How To Be A Christian
September 15, 2026
If Do Christians Still Follow the Rules of the Old Testament? If you’ve ever read the Old Testament and wondered, “Am I supposed to be following all these rules too?” you’re not alone.
The Old Testament contains hundreds of laws given to Israel. There were laws about sacrifices, food, clothing, festivals, circumcision, cleanliness, worship, agriculture, marriage, civil life and much more.
So where does that leave Christians today?
Do we need to keep the Sabbath? Avoid certain foods? Follow the Old Testament festivals? Wear certain types of clothing? Offer sacrifices? Follow the laws given to Israel?
No. Christians are not under the Old Testament law.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and established the New Covenant. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by keeping the Old Testament law.
But there is an important distinction here. Saying that Christians are not under the Old Testament law does not mean the Old Testament is useless or that we can ignore everything it teaches. The Old Testament is God’s Word, and it reveals God’s character, humanity’s sin, His holiness, His promises and His plan of salvation that ultimately points us to Jesus.
The question is not whether the Old Testament matters.
The question is whether Christians are still under its covenant law.
And Scripture makes it clear that we are not.
Quick Answer: Do Christians Have to Follow the Old Testament Law?
No. Christians do not have to follow the Old Testament laws given to Israel as a covenant obligation.
The law was given to Israel under the Old Covenant, and it served a particular purpose in God’s plan. Jesus came and fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Through His death and resurrection, He established the New Covenant.
Paul explains that the law was like a guardian leading people toward Christ:
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
— Galatians 3:24–25
That is an important statement.
We aren’t waiting for another system of rules to bring us to God. Christ has come.
Our relationship with God is through Jesus.
The Old Testament Law Was Given to Israel
One of the first things we need to understand is that the Old Testament law wasn’t simply a list of universal rules that God gave every human being for all time.
The Mosaic covenant was made with Israel.
God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and entered into a covenant with them. The laws given through Moses governed Israel as God’s covenant people.
This included laws concerning sacrifices, priests, the tabernacle, ceremonial cleanliness, food, festivals, circumcision, the Sabbath and Israel’s national life.
For example, God told Israel:
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”
— Exodus 19:5–6
These laws had a purpose.
They taught Israel how to live as God’s covenant people and pointed forward to something greater that was still to come.
That greater reality is Christ.
Jesus Didn’t Come to Start Another Version of the Old Covenant
This is where Matthew 5:17 can sometimes confuse Christians.
Jesus said:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
— Matthew 5:17
Someone can read that and think:
“There you go. Jesus said He didn’t abolish the law, so Christians must still be required to keep all the Old Testament laws.”
But that’s not what Jesus said.
He said He came to fulfil the law.
There is a huge difference between saying something has been thrown away and saying something has reached its intended fulfilment.
Jesus didn’t come to pretend the Old Testament never existed.
He didn’t come to contradict God’s previous revelation.
He came to bring the promises, prophecies, sacrifices and purposes of the Old Testament to their fulfilment in Himself.
The Old Testament was pointing somewhere.
It was pointing to Jesus.
Jesus Is the Fulfilment of What the Law Was Pointing Toward
Think about the Old Testament sacrificial system.
Israel was commanded to offer sacrifices for sin. But those sacrifices were never the final answer to sin. They pointed forward to something greater.
Jesus became the once-for-all sacrifice for sin.
The writer of Hebrews explains:
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
— Hebrews 10:4
And then Scripture points us to Christ:
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
— Hebrews 10:10
So should Christians continue offering animal sacrifices?
No.
Why?
Because Christ fulfilled what those sacrifices were pointing toward.
We don’t need to return to the shadow when the reality has come.
The same principle helps us understand the Old Covenant as a whole.
The New Covenant Changed the Situation
The Bible doesn’t simply tell Christians, “Keep the Old Covenant, but try harder.”
It tells us that there is a New Covenant through Christ.
Hebrews says:
“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
— Hebrews 8:6
A few verses later, Hebrews says:
“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
— Hebrews 8:13
The New Covenant isn’t simply the Old Covenant with a few rules changed.
Something significant happened through Jesus.
