If Homosexuality Is Wrong, Should We Still Stone Adulterers? Understanding the Old and New Covenants

 If Homosexuality Is Wrong, Should We Still Stone Adulterers? Understanding the Old and New Covenants

One of the most common objections Christians hear today goes something like this:

“If you say homosexuality is wrong because of the Bible, then why don’t you stone adulterers like Deuteronomy says?

Why don’t you keep the Sabbath perfectly?

Why don’t you follow Leviticus and avoid planting two kinds of seeds in the same field?”

These questions sound clever, but they reveal a misunderstanding of how the Law of Moses works, and more importantly, what changed when Christ established the New Covenant.

This blog will walk through the biblical structure of the Old Covenant, the categories of the Mosaic Law, and how Jesus fulfilled and transformed the law—not by abolishing morality, but by completing the covenant God made with Israel.

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1. The Law of Moses Was a Covenant With Israel, Not a Universal Moral Code

The first thing to understand is that the Law of Moses was not a random list of rules. It was a covenant treaty between God and the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy itself says this plainly:

“The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.”

— Deuteronomy 5:2

This covenant included:

• Moral laws (universal right and wrong)

• Ceremonial laws (sacrifices, purity, food, festivals)

• Civil laws (penalties for Israel as a theocratic nation)

All three categories were God‑given, but not all three were meant to be permanent.

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2. Why Christians Don’t Follow the Civil and Ceremonial Laws

A. Civil Laws (like stoning adulterers)

These laws governed Israel as a nation-state under God’s direct rule.

Example:

“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die.”

— Deuteronomy 22:22

This was a civil penalty, not a universal moral command.

Christians are not a theocratic nation, and the New Testament never commands the Church to enforce civil penalties.

Jesus Himself refused to apply the Mosaic penalty when the Pharisees brought Him the woman caught in adultery (John 8). He neither denied the sin nor enforced the civil punishment. This is a clear signal that the civil code of Moses does not carry into the New Covenant.

B. Ceremonial Laws (like mixed fabrics, food laws, seed laws)

These laws symbolized Israel’s separation from the nations.

Examples:

• No mixed fabrics (Leviticus 19:19)

• No planting two kinds of seed (Leviticus 19:19)

• No pork or shellfish (Leviticus 11)

• Ritual purity laws (Leviticus 12–15)

The New Testament explicitly teaches that these laws ended with Christ:

“These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

— Colossians 2:17

“He declared all foods clean.”

— Mark 7:19

The ceremonial system pointed forward to Jesus. Once He came, the shadows were fulfilled.

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3. What Does Continue? The Moral Law

The moral law is different.

It is rooted not in Israel’s rituals, but in creation itself.

Jesus reaffirms this:

“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female…

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.”

— Matthew 19:4–5

Paul reaffirms it:

“Do not be deceived… neither adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality… will inherit the kingdom of God.”

— 1 Corinthians 6:9–10

The New Testament consistently teaches:

• adultery is still sin

• sexual immorality is still sin

• idolatry is still sin

• murder, theft, greed, and lying are still sin

These are moral truths, not ceremonial shadows.

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4. Jesus Did Not Abolish the Law—He Fulfilled It

Jesus said:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

— Matthew 5:17

Fulfillment means:

• the ceremonial laws reached their purpose in Him

• the civil laws ended with the Old Covenant nation

• the moral law continues, clarified and deepened by Christ

This is why Christians do not stone adulterers, avoid mixed fabrics, or keep the food laws—but still uphold the moral teachings of Scripture.

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5. The New Covenant Replaces the Old Covenant

The New Testament is explicit:

“He makes the first covenant obsolete.”

— Hebrews 8:13

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

— Romans 10:4

“We are not under the law but under grace.”

— Romans 6:14

This does not mean morality disappears.

It means the covenant system of Moses has been completed and replaced by Christ.

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6. So What About the Original Question?

If homosexuality is wrong, should we stone adulterers?

No—because stoning was a civil penalty under the Old Covenant, and Christians are not under that covenant.

Should we avoid working on the Sabbath?

No—because the Sabbath was a sign of the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 31:16–17), not a universal moral command for all nations.

Should we avoid planting two kinds of seeds?

No—because that was a ceremonial purity law, fulfilled in Christ.

But is sexual morality still binding?

Yes—because the New Testament reaffirms it as part of God’s unchanging moral design.

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Conclusion: Christ Fulfilled the Old Covenant and Established the New

The Old Covenant laws were real, God‑given, and meaningful—but they were temporary, pointing forward to Christ.

When Jesus came, He fulfilled the ceremonial system, ended the civil code of Israel, and reaffirmed the moral law rooted in creation.

So Christians do not follow:

• stoning laws

• food laws

• fabric laws

• seed laws

• temple rituals

• national penalties

But we do follow:

• the teachings of Jesus

• the moral law repeated in the New Testament

• the call to holiness empowered by the Holy Spirit

This is not inconsistency.

It is biblical covenant theology.

Christ is the fulfillment.

Christ is the center.

Christ is the New Covenant.