As we continue exploring the Minor Prophets, we need wisdom for applying Old Testament teachings today. On the one hand, Jesus assures us that the OT is relevant for his followers: he came not to abolish it but fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), and the ethics of Christ actually intensify rather than soften God’s commands: not just killing, but hate is ruled out; not just adultery, but lust is prohibited (5:21-30). Of course, hate and lust are internal, and it’s the heart that matters most to Jesus, as we see from his many sharp rebukes of squeaky clean hypocrites who are rotten on the inside: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8, drawing from Isaiah 29:13).
On the other hand, Jesus seems more interested in key principles of the law than compliance with a rigid interpretation of its minutiae. When it comes to Sabbath keeping, Jesus shows flexibility: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). So too with dietary rules: “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person”(Matthew 15:11; and see Mark 7:19, all foods are “clean”). Further, the Letter to the Hebrews teaches that laws of sacrifice are now obsolete since the ultimate sacrifice has been offered—that is, Christ himself (9:11-12, 26, etc.).
So we hold to the law, yet do so with discernment. The key is obeying out of faith. Genuine trust in Christ results in obedient living—not perfection, but real, practical steps expressing the heart’s trust in Jesus. It’s the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26); it’s “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). As James says, faith without works is “dead”—it isn’t faith at all (2:14-26). You see, God’s law is NOT a job description so we can earn a place in heaven, but a model for how faith operates. Jesus says the law boils down to this: love God wholeheartedly, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Is that your way of life?
