Once we know HaMashiach, what is the purpose for keeping YAHVEH’s Law?

YAHVEH’s Law gives us direction for living a holy life.
“Don’t be afraid,” Moses said, “for God has come in this way to show you His awesome power. From now on, let your fear of Him keep you from sinning!” (Exodus 20:20) Why were the Ten Commandments necessary for YAHVEH’s nation? At the foot of Mount Sinai, YAHVEH showed His people the true function and beauty of His Laws. The commandments were designed to lead Israel to a life of practical holiness. In them, people could see the nature of our Elohim and His plan for how they should live. The commands and guidelines were intended to direct the community to meet the needs of each individual in a loving and responsible manner. By Yeshua’s time however, most people looked at the Law the wrong way. They saw it as a means to prosperity in both this world and the next. And they thought that to obey every Law was the way to earn YAHVEH’s protection from foreign invasion and natural disaster. Law keeping became an end in itself, not the means to fulfil YAHVEH’s ultimate Law of love.

YAHVEH’s Law directs our love for Him.
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfil them. I assure you, until heaven and earth disappear, even the smallest detail of God’s Law will remain until its purpose is achieved.” (Matthew 5:17-18) YAHVEH’s moral and ceremonial Laws were given to help people love YAHVEH with all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel’s history however, these Laws had been often misquoted and misapplied. By Yeshua’s time, religious leaders had turned the Laws into a confusing mass of rules. When Yeshua talked about a new way to understand YAHVEH’s Law, He was actually trying to bring people back to its original purpose. Yeshua did not speak against the Law itself, but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected. (See John 1:17.)

Through HaMashiach, our relationship to YAHVEH’s Law is clarified.
If Yeshua did not come to abolish the Law, does that mean all the Old Testament Laws still apply to us today?

In the Old Testament, there were three categories of Law: Ceremonial, Civil and Moral.
(1) The Ceremonial Law --- related specifically to Israel’s worship (see Leviticus 1:2-3, for example). Its primary purpose was to point forward to Yeshua HaMashiach; these Laws therefore, were no longer necessary after Yeshua’s death and resurrection. While we are no longer bound by ceremonial Laws, the principles behind them-to worship and love a Holy YAHVEH - still apply. Yeshua was often accused by the Pharisees of violating ceremonial Law.
(2) The Civil Law --- applied to daily living in Israel (see Deuteronomy 24:10-11, for example). Because modern society and culture are so radically different from that time and setting, not all of these guidelines can be followed specifically. But the principles behind the commands are timeless and should guide our conduct. Yeshua demonstrated these principles by example.
(3) The Moral Law --- (such as the Ten Commandments) is the direct Command of YAHVEH and it requires strict obedience (see Exodus 20:13, for example). The moral Law reveals the nature and will of YAHVEH and it still applies today. Yeshua obeyed the moral Law completely.

Obedience to YAHVEH’s Law must always begin with us.
Some of those in the crowd were experts at telling others what to do, but they missed the central point of YAHVEH’s Laws themselves. Yeshua made it clear however, that obeying YAHVEH’s Law is more important than explaining it. It’s much easier to study YAHVEH’s Laws and tell others to obey them than to put them into practice. Reader, ask and answer yourself this: How are you doing at obeying YAHVEH yourself?

YAHVEH expects from us whole-hearted obedience to His Commands
The Pharisees were exacting and scrupulous in their attempts to follow their Laws. So how could Yeshua reasonably call us to a greater righteousness than theirs? The Pharisees’ weakness was that they were content to obey the Laws outwardly without allowing YAHVEH to change their hearts (or attitudes). Yeshua was saying therefore, that the quality of our goodness should be greater than that of the Pharisees. They looked pious, but they were far from the Kingdom of YAHVEH. YAHVEH judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the heart that our real allegiance lies. Be just as concerned about your attitudes that people don’t see as about your actions that are seen by all.

Shallow obedience to YAHVEH’s Law is unacceptable.
Yeshua was saying that His listeners needed a different kind of righteousness altogether (love and obedience), not just a more intense version of the Pharisees’ righteousness (legal compliance). Our righteousness must (1) come from what YAHVEH does in us, not what we can do by ourselves, (2) be YAHVEH-centred, not self-centred, (3) be based on reverence for YAHVEH, not approval from people and (4) go beyond keeping the Law to living by the principles behind the Law.

YAHVEH’s Law offers direction, not justification.
“You and I are Jews by birth, not “sinners” like the Gentiles. And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ-and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law.” (Galatians 2:15-16) If observing the Jewish laws cannot justify us, why should we still obey the Ten Commandments and other Old Testament Laws? We know that Paul was not saying the Law is bad, because in another letter he wrote, “The Law itself is holy and right and good” (Romans 7:12). Instead, he is saying that the Law can never make us acceptable to YAHVEH. The Law still has an important role to play in the life of a Christian. The Law: (1) guards us from sin by giving us standards for behaviour; (2) convicts us of sin, leaving us the opportunity to ask YAHVEH’s forgiveness; and (3) drives us to trust in the sufficiency of our Saviour HaMashiach, because we can never keep the Ten Commandments perfectly. The Law cannot possibly save us. But after we have become Christians, it can guide us to live as YAHVEH requires.