TGG Episode 4: So, Do We Follow the Old Testament Laws or Not?

Welcome to The Guy's Guide to Christian Living! This episode Trevor and Cullen talk about the Old Testament Law. What is the Law? How are Christians supposed to relate to it?
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Resources:
Covenant Theology Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_theology
Dispensational Theology Wikipedia Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism

Scriptures to read and meditate over:

1. Matthew 5:17-18
2. Acts 10:11-16
3. 1 Corinthians 9:20-21
4. Various laws
5. Psalm 15
6. Matthew 22: 34-40
7. Romans 10:4
8. Isaiah 6:1-7

Show Notes:

1. First, let’s dive into what the Law is and the purposes it served and give some background info for where this conversation is going to go. 
   1. God has rescued the Israelites from Egypt during the Exodus. Now, He is preparing to start a new nation with them in the promised land, but they haven’t arrived there yet. 
      1. Starting with the 10 Commandments, God gives Israel 613 Laws to follow. Why?
      2. If any of the Israleites were to break any of the Laws, there was a sacrificial system also described in the Torah to make the people right with God again. Why do sins need to be atoned for? Why doesn’t God just forgive wrongdoings simply because he can?
         1. Isaiah sins seemed to be forgiven without a sacrifice needed. And later, Jesus is seen forgiving sins all around Israel! Was the sacrificial system ever truly necessary?
   2. Christ says that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. But, in Acts it very much seems like the Law is made irrelevant, especially when it comes to eating kosher. 
      1. This just seems like a massive departure from what we spend so much time reading about in the OT. God spent so much time giving the 613 Laws to the Israelites and enforcing them, why just seemingly throw them away, even though that's what he claims he isn’t doing?
         1. What is really going on when he makes all the unclean animals clean in Acts 10?
            1. Why not just say “follow the Law to the best of your ability, but since Jesus has paid for your sins, you are forever forgiven and there is no need for animal sacrifices anymore”?
            2. The water seems muddied a bit now.
      2. If fulfilling the Law means that we aren’t under it anymore, then isn’t that the same as abolishing it? Why did Jesus draw a distinction there?
      3. Are we sinning if we break the OT Laws? Sometimes? How can we know?
      4. I’ve heard it said that since Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, that that is the reason the Law has been made irrelevant.
         1. But, if breaking an OT Law is a sin, and we are willingly breaking the OT Law because Christ has paid for our mess ups. So, if that is the case, then does that mean we are doing exactly what we are warned to not do in Romans 6, which is to go on sinning simply because the price has been paid?
2. How are we to treat the OT Laws? Do we just treat them as moral examples of a good way to live in that historical and cultural context? Or, do we need to take them more seriously than that? What role do they need to be playing in our lives, if any? Can we summarize our relationship to the Laws like this: Jesus fulfilled the Law. So, that means we are no longer bound to any specific Law, but rather need to take the morality behind them and instead apply that to our lives? Like loving/worshipping God, taking care of the poor and needy, etc.?