Recently, I was speaking with a brother and there was concern that some religious sects of the world believe that the churches of Christ reject the Old Testament. This was quite concerning considering that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Paul writes in Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
The Bible consists of 66 books, 39 of which make up the Old Testament. These 39 books are full of history, wisdom, lessons and make up the background for the New Testament. Gal 3:24-25 “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” The Law of Moses is not rejected but rather it is embraced as a tool for our learning. It is a schoolmaster (tutor) for us today.
Consider for a moment what it means to read the New Testament without the Old Testament. It’s like starting a movie halfway through. You’ll see a lot of important things, but you miss out on a lot of the connections. Of course, the message contained in the NT is able to save souls, but the vast amount of Old Testament references could bring on a lot of confusion because you’ve missed a lot of important information.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter references the prophets Joel and David. In Acts 7, Stephen preached on Israel’s history of rejection. Both sermons used accounts from the OT and concluded with Christ being magnified. The reason we study the Old Testament is not because we are bound by it, but rather it is part of Gods inspired word (2 Tim 3:16-17).
2 Tim 3:14-15 reads “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul tells Timothy the scriptures which he’s known since childhood are able to make him “wise for salvation”. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had not yet been written, so what scriptures were able to make Timothy wise unto Salvation? The answer is undoubtedly, the Old Testament scriptures.
The Old Testament is the background of the New Testament and contains important knowledge about Jesus. Jesus didn’t reject the Law. He fulfilled it. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No man can live out the Law of Moses perfectly except Jesus the Christ. The 10 commandments are a “mirror” for us today. It allows us to see ourselves for what we are- sinful. Paul writes “I would not have known sin except through the law” (Rom 7:7) But we can’t wash our sin away with that “mirror”, we need the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 9:22).