Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God…But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15

Most Christians today do not even think about obeying all 613 commandments written in the law of Moses. Yet the passage I just quoted lists the terms that God gave His people in order to create an environment where He would dwell among them, be their God, and provide victory and success in every aspect of their lives. Do you consider yourself to be one of God’s people? Why is it then, that you do not live up to that standard and still experience the continual blessing and favor of God in your life? You might think that you do not experience God’s blessings, but if you read verse 15 again along with the following verses which list out the many curses God would bring on His people for refusing to live in obedience, you will find that you actually experience a tremendous amount of blessing and favor regularly.

The answer, as many of you are aware, is found in Jesus. He came to the earth, lived a perfect life, died in our place, and rose from the dead. This sacrifice paved the way for our sins to be forgiven.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

Anyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus will be forgiven.

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:8-10

So we know the basics of it. But God never changes, so how is it that anyone who trusts in Jesus for salvation is no longer required to keep the law of Moses? Paul mentions this earlier in the book of Romans:

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 3:21-24

In the New Living Translation this becomes even clearer:

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

Romans 3:21 NLT

How can this be? How can God who previously required obedience to His law no longer require it? Jesus obeyed the law perfectly, but how does that translate to us when we receive salvation?

The law of Moses can be divided into four sections. The first section is the Ten Commandments. These first ten commands were given at Mount Sinai before the rest of the law was delivered. They are found in Exodus 20.

The remaining three sections are listed through the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. I am dividing it into three sections based on the three general topics it covers.

1. Sacrifices and sin. God allowed for a sacrifice to be made for any sin that was made by one of His people. It could be a specific animal, along with a grain and/or wine offering. The offerings were burned on the alter and the priests were allowed to eat select portions of the meat and grains. This section of the law instructed the Israelites what sacrifice to make when, and thus become right with God again after sinning.

There were six types of offerings. The burnt, sin, guilt, and peace offerings were required contributions to atone for sins of all kinds. The thanksgiving offering was not required; any Israelite could give a thanksgiving offering at any time. The tithe was a required offering which was to be a tenth of all increase to one’s flocks and herds, and the first tenth harvested of the crops in the field. In the time of the Israelites, crops and livestock were the primary economy along with gold and silver coins. Therefore tithing and offering these things was a bigger sacrifice than it may seem on the surface. Those of you who are familiar with farming will realize the extent of the sacrifice that had to be made for these offerings.

2. Cleanliness. The Lord explained to His people that certain things would defile them. This included eating unclean animals, which He listed out for them; and coming into contact with diseases or something that died, among other things. This section also gave instructions for how to become clean again.

3. Festivals. There were six festivals that God commanded the Israelites to keep annually. They were Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Now let us insert Jesus’ sacrifice into each of these four parts of the Law and see how it works out to be a complete fulfillment.

Jesus death satisfied every offering required by God. Take a look at these scriptures which specifically deal with every required offering in the Law of Moses.

Burnt offering:

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Ephesians 5:2

It is important to note here that God had said the burnt offering would go up as a sweet smelling aroma before Him.

Sin offering:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Guilt offering:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Isaiah 53:10 ESV (translation chosen due to the wording in the original Hebrew language which translates more accurately to the word guilt than the word sin in this case.)

Peace offering:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1

Since Jesus is the eternal, perfect Son of God, His sacrifice is eternal and perfect. No other sacrifice is needed. His blood atones for every sin. When He said “It is finished,” it truly was.

Now for cleanliness. It is the same principle as with the sacrifices. Let’s take a look at what Jesus said to His disciples regarding defilement:

So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Mark 7:18-23

Jesus has made the point that our sins are what truly defile us, not the external things we do like eating unclean food. Because of this, we can apply the sacrifice of Christ which has erased our sin. His blood has purified us and made us clean. Everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Christ for salvation is made pure and cannot be defiled. Nothing is more powerful than the blood of Jesus.

Now for festivals.

It is interesting to note that Jesus has fulfilled three of the festivals. These are commonly known as the spring feasts, because they are celebrated in the spring.

The easiest to understand is Passover. For the first Passover, the Israelites were required to kill a lamb and put its blood on the entryway doorposts of the house. When the Angel of death saw the blood he would pass over the house and not kill the firstborn child inside. This translates quite nicely to Jesus. Isaiah 53 equates Him to the “lamb that was lead to the slaughter.” He is our Passover lamb, and when God sees His blood on our lives He will pass over us and give us eternal life. So Jesus is the fulfillment of Passover.

The next festival in order is the Festival of Unleavened Bread. With the realization that the Bible compares leaven to compromise in one’s life, it becomes quite clear that Jesus is the unleavened bread as there was no sin or compromise in His life in any way.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

So Jesus is the fulfillment of Unleavened Bread.

Feast of Firstfruits: Jesus was resurrected on the actual day of this feast. This is one of the reasons why Paul writes the following:

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:20

So Jesus has fulfilled Firstfruits.

Because of the accuracy with which Jesus fulfilled the first feasts, it is believed by many that He will fulfill the final three feasts just as accurately when He returns. For example, many believe that the rapture of the church, described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, will take place on the feast of trumpets.

As an extremely summarizing explanation, the Feast of Trumpets starts on the day that the new moon is visible. In Jesus’ day, its beginning was varied depending on when the moon appeared, and no one knew exactly when that day would be. When the moon appeared, the priests would blow the shofar and the feast would begin. Therefore the day marking the start of the feast was commonly referred to as “the day that no man knows,” or the feast of “no man knows the day nor the hour.” So when Jesus said of His return in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no man knows,” all who heard Him would have instantly connected His statement to the feast of trumpets. And since Jesus says nothing by accident, it is a fair conclusion to say that He intended for this connection to be made. We do not know for sure that it will happen this way, but it is definitely an interesting point to consider.

