Was There Law before Christ?

A visitor to our website for Gospel Gazette Online posed the question, “Was there law before Christ?” Most assuredly, there was divine law to which mankind was amenable before “the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The first law included the simple instructions that God gave to Adam and Eve, namely, to tend the Garden of Eden, but not to eat the fruit of a specific tree (Genesis 2:15-17). God continued to communicate with mankind through fathers of families for the next 2,500 years, during a period of time referred to as Patriarchy. For about the next 15 centuries, Israelites were amenable to the Law of Moses or Judaism (1 Kings 2:3). However, non-Jews or Gentiles continued to be responsible to Patriarchy until the time of Christ, at which time the Law of Christ replaced or superseded both Patriarchy and Judaism (Ephesians 2:14-16).