Brief note, for those who may not know the Christ-emphasis of this site or the contents of the other columns in the series: none of this should be construed as enacting nothing but Law against Christians. The same Christ Who told us we break God’s real Law far more easily than we might think, also offers Himself as the perfect fulfillment of that Law. Scripture is clear: because of the Law, we know our sin, and because Christ came, preached His kingdom, died and resurrected, we can know our Savior from sin.

One of the best reasons I’ve heard is that we can still discern the intents behind some of the more time-specific laws, such as putting parapets around the roofs of your house — care for houseguests, who might otherwise fall off while staying up there. (Of course, here the death penalty is still hotly contested).

As for what is the difference between moral law (such as the Ten Commandments) and ceremonial law, one of the keys seems to be whether something is repeated in the New Testament. For example, the famous ban on wearing clothes made of mixed fabrics could be seen as being fulfilled in Christ and no longer binding.

Better still, Jesus specifically addresses the prohibitions on certain foods later in Mark 7: 18-19: “And he said to them, ‘Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.)” This is reinforced by Peter’s vision in Acts 11. Its main goal was to show him that Gentiles would now become part of the Church, but a secondary purpose is that all foods are clean.

One of the most direct transferences of Old-Testament laws is from the original commandments against homosexual practice in Leviticus. That is directly carried over into Romans 1, making it clear God’s moral law still prohibits it today (though there is no mention of human-imposed penalties for the practice, as mandated to original Israel).

This is why I think Christians ought to avoid the whole Law-explanation with nonbelievers (often we struggle to get it ourselves!) and focus on what Paul says in Romans. It’s a clear indication that rejection of God leads to that sin and many others.