Now for the final section of the law, how did Jesus fulfill the Ten Commandments? He perfectly obeyed every one of them from day one. We already looked at scripture proving that Jesus did not sin. So when you trust in Him, the Father gives you His obedience. Refer to 2 Corinthians 5:21, another verse we looked at.

Before I finish this post, I would like to touch on three accepted beliefs among evangelical Christians which actually run contrary to what the Apostle Paul teaches regarding the fulfillment of the law. I will warn you now that some of what I am about to write may seem heretical, and indeed it will run contrary to what you have been taught for your entire time as an evangelical Christian. However when I study the scriptures, the answer cannot be more clear.

I will start with the easiest because the evangelical church as a whole generally agrees with my answer. But there is a large group of believers out there who do not, so here goes. The question is, do we rest on Saturday, the official sabbath day according to the 4th commandment? As it turns out, I have already devoted an entire blog post to answering this question, which you can access here. Simply put, the answer is no, God does not require Christians of the new covenant to rest from all work on Saturday. Some scripture to support this answer can be found in Romans 14 and most specifically in verse 5, because Paul directly talks about holy days, or in some translations, sabbaths. And for those who would say that the original seventh day sabbath is set apart and distinct from every other sabbath day that God instituted, just go back one chapter to Romans 13 and take a look at verses 8-10 where Paul says the 10 commandments are lumped together with the rest of the law and fulfilled by carrying out the command that Jesus gave in Matthew 22:37-40, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. For further answering of this question see the attached blog post.

Moving on to the next question. That is, does God still require us to obey the Ten Commandments? Most Christians today would answer without a second thought or hesitation, a resounding “yes!” But let’s take a look at what scripture actually teaches. I already mentioned Romans 13. I will list it here:

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8-10

Simply put, our focus has changed. The law, and the matter of keeping the law, is no longer a question of what are you doing or not doing, but is now a matter of the position of your heart. Take a look also at Colossians 2.

Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Colossians 2:14

Nowhere in scripture is there a distinction made between the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law. They are all grouped together in the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice. So the answer to the question is this: according to scripture, if you love God and others the way Jesus commanded us to, the Ten Commandments will be fulfilled through that love, without you even trying to keep them.

Now for the final question. It is this: are Christians required to tithe?

The group that most strongly supports tithing is, sadly, a group of pastors and teachers who care more about the tithes coming in than the gospel going out. The pastors and teachers in this group have built up for themselves a life of luxury off of the tithes of their churches. It is they who most strongly teach tithing. If you are one of these, you should reconsider what you are doing. The gospel is not intended to be a method of extortion, but that is exactly what you are doing to your church. If you were alive in Jesus’ day, you would have been one of the business dealers in the temple when Jesus went in and flipped the tables.

So what does God say about tithing? Originally, the tithe was first commanded by God in the Law of Moses. God commanded the Israelites to set aside a tenth of all their increase and give it to the priests at the temple. This was be a source of food for the priests, because they served in the temple and were not able to tend to their own fields or take care of their own flocks. So when God commanded a tithe, it was for their benefit. God was taking care of His priests because they were being faithful to serve Him in the way He commanded them. In our day, this specific purpose for the tithe is irrelevant.

However, some will argue according to Malachi 3:8-10 that failure to tithe is actually theft. And so in this way God requires tithing. To this I will say, tithing was a requirement of the Law of Moses. If you are going to enforce this command, you must also enforce the rest of the law and require your church to offer the sacrifices, follow the procedures of cleanliness, and keep all of the sabbaths and festivals. Failure on this point puts you in a position of hypocrisy, and also makes you out to be a judge of which of God’s commands are covered by Jesus’ sacrifice and which still need to be obeyed. The scriptures are clear. All of them have been fulfilled in Jesus and none of them have to be obeyed.

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

These are some of the scriptures that should be taught to the church. The New Testament fosters an attitude of generosity. Christians should pass on to others the generosity they received from Jesus. We have been given much and forgiven of much, so we should be generous and of a self sacrificing spirit at all times.

So as a conclusive answer, no, we are not required to tithe anymore. The law is now a matter of the heart, not the actions, and has been fulfilled in Jesus. The specific way that each person carries out their life should be at the direction of the Holy Spirt. For those of you who are wondering if you should continue carrying out the commands we discussed, I would answer according to Romans 14 and say that you should if your conscience or the Holy Spirit leads you to. Take tithing for example, since I just wrote extensively on it. God will lead some people to support the local churches, because He has promised to provide for all our needs, and He is careful to provide a way wherever He issues a calling. He is completely faithful. So there is nothing wrong with doing any of the things I have written about. The only thing that is wrong is expecting and requiring others to do them. This is contrary to Romans 14, where Paul instructs believers to respect each other’s consciences and choices on these matters. We see this in action in the book of Acts by the example of Paul, who mentions in various places that he was offering a sacrifice, or carrying out a specific purification symbol, during the same time that he was traversing the Roman Empire and teaching that the law was fulfilled in Jesus and was no longer required. So on the issue of what does God want you to do, make your choice in each area of question according to what your conscience tells you, and walk it out by faith. The New Testament is very clear that this is what God requires of you, and He will be pleased when you do this.

As a final conclusion, Jesus is your representative before God. He is your high priest, and He has made you righteous. You are credited with keeping the law because of what He did. You are not required to keep any of the commands of the Law of Moses, because as your representative, Jesus already did. He gave you righteousness in the same way that Adam gave you sin. His sacrifice and atonement for sin are enough for you. Nothing more needs to be done.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20