and neighbour: Jesus identifies these as the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22:37-40.
• Practise genuine moral obedience: Romans 13:8-10 names adultery, murder, stealing and coveting among the sins that love refuses. Love fulfills the law by doing no harm to one’s neighbour, not by redefining sin.
• Walk according to the Spirit: Romans 8:3-4 teaches that God accomplished in Christ what the law, weakened by human flesh, could not do, so that the law’s righteous requirement might be fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit.
• Serve from a renewed heart: Hebrews 10:16 gives God’s new-covenant promise: “I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind.”

Answered from Scripture · reviewed November 11, 2026

The law in Scripture represents God's holy, righteous, and perfect revelation of His character and will given through Moses at Sinai. While Christians are not under the law as a covenant of works to earn salvation, they are freed by Christ to fulfill its enduring moral design through the Holy Spirit in love.

The Nature of the Law

God's Law Is Holy, Righteous, and Good

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

Romans 7:12 (NIV)

Paul affirms that the commandment itself is holy, righteous, and good, reflecting the very character of the God who gave it.

The apostle Paul insists in Romans 7:12 that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Far from being a flawed or arbitrary standard, Scripture presents the law as the pure expression of the living God's flawless character. When the Lord revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, as Nehemiah 9:13 records, He came down to give His people just decrees, true laws, and good statutes. God did not burden Israel with error; He gave them light. David marvels at this truth in Psalm 19:7-9, celebrating that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul and making wise the simple, while Psalm 119:137 and Psalm 119:172 proclaim that God is entirely righteous and every one of His commandments reflects that uprightness. The foundational moral compass delivered at Sinai in Exodus 20:1-17 discloses God's timeless demands for undivided worship, reverence, justice, and purity among human beings. Yet the problem never resided in the precepts themselves. As Paul explains in Romans 7:14, the law is spiritual and good, but fallen humanity is carnal and sold under sin. The law cannot be faulted for exposing what is broken in us; rather, as 1 Timothy 1:8 instructs, the law is good if one uses it lawfully. It stands as an enduring, spotless mirror of the holiness of God.

The passages

Passage	What it says
Nehemiah 9:13	God descended upon Mount Sinai to give His people just decrees, true laws, and good statutes.
Psalms 19:7-9	The law of the Lord is perfect and trustworthy, reviving the soul and making wise the simple.
Psalms 119:137	The Lord is righteous and His judgments and testimonies are entirely upright.
Psalms 119:172	The psalmist sings of God's word because all His commandments are righteousness.
Romans 7:14	The law is spiritual, while fallen human nature is carnal and captive to sin.
1 Timothy 1:8	The law is inherently good when it is applied and used according to its lawful purpose.
Romans 7:12	Affirms that the commandment is holy, righteous, and good, reflecting the perfect moral character of God.
Exodus 20:1-17	Presents the Ten Commandments, establishing the foundational moral law given by God at Mount Sinai.

Salvation by Grace

No Flesh Is Justified by the Works of the Law

know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:16 (NIV)

Scripture explicitly excludes legal obedience as the ground of justification, establishing faith in Jesus Christ as the only way of right standing.

Galatians 2:16 cuts to the heart of the Christian gospel, affirming that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Scripture leaves no room for the belief that anyone can achieve right standing before God through personal obedience. Romans 3:20 declares plainly that by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, for the law's primary function toward sinners is the knowledge of sin. Because God's holiness demands absolute perfection, James 2:10 reminds us that stumbling in merely one point makes a person guilty of all, placing anyone who relies on legal performance under a crushing curse. But Galatians 3:10-13 proclaims that Christ redeemed us from that curse by becoming a curse for us on the tree. Believers are therefore no longer under the condemning reign of the law, but under the reign of grace, as Romans 6:14 and Romans 3:28 declare. Galatians 3:24-25 explains that the law acted as our guardian until Christ arrived; now that faith has come, we are no longer under that guardian. Attempting to mix human merit into salvation is fatal, for Galatians 5:4 warns that seeking justification by the law severs one from the working of grace. What the law was powerless to achieve because of human weakness, Romans 8:1-3 shows God achieved by sending His own Son.

