Christians and the Old Testament
Does your daily Bible reading transition to scanning when you get to the nine chapters of genealogies in I Chronicles? Did you wince when Jordan preached from Leviticus, with its litany of regulations?
If this was all we knew of the Old Testament (OT), we might conclude that it is irrelevant to Christians today. However, the OT lays the very foundation for understanding the New Testament (NT), including the person and mission of Jesus Christ.
The OT introduces us to the absolute holiness of God and the importance of honoring Him. Without this sense of God’s awe-inspiring nature, the message of the NT would lose much of its meaning.
In fact, NT writers considered the OT as vitally instructive by quoting or referring to 341 OT passages. The OT emphasizes the importance of godly living, including how we ought to treat other people, (Ps. 15, 37:1-9). We see love and devotion in the book of Ruth. The Psalms give us words with which to praise God (Ps. 8-9:2, 19). David gives voice to repentance when we are weighed down by guilt (Ps. 51). In short, the moral framework of the NT derives in large part from the OT.
Jesus himself connects his own teaching with OT Scriptures, which, he says, “testified about him” (Jn 5:39). In fact, he came to “fulfill the Law and prophets” (Matt 5:17). Paul describes the Old Law as a “guardian,” or “custodian” until Christ came that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:23-24). It foreshadowed but fell short of the New Covenant under Christ (Heb 10:1). In fact, most of Hebrews describes the superiority of Jesus and the New Covenant over the OT Law.
For example, only the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place in the temple. Sinful humans could not approach God without repeated animal sacrifices. When Christ was crucified, the veil separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place was torn in two, symbolizing our access to God through Jesus, who became the ultimate sacrifice.
We would not know the full significance of what Jesus did on the cross without the OT, which, beginning with Genesis, unfolds God’s plan for humanity that culminates with His son’s resurrection.
Jordan’s current sermon series encourages us to study the OT, as does Paul: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4).
If this was all we knew of the Old Testament (OT), we might conclude that it is irrelevant to Christians today. However, the OT lays the very foundation for understanding the New Testament (NT), including the person and mission of Jesus Christ.
The OT introduces us to the absolute holiness of God and the importance of honoring Him. Without this sense of God’s awe-inspiring nature, the message of the NT would lose much of its meaning.
In fact, NT writers considered the OT as vitally instructive by quoting or referring to 341 OT passages. The OT emphasizes the importance of godly living, including how we ought to treat other people, (Ps. 15, 37:1-9). We see love and devotion in the book of Ruth. The Psalms give us words with which to praise God (Ps. 8-9:2, 19). David gives voice to repentance when we are weighed down by guilt (Ps. 51). In short, the moral framework of the NT derives in large part from the OT.
Jesus himself connects his own teaching with OT Scriptures, which, he says, “testified about him” (Jn 5:39). In fact, he came to “fulfill the Law and prophets” (Matt 5:17). Paul describes the Old Law as a “guardian,” or “custodian” until Christ came that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:23-24). It foreshadowed but fell short of the New Covenant under Christ (Heb 10:1). In fact, most of Hebrews describes the superiority of Jesus and the New Covenant over the OT Law.
For example, only the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place in the temple. Sinful humans could not approach God without repeated animal sacrifices. When Christ was crucified, the veil separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place was torn in two, symbolizing our access to God through Jesus, who became the ultimate sacrifice.
We would not know the full significance of what Jesus did on the cross without the OT, which, beginning with Genesis, unfolds God’s plan for humanity that culminates with His son’s resurrection.
Jordan’s current sermon series encourages us to study the OT, as does Paul: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4).
Recent
Archive
2026
January
February
March
April
2025
May
June
July
August
September
October
No Comments