The believer’s relationship with God is now centred on Christ, grace and faith, rather than being under the Mosaic covenant.
We Are Not Saved by Keeping Rules
This is one of the most important things to understand.
You cannot make yourself right with God by becoming really good at following rules.
You can follow religious rules and still have a heart that is far from God.
That was one of the problems Jesus repeatedly confronted.
The Pharisees were extremely concerned about religious observance, but Jesus exposed the condition of the heart.
Being a Christian isn’t about becoming the person who knows the most rules, follows the most religious practices, dresses the right way, eats the right things or looks the most holy from the outside.
It is about knowing God through Jesus Christ.
Paul was very clear that righteousness does not come through keeping the law:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
— Galatians 2:16
That doesn’t mean obedience doesn’t matter.
It means obedience is not how we earn our salvation.
We don’t obey God so that He will finally love us.
We obey because we already belong to Him.
What About the Ten Commandments?
This is where the conversation can become a little more complicated.
Some people hear, “Christians aren’t under the Old Testament law,” and immediately ask, “So does that mean we can murder, steal and commit adultery?”
Of course not.
The New Testament continues to teach Christians to live in holiness, love God, love others, avoid sexual immorality, tell the truth, reject hatred, forgive, be generous and walk in righteousness.
The point isn’t that everything God ever commanded Israel suddenly became morally meaningless.
Rather, Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant as a legal system.
Many moral commands from the Old Testament are reaffirmed in the New Testament, while other Old Covenant commands belonged specifically to Israel’s covenant life and are not imposed on Christians.
So instead of asking, “Which Old Testament rules can I find that I still have to keep?” we should ask:
“What has Christ taught His followers, and what does the New Testament call Christians to do?”
That keeps our focus where it belongs.
On Jesus.
We Don’t Need to Rebuild the Old Covenant
Paul became very concerned when Christians began being pressured to return to Old Covenant practices as though they were necessary for belonging to God.
In Galatians, people were being told that faith in Christ wasn’t enough and that believers needed to take on circumcision and law observance.
Paul strongly opposed this teaching.
He wrote:
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
— Galatians 5:1
That’s a serious warning.
There is something very easy to do in Christianity.
We can start with Jesus and then slowly turn our relationship with God into a system of religious performance.
We start thinking:
“I don’t just need Christ. I need to follow all these extra rules.”
“I need to look more Christian.”
“I need to prove that I’m a good Christian.”
“If I follow these practices, I’ll be more acceptable to God than other Christians.”
And before long, our eyes have moved away from Christ and onto ourselves.
Religious Pride Can Sneak In
This is one of the dangers of making Christianity primarily about rules.
Rules can make us feel like we’re doing better than somebody else.
We can look at another Christian and think:
“I don’t do what they do.”
“I follow the Bible more strictly than they do.”
“I keep this day.”
“I don’t eat that.”
“I dress this way.”
“I follow these Old Testament practices.”
And suddenly something that was supposed to draw us closer to God has become a reason to feel spiritually superior to other people.
That’s religious pride.
And religious pride is dangerous because it can look like holiness on the outside while our hearts are moving further away from God.
Jesus repeatedly confronted this kind of outward religion.
He wasn’t impressed by people who appeared righteous while their hearts were wrong.
God isn’t looking for people who have mastered a religious checklist.
He wants people who know Him, love Him and walk with Him.
Be Careful When Churches Put You Back Under Old Testament Rules
This doesn’t mean every church that teaches an Old Testament practice is deliberately trying to lead people away from God.
Christians can sincerely disagree about how particular Old Testament passages should be understood and applied.
But we should be careful whenever a church or teacher starts making Old Covenant practices into requirements for being a faithful Christian.
If someone tells you that you aren’t really a good Christian unless you keep particular Old Testament food laws, festivals, Sabbaths, clothing regulations, dietary restrictions or other Mosaic requirements, it’s worth stepping back and asking:
Where does the New Testament actually teach this?
Don’t simply accept something because someone calls it “more biblical.”
Open your Bible.
Read the surrounding passage.
Look at what the apostles taught.
And most importantly, look at what Christ has accomplished.