The passages

Passage	What it says
Romans 3:20	No person will be declared righteous by works of the law; rather, through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Romans 6:14	Believers are no longer under the reign of the law as a covenant, but under the reign of grace.
Romans 8:1-3	God condemned sin in the flesh through His Son, doing what the weakened law was powerless to achieve.
Galatians 3:10-13	Christ redeemed believers from the curse of the law by becoming a curse on the cross for them.
Galatians 5:4	Seeking justification through adherence to the law alienates an individual from Christ and falls from grace.
James 2:10	Whoever stumbles in keeping just one point of the law is guilty of breaking it all.
Romans 3:28	Declares that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Galatians 2:16	Reiterates that no one is justified by keeping the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:24-25	Identifies the law as a guardian until Christ came, leaving believers no longer under a guardian.

Shadows and Fulfilment

Ceremonial Observances Pointed Forward to Christ

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17 (NIV)

Paul describes dietary codes, festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths as a shadow of things to come, while the substance belongs to Christ.

In Colossians 2:16-17, Scripture makes clear that ceremonial ordinances regarding food, drink, festivals, and sabbaths were a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. God designed the Levitical system not as an eternal end in itself, but as a prophetic blueprint. The annual Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:15-16 cleansed the earthly sanctuary with the blood of goats, yet Hebrews 9:11-14 reveals its true fulfillment when Christ entered the heavenly holy places with His own spotless blood. The strict dietary divisions of Leviticus 11:44-47 maintained Israel's holiness until Acts 10:11-15 and Mark 7:18-19 declared all foods clean, demonstrating that Christ unites all peoples. Physical circumcision, given in Genesis 17:10-11, pointed ahead to the true inward circumcision of the heart produced by the Spirit (Philippians 3:3; Galatians 6:15). The slain Passover lamb of Exodus 12:5-7 found its once-for-all reality when Christ, our Passover lamb, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). Hebrews 8:13 explains that the new covenant rendered this ceremonial framework obsolete, and Hebrews 10:1-4 shows that repeated animal offerings could never eradicate guilt. Christ abolished in His flesh the barrier of ordinances to reconcile Jew and Gentile into one body (Ephesians 2:14-16; Hebrews 10:10-14), leading the early church in Acts 15:10-11 to refuse placing that yoke upon Gentile believers.

Promise and fulfilment

Passage	What it says	Fulfilled
Leviticus 16:15-16	The annual Day of Atonement sacrifice cleansed the sanctuary and covered Israel's transgressions through animal blood.	Hebrews 9:11-14
Leviticus 11:44-47	Dietary separations distinguished Israel from the surrounding nations as a holy, set-apart people.	Acts 10:11-15, Mark 7:18-19
Genesis 17:10-11	Physical circumcision was established as the covenant sign in the flesh for Abraham's natural offspring.	Galatians 6:15, Philippians 3:3
Exodus 12:5-7	The unblemished Passover lamb was slaughtered to shelter the households of Israel from divine wrath.	1 Corinthians 5:7
Hebrews 8:13	The inauguration of the New Covenant renders the old Mosaic ceremonial framework obsolete and passing away.	Hebrews 10:1-4
Ephesians 2:14-16	Christ abolished in His flesh the ceremonial law of commandments and ordinances, reconciling Jews and Gentiles into one body.	Acts 15:8-10
Colossians 2:16-17	Identifies dietary laws, festivals, and sabbaths as a shadow of things to come, whose substance belongs to Christ.	Colossians 2:17
Hebrews 10:1	Declares the ceremonial law a shadow of good things to come, incapable of perfecting worshippers.	Hebrews 10:10-14
Acts 15:10-11	Affirms at the Jerusalem Council that Gentile believers are not obligated to bear the yoke of the law.

The Law Fulfilled

Christ Did Not Abolish but Fulfilled the Law

“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. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV)

Jesus explicitly defines His mission not as dismantling the Law or the Prophets, but as bringing them to their complete culmination.

In Matthew 5:17-18, the Lord Jesus settles the continuity of God's redemptive work by declaring, '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.' Our Lord did not sweep away God's ancient revelation as defective; He brought every promise, pattern, and moral standard to its intended climax. In Matthew 5:19-20, He taught that true righteousness must far surpass the outward, hypocritical performance of the scribes and Pharisees. Christ achieved what no fallen human could ever accomplish: He rendered spotless, active obedience to every demand of the law throughout His earthly life, and offered His own body as the final, perfect sacrifice foretold in Hebrews 10:5-10. By His life and death, Romans 10:4 explains that Christ is the end and goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The law's claims are entirely satisfied in Him. Consequently, as Romans 8:4 reveals, the righteous requirement of the law is now fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit. Believers are not lawless; we are united to the One who kept the law perfectly on our behalf.

