The Old Law In Modern Times?


There is adage that states, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”.  The reason for this retrospective of pithiness comes from a question I was recently asked about Christian observances of Old Testament laws and regulations.  This issue has been a challenge for the church since its inception in the First Century and continues receive attention today.  While there are several regulations that pop-up, the two most common are “Sabbath Day” worship and dietary prohibitions.  In essence, why do we worship on the first day of the week (rather than on Saturday) and why do we eat foods such as pork, catfish and shellfish?  We don’t have the space for an depth study, but here is a brief synopsis for why we do what we do:
Sunday Worship:  I believe that the concept of sabbath days worship is a bit of a misnomer.  The idea behind the sabbath was not a day of worship, rather it was a day of rest.  Exodus 20:8-9 states,
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord  your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Even if Old Testament worship was designed for the last day of the week (the seventh day), the early Christians seem to have worshiped on the first day of the week (the day Jesus was raised from the dead).  Acts 20:7 and I Corinthians 16:2 indicate that the New Testament church gathered on the first day of the week.  This is why we choose to do so today.
Dietary Regulations:  Another thing that made the Israelites different from the Gentiles was the limitations placed on food.  Leviticus 11 provides a detailed description of foods that were off-limits to Old Testament believers, but these restrictions appear to be eased in the early church.  Jesus mentioned a new perspective when He taught, “It is not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11).  When Peter experienced the vision of a bounty of foods he was encouraged to eat because, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:15).   Paul deals with Christians being bound to archaic regulations in Colossians 2:16-23 and I Timothy 4:1-5. 
The Bible is full of connections between the Old and New Testaments.  Many of the principles of godliness are the same, but there are distinctions in the two different covenants God has made with His people.  Let’s be wise in what we advocate and what we believe.

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