What law did the Jews in Paul's day actually follow?
The Jews in Paul's day actually followed a man-made legal system—a whole set of six hundred and some rules and regulations that the rabbis had assembled by studying various aspects of the Old Testament. It was not the pure law of God but the law watered down with man-made ideas.
Les explains that the law in Paul’s and Christ’s day had been watered down with man-made ideas. It was a whole set of six hundred and some rules and regulations, the law the Jews really attained to—the law the rabbis had put together by studying various aspects of the Old Testament. Paul still spoke of becoming “under the law” to those under the law, and he never forsook the morality of the law of God.