The passages

Passage	What it says
Matthew 5:19-20	Jesus warns that righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees to enter the kingdom.
Romans 10:4	Christ is the end and goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 8:4	The righteous requirement of the law is fully realized in those who walk according to the Spirit.
Hebrews 10:5-10	Christ offered His own body once for all, replacing the repeated sacrifices by doing God's perfect will.
Matthew 5:17-18	Jesus declares He came not to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them entirely.

The Law of Love

Love Is the Full Expression of God's Moral Law

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8-10 (NIV)

Paul explains that all the moral commandments are summed up in love, demonstrating that loving one's neighbor fulfills the law.

In Romans 13:8-10, the apostle Paul proclaims that love is the fulfilling of the law, demonstrating that genuine Christian charity is not an evasion of God's commands, but their true and living aim. The entire moral architecture of Sinai was never arbitrary; it was the express pattern of how holy love operates in relation to God and mankind. From the beginning, Deuteronomy 6:5 summoned Israel to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, and might, while Leviticus 19:18 commanded that one must love his neighbor as himself. When pressed by interrogators on the greatest commandment, Jesus united these twin pillars in Matthew 22:37-40, insisting that upon them hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Far from abolishing this moral standard, New Testament liberty restores it to its proper vigor. Paul instructs in Galatians 5:13-14 that believers must not treat their freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another, because the whole law is fulfilled in this single word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' James 2:8 honors this principle as the 'royal law,' declaring that whoever walks in unvarnished kindness to his fellow man does well. Nor is this affection a vague sentiment detached from ethical duty; 1 John 5:2-3 teaches that loving God means keeping His commandments, and that His commandments are not burdensome. In Romans 13:8-10, Paul surveys prohibitions against adultery, murder, theft, and coveting, showing that because love works no ill to a neighbor, it achieves precisely what the written code demanded all along.

The passages

Passage	What it says
Deuteronomy 6:5	Israel was commanded to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might.
Leviticus 19:18	God commanded His people not to bear grudges, but to love their neighbor as themselves.
Matthew 22:37-40	Jesus declared that all the Law and the Prophets hang upon the two great commandments of love.
Galatians 5:13-14	Believers use their freedom to serve one another in love, since the whole law is fulfilled in loving one's neighbor.
James 2:8	Fulfilling the royal Scripture to love one's neighbor as oneself is doing well before God.
1 John 5:2-3	Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not a burdensome yoke.
Romans 13:8-10	Explains that loving one's neighbor fulfills the commandments, as love does no wrong to a neighbor.

The Law on the Heart

The Holy Spirit Writes the Law Within Us

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Hebrews 8:10 (NIV)

Citing Jeremiah, the author confirms that under the New Covenant, God puts His laws into believers' minds and writes them upon their hearts.

The author of Hebrews points to the supreme glory of the New Covenant in Hebrews 8:10, declaring that God now puts His laws into believers' minds and writes them upon their hearts. What Sinai carved upon exterior tablets of cold stone, the sovereign grace of God inscribes directly upon the renewed inner nature. This transformation fulfills the ancient promise of Jeremiah 31:33, where the Lord pledged that His law would no longer confront His people from the outside as an unbearable tutor, but dwell within their very spirits. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God joined this inward law to His own presence, promising to bestow a new heart and put His Holy Spirit within His people to cause them to walk in His statutes.

Because this internal renewal aligns human desire with divine holiness, faith does not nullify the moral design of the Creator. As Paul asks in Romans 3:31, 'Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.' The believer is not an antinomian living without boundaries; Paul clarifies in 1 Corinthians 9:21 that while he is released from the Sinai administration as a covenant of works, he is 'not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ.' This dynamic, Christ-centered obedience takes practical shape in the communion of the saints; Galatians 6:2 exhorts believers to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill Christ's law. In Romans 8:12-14, the power for this life becomes plain: believers are debtors not to the flesh, but by the Holy Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, walking as sons led by God.

