BSN: THE LAW OF MOSES IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

One of the main issues that occupied the New Testament church was how the Law of Moses was to be applied in light of the coming kingdom of God. This issue was doubly complicated by the fact that the question had to be answered separately for the Jews and the Gentiles.
Jesus made clear that He was not abolishing the Law of Moses (Mt 5:17-18); its commandments would take different shape, but commandments they would remain (Mt 5:19).
The Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7) opens the subject of how the Law of Moses was going to be transformed into the Law of Christ (1 Cor 9:21; Gal 6:2), also known as “the perfect law” (Jas 1:25), “the law of liberty” (Jas 1:25; 2:12), and “the royal law” (Jas 2:8).
- What Moses applied to outward behavior, Jesus applied to the heart. For example, Jesus took Moses’ commandment against murder and made it a commandment against hate (Mt 5:21-26). Similarly, He took Moses’ commandment against adultery and made it a commandment against lust. (Mt 5:27-30).
- Another way of saying this is that Jesus took the letter of Moses’ law and applied it spiritually (2 Cor 3:5-6)
The Law of Moses was a heavy yoke (Acts 15:10); the law of Christ was a light one (Mt 11:29-30).
Jesus extracted principles from the Law of Moses and made them His commandments (Jer 15:19). For example, see the book The Ten Commandments According to Jesus.