The Old Testament Law had a lot of good points. Paul, writing to the Galatians, calls it "our tutor" (Gal 3:24). Commanding a respect for the environment by ensuring that the arid, unfertilized fields of the Near East lay fallow one year in seven was a good thing. It made sure that private greed did not lead people to strip the goodness out of the soil.
But agricultural science has moved on. We have learnt our lesson. We know now about rotation of crops, about the benefits of irrigation and its dangers. What farmer in Seeland would leave his fields uncultivated just because it says so in the Bible?
There are two ways round this. We can become barrack-room lawyers. If "you shall not sow your field", then you sell your field to someone else - someone who does not feel bound to keep the law. And you make an agreement to buy the field back and the end of the year. (Don't laugh - that is what many kibbutzim do!)
Or you can say what Jesus said, that the Law is not about agricultural science. It is about "justice and mercy and faith" (Mt 23:23). It is not about mutilating little boys, but about accepting God's gracious promises (Acts 15:5-10). It is not to be obeyed literally, but in our hearts (Mt 15:5-8). As Paul says, "we do not serve under the old written code, but in the new life of the Spirit" (Rom 7:6). "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law" (Gal 5:18).
The old Law was part of a learning process. The tutor Paul refers to was the slave who lived with a rich family's household and made sure the children became responsible adults. Today, too, we sometimes train our children by making rules. "You can't have it if you don't say please", with the hope that the idea of requesting rather than demanding, of showing thanks and appreciation, of patience, tolerance and respect for the integrity of others, becomes "second nature".
This is what God wants of us. "I will put my law within them and write it upon their hearts" (Jer 31:33). So many of us get bogged down in the details, or believe that we can earn merit stars with God by following a set of rules. We think we have to go to church on Sunday because it says so in the Bible (even though it doesn't!) We think we have to give money to the church because it says so in the Bible (even though it doesn't!)
If we think like this, we have not yet got the full point of Christ's redeeming grace. Nobody "has to" go to church. We do so willingly because it is "second nature" to want to join in worshipping our creator, our saviour and our guide, to share in Christ's resurrected life together with others who have known God's grace. Nobody "has to" give money to the church. It is just a thing which Christians do naturally. We do so willingly because it is "second nature" to share in contributing to the needs of others, as they work to make Christ known through teaching and through service to others.
To echo Paul's words to the Galatians, we are not under the Law, we are led by the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Gal 5:22-23). And so we seek to follow. Not blindly, but gladly!
HD