Leviticus Laws: Still Relevant Or Outdated?

The laws of Leviticus are a controversial subject among theologians, with some arguing that they are no longer applicable and others claiming they are still relevant. The laws, which include rules about offerings, clean and unclean foods, diseases, bodily discharges, sexual taboos, and priestly conduct, were given to the ancient Israelites and formed part of the Old Covenant between God and His people. Today, none of us are ancient Israelites, so the laws do not apply directly to us in the same way. However, Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the law, and so many of its rules and regulations are no longer necessary for salvation. Instead, Jesus summed up the law with two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and Love your neighbour as yourself.

The laws of Leviticus were intended for a specific culture at a specific time and place

The laws of Leviticus were never intended for non-Jews. This was established in the earliest days of Christianity, when it was decided that Gentiles did not have to become Jewish before becoming Christian.

The laws of Leviticus can be divided into three categories: Civil (laws for the nation of Israel), Ceremonial (laws related to Jewish worship and the distinctiveness of the Jewish people), and Moral (primarily the Ten Commandments). The Civil and Ceremonial laws do not directly apply to the church, though they do reflect the moral law.

Jesus summed up the moral law with two commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbour as yourself".

The laws of Leviticus were fulfilled by Christ's death and resurrection. As such, they have never applied to Christians.

Christians are not bound by the laws of Leviticus

The Old Testament contains 613 commandments for God’s people to follow. Leviticus includes rules about offerings, clean and unclean foods, diseases, bodily discharges, sexual taboos, and priestly conduct. However, the New Testament teaches that Christ’s death and resurrection fulfilled the law, which is why its many rules and regulations have never applied to Christians.

Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law.” Colossians 2:13-14 says that God:

> "forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."

Hebrews 8:13 further reinforces this:

> "By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear."

Some Christians argue that all laws related to sexual conduct carry over to the New Testament. However, Leviticus also prohibits sex during a woman’s menstrual period (Leviticus 18:19), which most Christians do not regard as sinful.

Many of the laws in Leviticus were intended for a specific culture in a specific time and place. While Christians are not bound by the laws of Leviticus, they are still expected to follow the two most important commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbour as yourself."

The laws of Leviticus were fulfilled by Christ

Christians are not bound by the laws of Leviticus because they were never intended for them. The laws were given by God to the Jews in a specific cultural context. The consensus among early Christians was that Gentiles did not need to convert to Judaism and follow Jewish law to become Christians.

Christ's death and resurrection fulfilled the law, and so its rules and regulations do not apply to Christians. The New Testament teaches that "Christ is the end of the law".

Jesus did not come to enforce or police the law, nor did he come to fulfil just some of it. However, he did fulfil the various elements of the law in more than one way. For example, Jesus ended the cleanliness and food laws by declaring all foods clean. He touched lepers and dead bodies and was not made unclean. He also spoke of his body as the true temple, making Old Testament regulations concerning the temple obsolete.

Jesus reconstituted the people of God. In the Old Testament, they were a nation-state, whereas in the New Testament, they are a universal Church. Therefore, Old Testament laws relating to the civic life of God's people no longer apply to believers today in the same way.

Through his sinless life, Jesus embodied all the moral requirements of the law. Through union with him, the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us as we live by the power of his Spirit.

The laws of Leviticus were divided into moral, civil, and ceremonial categories

The laws of Leviticus were divided into three categories: civil, ceremonial, and moral. Civil law deals with relationships between individuals, settling disputes, and the description of proper behaviour. Ceremonial law deals with the priesthood and the various sacrifices through which the people of the Old Testament were cleansed of their sins. Moral law is based on the character of God and extends from the Old into the New Testament.

Civil law includes regulations on justice, respect, and sexual conduct, and it includes the Ten Commandments. It also includes penalties for failure to obey the ordinances.

Ceremonial law includes instructions on regaining a right standing with God (e.g. sacrifices and other ceremonies regarding "uncleanness"), remembrances of God's work in Israel (e.g. feasts and festivals), and specific regulations meant to distinguish Israelites from their pagan neighbours (e.g. dietary and clothing restrictions).

Moral law, or mishpatim, relates to justice and judgment and is often translated as "ordinances". Mishpatim are said to be based on God's holy nature. As such, the ordinances are holy, just, and unchanging. Their purpose is to promote the welfare of those who obey. The moral law encompasses regulations on justice, respect, and sexual conduct, and includes the Ten Commandments.

The laws of Leviticus were given to Moses as a comprehensive set of guidelines to ensure that the Israelites' behaviour reflected their status as God's chosen people. It is a human construct designed to better understand the nature of God and define which laws church-age Christians are still required to follow.

The laws of Leviticus are still valuable and contain wisdom for a contemporary context

The laws of Leviticus can be divided into categories such as moral, civil, and ceremonial. However, this is not a native way of talking about the laws in the text itself, nor is it a framework that Jesus and the apostles used. Categorising the laws in this way can be helpful for studying them, but if we're doing that to figure out which ones still matter and which don't, we will miss the wealth of wisdom available to us from these ancient texts. Even civil or ceremonial laws are mini-narratives that show us what it means to live righteously and do right by our neighbours.

Jesus did not come to discard the Law as nonsense from a bygone age, nor did he come to enforce it and police it. He did not come to fulfil just bits of it, sifting through the whole lot with a pair of tweezers and picking out the occasional commandment that might still work. What Jesus came to do with the Law, he came to do with all of it.

The laws of Leviticus are rooted in the need to form cultural distinctions and purity codes. They are also rooted in cultural gender roles. For example, male same-sex intercourse was prohibited because it subverted patriarchal gender norms of male dominance in a society that devalued women.

The laws of Leviticus are still valuable because they are part of God's story with ancient Israel, and they show us what it means to live righteously. They are also valuable because they contain wisdom for our contemporary context.

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