Many Bible College students enrolled in an Old Testament Survey class have muttered this question under their breath as they call into account their guidance counselor’s wisdom in signing them up for the class. Beyond this, many believers ask a similar question. If Jesus established a new and better covenant that is outlined and explained in the New Testament – why bother with studying the Old Testament? In fact, there are denominations of Christians who do not study or use the Old Testament and avoid using it in teaching and preaching. It is our belief at Church on Fire and CFM Bible College that the Old Testament is valuable and relevant to the believer’s life today. Let me share just a few of the most important reasons why we believe this to be true.
The Scriptures testimony about itself bears witness to the importance and relevance of all parts of the Bible.
- 2Ti 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
It does say “all scripture” and that would include what we have come to know as both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have to remember that at the time of the writing of 2 Timothy – circa 67 AD – there was no collection of letters, books or scrolls that was known as the New Testament. These writings were just being authored and circulated among the believers and were not found as a group assembled together in a form that we would recognize until hundreds of years later. So the only Bible available to the believers in the 1st century was the Old Testament or more accurately the Hebrew Bible.
The central theme of the Holy Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ.
St. Augustine, an early church scholar, said it this way, “The New is in the Old contained; The Old is by the New explained.” What we would say today is that within every Old Testament book, and often throughout the books of the Old Testament, there are types and glimpses of Jesus Christ. While men authored the various books of the Bible under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit – we must recognize that the true author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. It was He that inserted these pictures of Jesus within the Old Testament so that we might more fully appreciate the majesty and power of our Lord and our God. Let me give you just a couple of examples – In the book of Genesis we see in the life of Joseph a type of Jesus Christ in that God brought salvation to His nation through one who was persecuted, in the book of Exodus we see in the offering of the Passover lamb a type of Christ who was Himself the perfect offering for our sin, in the book of Leviticus we see within all the regulations regarding civil and religious activities of the Jews God’s desire to forgive sin and receive the worship of His people, in all five books of the Law, the Pentateuch, we see Moses as a type of Christ – a redeemer of his people, prophet, priest and leader.
Jesus Christ Himself validated and confirmed that the Old Testament scriptures are relevant of us today.
In fact, Jesus confirms the OT is the divinely authoritative Word of God in His statement that the Word, OT or NT, cannot be set aside:
- John 10:34-35 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are "gods"'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be set aside--
And in His statement that everything written about Him in the Old Testament must be fulfilled:
- Luk 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
And again in His statement to the Pharisees that they were in error because they did not know the Scriptures:
- Mat 22:29 Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
And finally, in His statement that nothing from the Law would do away until all was accomplished.
- Mat 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Is the Old Testament relevant for us today? Absolutely! Be advised – it will take some effort and time to learn how to correctly use the Old Testament scriptures – but that is after all the Word’s charge to us:
- 2Ti 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