The passages

Passage	What it says
Jeremiah 31:33	The Lord promised a new covenant where He would write His law internally upon human hearts.
Ezekiel 36:26-27	God promises to put His Spirit within His people so that they are caused to walk in His statutes.
Romans 3:31	Faith in Christ does not overthrow the law; rather, it upholds and establishes it.
1 Corinthians 9:21	Paul explains that though free from the Mosaic code, he remains under the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2	Bearing one another's burdens is the direct fulfillment of the law of Christ.
Romans 8:12-14	Describes believers walking by the Spirit to put to death sinful deeds and live in obedience as God's children.

Believers look to the law not as a ladder of self-justification, but as a mirror reflecting God's holy character and their need for a Savior. Resting fully in Christ's finished work, the church now walks in joyful, Spirit-empowered obedience, fulfilling the law through sacrificial love for God and neighbor.

44 passages, each cited once.

How the major Christian traditions read this

All Christians confess that no one can earn salvation or be justified before God by works of the law, for salvation is solely by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:20, 28; Ephesians 2:8-9). At the same time, all traditions agree that believers are freed from the curse of the law in order to walk in holy obedience to God, loving Him and their neighbour through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).

Catholic

We teach that the Old Law revealed sin and prepared for the Gospel, but its ceremonial and judicial precepts ceased with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Hebrews 10:1). Yet its moral commandments, summarized in the Decalogue, remain binding because they express the natural law and God's unchanging righteousness (Matthew 19:17). Christ did not abolish the law but brought it to fulfillment, establishing the 'New Law'—the grace of the Holy Spirit received through faith and working through love and the sacraments (Galatians 5:6; Matthew 5:17). Obedience to God's commandments is not a human effort to earn grace, but the necessary fruit and cooperation of a life transformed by grace (John 14:15).

Scripture: Matthew 5:17, Matthew 19:17, Galatians 5:6, Hebrews 10:1, John 14:15

Orthodox

We see the Mosaic law as a pedagogue pointing humanity toward Christ, who is the fulfillment of all divine revelation (Galatians 3:24). The external shadows, temple ceremonies, and dietary prescriptions found their completion and end in Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection (Colossians 2:16-17). However, the moral life of the commandments is transfigured rather than cast off; Christ calls us to an interior righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). Through participation in the divine life of the Church and the mystery of the Holy Spirit, the law is inscribed on our hearts, enabling us to grow in theosis and Christlike love (Romans 8:2-4).

Scripture: Galatians 3:24, Colossians 2:16-17, Matthew 5:20, Romans 8:2-4

Lutheran

We confess a strict, vital distinction between Law and Gospel. The Law commands what we must do and reveals our utter sinfulness, continually crushing our self-righteousness, while the Gospel freely gives Christ and His forgiveness (Romans 3:20). Christians are entirely free from the Law's curse and condemnation through faith in Christ (Romans 8:1; Galatians 3:13). While the ceremonial and civil codes of Moses no longer apply, the moral law remains a holy standard. It has three uses: to restrain wickedness in society, to reveal our sin, and to guide the regenerated believer in understanding what works truly please God, though the Christian obeys willingly from faith rather than compulsion (Psalm 119:105).

Scripture: Romans 3:20, Romans 8:1, Galatians 3:13, Psalms 119:105

Reformed & Presbyterian

We hold that God gave Israel ceremonial, civil, and moral laws. The ceremonial laws prefigured Christ and were abrogated by His sacrifice; the civil laws expired with the Jewish state, leaving only their general equity; but the moral law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, binds all people perpetually (Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 5:17-19). While believers are completely delivered from the law as a covenant of works to earn life, the 'third use of the law' is its principal use for us: a loving, objective rule of life and gratitude for those redeemed by sovereign grace, showing us how to glorify God (Romans 7:22; 1 John 5:3).

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-19, Romans 7:22, Romans 13:8-10, 1 John 5:3

Anglican & Episcopal

Our confession states clearly that although the law given from God by Moses concerning ceremonies and rites does not bind Christian men, nor ought its civil precepts of necessity be received into any commonwealth, no Christian man whatsoever is free from obedience to the moral commandments (Thirty-Nine Articles, Article 7; Matthew 22:37-40). The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, for everlasting life is offered in both through Christ alone. We recite the Ten Commandments in our liturgy because they remain God's standard of holiness, driving us to repentance and directing our daily walk in the Spirit's power (Romans 8:3-4).

