Does the End of the Law = Lawlessness?

The New Testament teaches that the Law—aka the Old Covenant—ended in the first century. The temple standing in Jesus’ day symbolized the Old Covenant (Heb. 9:8–9), and when that temple was destroyed in AD 70, it meant the Law had officially ended. Without a temple, only 77 positive and 126 negative commandments can be observed—out of 613.  In essence: no temple, no Old Covenant.

Jesus’s disciples had specifically asked about the timing of the end of the Old Covenant age in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:3), and Jesus said it would happen within a generation (vv. 13–14, 34). Since a biblical generation equates to around forty years (Heb. 3:8–10, Num. 14:30–34, Neh. 9:21), then it must have ended by around AD 70. In fact, Jesus linked the end of the Old Covenant age to the destruction of the temple (Matt. 24:2, 13–14, 34), which historians acknowledge happened in AD 70.

During the forty-year time period between the Olivet Discourse in approximately AD 30 and the destruction of the temple in AD 70, the apostles made many statements about the passing of the Law which show they believed it would end by around AD 70. Consider the following statements leading up to AD 70:

AD 57: Now all these things happened to them [the Israelites in Moses’s day] as examples, and they were written for our [first-century Christians’] admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

AD 62: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son [Jesus]” (Heb. 1:1–2). Note: the last days refers to the last days of the Old Covenant/the Law, not the last days of planet earth.

AD 62: “But now, once at the end of the ages, He [Jesus] has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26).

 AD 63: “The end of all things [related to the Old Covenant/Law] is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7)

AD 63: “In that He [God] says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first [covenant] obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13).

Can there be any doubt the apostles were living in the last days of the Old Covenant age? In fact, by AD 65, it was not even the last days anymore; by now it was the last hour of the last day:

AD 65: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18, italics mine). Note: Antichrists were people in the first century who denied that Jesus that was the Messiah (1 John 2:22-23, 4:2-3; 2 John 7).

By this time, AD 65, it was not even the last days anymore; by now it was the last hour of the last day. These passages clearly show that the Old Covenant age/the Law ended in the first century.

Does Lawlessness Abound?

The question then becomes: If the Law has ended, does this mean we are free to lie, steal, and murder? After all, the prohibitions against such things were part of the Law…which ended in AD 70.

Response: May it never be! While the ceremonial aspects of the Old Covenant Law have ended—such as animal sacrifices, Sabbath keeping, physical circumcision, dietary restrictions, feast day observances, etc.—the moral aspects will never end. Why not? Because these are part of God’s holy character—not merely the Law—and God’s character will never change.

God’s moral laws were around long before the Law ever came into existence (see Genesis 3), and they will always be so. In fact, people do not even need Scripture to know about God’s moral laws because people are all made in the image of God and are thus intuitively aware of them: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they [Gentiles, pagans, atheists, etc.] are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Paul also mentions Gentiles without the Law doing what the Law requires (Rom. 2:14–15)—morally speaking, of course, as most Gentiles throughout history did not even know that the ceremonial aspects of the Law existed.

Since people are made in God’s image, therefore, people intuitively know that things like murder, theft, and lying are wrong. This is why all cultures and societies throughout history—whether they’ve had special revelation (the Holy Scriptures) or not—have enacted prohibitions against such things. God’s moral laws are self-evident truths that were around long before the Law ever came into existence—and they will always be so!

The ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law, on the other hand, were types/shadows that pointed forward to the New Covenant realities. And once the New Covenant realities arrived, then the types/shadows became obsolete and vanished away (Heb. 8:13). For example, the Saturday Sabbath pointed forward to the Sabbath rest in Christ (Heb. 3:7–4:16). Likewise, physical circumcision was a type/shadow that pointed forward to spiritual circumcision “not made with hands” (Col. 2:11). Similarly, the annual Passover sacrifice of a lamb was a type/shadow that pointed forward to Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross (1 Cor. 5:7). The ceremonial aspects of the Law were types/shadows that pointed to the “good things to come [New Covenant realities]” (Heb. 10:1, Col. 2:17); and once the New Covenant realities arrived, then the Old Covenant types/shadows became obsolete and passed away (Heb. 8:13).

Although the ceremonial aspects of the Law passed away when the temple fell in AD 70, the moral aspects—such as: do not murder, do not steal, do not lie, and so on—will never pass away because these are part of God’s holy character, which cannot change.

So while Christians are not required to observe the ceremonial aspects of the Old Covenant Law, we are required to obey God’s moral law, aka Christ’s Law (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2)…and Christ’s Law (aka the gospel, the New Covenant) will never end!

For more information about the topics discussed in this article, get my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled.

By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 1/30/25