When Jesus was nailed to the cross, he also nailed the Law of Moses to the cross.  Colossians 2:13-14 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”  The law was written down by Moses as God gave it to him.  The apostle Paul tells us that it was contrary to us.  Why was it contrary to us?  Perhaps it was contrary to us because it contained penalties for transgressions or because it was very difficult if not impossible to keep all of the law’s requirements.  Jesus said to the Jews in John 7:19a “Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?”  How wonderful that you need not worry about keeping the Law of Moses with all of its rules and regulations; it was nailed to the cross.

The apostle Paul reaffirms your deliverance from the law in Romans 7:6 “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”  An Israelite was required to keep the written requirements of the Law.  He could obey the requirements of the Law without believing or trusting in God and without his heart and spirit being in his actions.  As a participant in God’s new covenant, you are not to serve in the old way of keeping the letter of the regulations of a law, but instead you serve in the new way of the Spirit.  That means that you are led by the Holy Spirit and seek to please God in your actions.

The new covenant is an agreement or contract; in your case, it is the agreement between you and God.  The writer of Hebrews describes some of the important features of this new covenant.  Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  You and I, as born again Christians, are the true Israel today.  God has promised to put His laws in your mind and write them on your heart.  You no longer need a long list of written rules and regulations; His laws are in your heart.  Be sure that these laws in your heart are not different from what is revealed to us in the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles.

When you read the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and compare the laws and regulations in those books to the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, there is a big difference; have you ever wondered why?  The new covenant with God does not have the list of regulations like the Law of Moses had.  And yet, some churches today come up with their own list of regulations of conduct.  I remember a church which had rules such as “no television”, “no dancing”, “no attendance to ball games”, etc.  They felt a need to make these regulations in their attempt to have their church members be acceptable to God.  But note what the Apostle Paul had to say in Colossians 2:20-23 “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?  These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”  Human regulations appear to be wise, but the problem is that a person can appear to be keeping regulations while his heart is far from God.  Only a heart dedicated to God will turn away from the indulgence of the flesh.

Your relationship with God must now be that you serve God with your heart and spirit rather than subjecting yourself to human regulations.  Colossians 3:5-7 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”  Instead of subjecting yourself to regulations of men, you are to put to death the old human nature and now serve God from your heart.  When faced with a decision of action to take, you don’t need to consult a list of regulations; instead you follow the laws written on your heart.

I encourage you to serve God in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the letter.