Scripture: Matthew 22:37-40, Romans 8:3-4

Baptist

We confess that the moral law originally written on the heart continues as a perfect rule of righteousness for all time, delivered at Sinai in the Ten Commandments (Romans 2:14-15; Exodus 20:1-17). The ceremonial and judicial ordinances ended with the old covenant, but the moral law remains the believer's guide for holy living (1 Corinthians 9:21). Believers are justified entirely by grace through faith apart from works, yet true faith always produces obedience. The law serves to show us our need of Christ and instructs the regenerate conscience in how to walk pleasing to Him, fulfilled by love through the Spirit (Galatians 5:13-14).

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17, Romans 2:14-15, 1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 5:13-14

Methodist & Wesleyan

We affirm with the historic church that the ceremonial and civil laws of Moses are no longer binding, but the moral law remains an eternal rule of holy living (Matthew 5:17-18). Christ did not come to lower the standard of the law, but to enable us through sanctifying grace to fulfill it from the heart (Romans 8:4). The moral law is a picture of the mind of Christ and the character of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers are called to entire sanctification, where love fills the heart and expels sin, fully establishing and honoring God's law in our lives (Romans 3:31; 1 John 4:17-18).

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 3:31, Romans 8:4, 1 John 4:17-18

Pentecostal & Charismatic

We believe that Christians are dead to the Mosaic law through the body of Christ, delivered from its legalistic yoke and condemnation (Romans 7:4-6; Galatians 5:1). We are not under the letter of the old covenant, but under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). The Holy Spirit baptizes and empowers believers from within, writing God's righteous desires directly upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26-27). Walking by the Spirit produces the true righteousness that the law demanded, transforming our conduct dynamically through divine love, spiritual gifts, and holy power (Galatians 5:16-23).

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Romans 7:4-6, Romans 8:2, Galatians 5:16-23

Non-denominational & Evangelical

We emphasize that the Mosaic covenant as a unified legal system has been fulfilled and brought to an end in Christ (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25). Christians are not under the law of Moses, but under the 'law of Christ' (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2). While the Old Testament scriptures remain inspired and profitable for teaching God's eternal nature and truth (2 Timothy 3:16), our day-to-day command is to walk in love, abide in Jesus, and obey the explicit commandments of Christ and His apostles in the New Testament, resting completely in His finished work on the cross (John 13:34; Colossians 2:14).

Scripture: Romans 10:4, 1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2, Colossians 2:14, 2 Timothy 3:16

Where they differ

Perpetual binding of the Ten Commandments

Catholic

The Ten Commandments remain permanently binding moral law for all Christians.

Orthodox

The moral commandments remain binding as transfigured and interiorized in Christ.

Lutheran

The moral law binds all people and guides believers in godliness.

Reformed & Presbyterian

The moral law in the Decalogue perpetually binds the believer's conscience.

Anglican & Episcopal

No Christian is ever exempt from obedience to the moral commandments.

Baptist

The moral law summarized in the Decalogue is an eternal rule.

Methodist & Wesleyan

The moral law remains God's unchanging standard, fulfilled through sanctifying grace.

Pentecostal & Charismatic

Believers follow the Spirit's internal leading rather than written code.

Non-denominational & Evangelical

The Mosaic code ended; believers obey the law of Christ directly.

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-19, Romans 10:4, 1 Corinthians 9:21

The primary role of God's law

Catholic

To instruct believers in righteousness, fulfilled through sacramental grace and love.

Orthodox

To guide believers toward deification and communion with the living God.

Lutheran

Primarily to expose sin and drive the terrified sinner to Christ.

Reformed & Presbyterian

Chiefly to provide a rule of life and gratitude for believers.

Anglican & Episcopal

To reveal sin and direct the Christian life in godliness.

Baptist

To reveal sin and direct the believer in upright living.

Methodist & Wesleyan

To lead toward heart holiness and complete sanctification in divine love.

Pentecostal & Charismatic

To reveal our total need for the Holy Spirit's transforming power.

Non-denominational & Evangelical

To point to Christ, who replaces the Sinai code completely.

Scripture: Romans 3:20, Romans 7:22, Galatians 3:24-25

Your pastor can tell you where your church stands.

Scripture cited

• Romans 7:12
• Psalms 19:7-12
• Matthew 5:17-20
• Romans 3:19-31
• Romans 6:14-23
• Romans 7:1-12
• Romans 8:1-4
• Galatians 3:19-29
• Acts 15:1-29
• Hebrews 10:1-18
• Romans 13:8-10