Paul warned the Galatian Christians about turning back toward the law because it changed the focus from Christ and faith to religious works.
The danger isn’t simply that someone follows an Old Testament practice.
The danger is when that practice becomes a measure of righteousness, spirituality or acceptance before God.
Christianity Is Not About Being a “Good Christian”
This is something I really want to make clear.
Being a Christian isn’t about trying to build an impressive religious identity.
It’s not about being able to say:
“Look at all the rules I keep.”
It’s not about proving that you’re better than other Christians.
And it’s not about trying to earn God’s approval through religious performance.
The Christian life begins with Jesus.
You come to Him because you know you need Him.
You trust Him.
You receive His forgiveness.
You learn His Word.
You pray.
You repent when you sin.
You grow.
You learn to love God and love people.
You allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
And yes, obedience matters.
But Christian obedience flows from a relationship with God. It isn’t a replacement for that relationship.
Jesus said:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
— John 14:15
Notice the order.
Love comes first.
Our obedience is supposed to flow from our love for Christ.
Jesus Didn’t Give Us a New Religious Checklist
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He didn’t respond with a huge list of religious regulations.
He said:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
— Matthew 22:37–40
This gets to the heart of what God wants.
Love God. Love people. Follow Christ.
That doesn’t make Christianity easy in the sense of having nothing to change. Following Jesus will challenge us deeply. He changes our hearts, our priorities, our relationships, our behaviour and the way we see the world.
But the goal isn’t to become proud of how many rules we can keep.
The goal is to become more like Christ.
What Should We Do With the Old Testament, Then?
So if we’re not under the Old Testament law, should we just ignore the Old Testament?
Absolutely not.
The Old Testament is incredibly important for Christians.
It tells us about creation, the fall, God’s covenant promises, Israel’s history, God’s holiness, sin, worship, prophecy and the story that leads us to Jesus.
Jesus Himself taught from the Old Testament.
The apostles taught from it.
And the Old Testament helps us understand why Jesus came and what His work on the cross accomplished.
We should read it.
We should learn from it.
We should allow it to teach us about God.
But we shouldn’t confuse learning from the Old Covenant with being under the Old Covenant.
That’s an important difference.
We Follow Christ, Not Moses
Paul gives us a beautiful picture of what happened when Christ came.
“But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
— Galatians 3:25–26
The law had a purpose.
It pointed people toward Christ.
And now Christ has come.
So we don’t need to put ourselves back under the guardian that was leading us to Him.
We follow Jesus.
We trust Jesus.
We learn from Jesus.
We belong to Jesus.
And our righteousness comes through Him, not through our ability to keep an Old Testament rulebook.
Don’t Let Religion Replace Your Relationship With God
There is a difference between religion as outward performance and a genuine relationship with God.
You can know every rule and still not know God.
You can attend church every week and still have a heart that is far from Him.
You can follow religious traditions and still struggle with pride.
And you can become so focused on appearing like a “good Christian” that you forget that Christianity is ultimately about knowing Jesus.
Jesus didn’t die so that we could become better at performing religious rituals.
He died and rose again so that we could be reconciled to God.
That’s the heart of the gospel.
You don’t need to impress God.
You don’t need to earn His love.
You don’t need to become good enough before you can come to Him.
Come to Him through Christ.
Know Him.
Walk with Him.
Let Him change you from the inside out.
And when you obey Him, let that obedience come from love rather than pride.
So, Do Christians Follow the Old Testament Rules?
No, Christians are not under the Old Testament law given to Israel.
Jesus didn’t come to leave us permanently bound to the Mosaic covenant. He came to fulfil it and establish the New Covenant.
The Old Testament still matters. It is God’s Word, it teaches us about Him, and it points us to Christ. But we don’t take the Old Covenant laws and place ourselves back underneath them as the basis of our relationship with God.
We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
We live under the New Covenant.
We follow Christ.
And we don’t need to measure our Christianity by how many religious rules we can keep.
The Christian life is about knowing God and walking with Him.
Jesus said:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
— John 17:3
That’s what matters.
Not religious pride.
Not proving that we’re better than somebody else.
Not building our identity around how many rules we follow.
Knowing God through Jesus Christ.
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