My question was not "What laws did Jesus say we should follow?" I merely asked if we should only follow things from the Old Testament that Jesus reiderated. For instance, Jesus mentions the Ten Commandments. We should follow those.
I'd go
way further than that. May I? There are two
big qualifications attached to the idea of covenant continuation. The first is the concept of fulfilment. The second is whether we got the stipulations of the first covenant understood rightly in the first place.
Still, the idea shown in Scripture is one of continuity, not separation.
However, Scripture also reveals
how that continuity is to be accomplished in our time.
Fulfilment
There are mechanisms in the relationships between successive covenants allowing one covenant to supersede certain stipulations of other covenants. That mechanism is fulfillment. (cf. Gal 3:15ff)
And there are explicit means whereby the Other Party (um -- God) in the Covenant can declare such stipulations fulfilled.
The Spirit of God has done so. For instance in Acts 15 the Spirit led the Apostles to realize virtually the entirety of the ceremonial law was set aside for Gentiles.
Understanding
The New Testament points out that the purpose of the Old Covenant stipulations is what's primary, not the grammatical fulfilment of each case law (cf 2 Cor 3). The Apostles seem to have recognized that the Law itself had been dragged down into arguments over how it was stated, to the point of avoiding what it meant (cf. Mark 7). When that's done, certainly the Law no longer assumes its moral role. It's not enforcing itself morally.
Performing the Law was also presented as a critical component of salvation in Jesus' time. That's assuredly not the case. The Law has a different purpose than simply demanding we do it to live. It points out we can't do it (Rom 3:9-19 -- it tells us we can't!). So when it comes to salvation, this path is blocked by our sin. The Law knows this. The Law tells us. So don't think the Law is in the same role in Christianity as in First Century Judaism. Or later Judaism. It's not.
As it is, nine of the Ten Commandments are re-commanded in the New Testament. So even as we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not the letter of the Law, we serve in the Spirit Who delivered His Law.
Now granted, you've asked a
highly specific question --
do we follow the Law. There are myriad qualifications because (1) our understanding of the purpose of the Law is ... horrible and must be corrected by the Spirit on coming to Christ, and (2) many of the stipulations of the Old Covenant have been satisfied and thus brought to an end by the New Covenant.
So the argument seems to shift back & forth: "Do we nullify the Law by our faith? No way! We establish the Law!" Rom 3:31. But "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit." Rom 7:6, And finally, "By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Rom 8:3-4
I realize the answer seems to ping back & forth between "Yes! No! Yes!". But when you look into the details of each answer, you discover a very critical point. Christ upends the salvation we thought we were after. We're wrong. We're the ones who need correction. Rescue isn't based on the Law either way. We're not talking about "legalistic" or "outlaw" Christianity. We're talking about redemptive Christianity. And so the Perfect Lawkeeper was condemned to capital punishment as the Greatest Outlaw. It's going to sound confusing at first. But that's because we haven't heard it right before. (Is 59)
