There is quite a bit of confusion in the Christian world today regarding the purpose and application of the Old Testament. The Christian believes all scripture found in the Bible is truth, inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). A misunderstanding, while perhaps very well intentioned, is to assume that no matter where we find a law or regulation in the Bible it applies to God-fearing people today. Non-believers may even take Christians to task if we don’t follow every law in the Bible, whether it comes from the Old Testament or New Testament, labeling us as hypocritical or inconsistent. So, why wouldn’t we live by every word in the Bible? Don’t we have the same God now as at the beginning? Should Christians tithe (give 10% of our income), as originally directed in the Old Testament? Should we keep the Sabbath day (Saturday) holy? Should we have priests, holy objects, special sacrifices, and holy feast days? Should we limit what we eat or how we dress to the regulations found in the Law of Moses?
So, what’s the answer? It’s true that we have the same God today who existed at Creation. God is and always has been the same (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). In fact, we find passages which teach us that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit have all three been there from the very beginning (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-3,14). But just because the Godhead has always existed doesn’t mean the agreements between God and mankind have always been the same. This is a big point and really helps us understand what God wants today. God expected certain behavior from all humans since the beginning, and exercised judgment when they sinned (Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, the global flood of Genesis 6-8, etc.). Many hundreds of years later, after their exodus from Egypt, Moses and the Israelites got a very specific set of instructions at Mt. Sinai. God proposed an agreement with the ancient nation of Israel, in which they could be His chosen people. As long as they properly followed His laws, He would bless them and take care of them, and would not penalize or forsake them. The Israelites agreed to God’s proposal (Exodus 24:3-4), and this agreement is what is variously called the Law of Moses, the Old Law, the Mosaic Law, or the Old Covenant. Please note, this agreement is not the Old Testament itself, but is included within its books.
The Old Covenant with Israel is only a small portion of the Old Testament. The history of creation, the fall of man with the sin of Adam and Eve, the world-wide flood account, God’s covenant with Abraham, and many other essential truths are all found before Israel agreed to the Old Covenant. The rest of the Old Testament includes a full history of the Israelite nation, teaches wisdom, and contains prophesies pointing to Jesus. That Old Covenant with Israel has been replaced with a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13), with a new chosen people (Galatians 3:29; Titus 2:14) known as Christians (Acts 11:26).
So, are we responsible for the laws of the Old Covenant? Do we need to observe Old Covenant directives on sacrificing, tithing, type of dress, holy days, diet, the 10 Commandments, etc.? The simple answer is “no” and is, of course, found in the Bible. This same question came up at the beginning of Christianity when many were converted, and we can read that Christians were not held accountable for all those Old Covenant laws (see Acts 15). But does this mean that the Old Testament is worthless? Of course not! The blessing of the Old Testament is that it contains answers to significant questions about our origin and the Creation, what sin is, who God is and His character, prophecies of the coming Christ, and many other important truths. Did Jesus Christ destroy the Old Covenant and make a new one? No, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant (Matthew 5:17), and established a new one with His blood sacrifice (Luke 22:20).
On an interesting note, within the pages of the New Testament we see many similarities with that Old Covenant, which makes sense as we have the same God. We still need a blood sacrifice for sin, but we don’t have to offer it ourselves since Jesus did it for us (Hebrews 9:22-28). Christians are not directed to give 10% (tithe) but are told to give from the heart (2 Corinthians 9:6-11). The 10 Commandments are all reiterated in some form in the New Testament, except to keep the Sabbath day (Saturday) holy, since Christians are to assemble and worship on Sundays (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). The Christian has no prescribed clothing to wear but is directed to be modest (1 Timothy 2:9-10). We have little direction on diet but must not to be offensive to others (1 Corinthians 10:31-33), and the list goes on.
So, what about us today? We learn many important truths about life and God in the Old Testament, but don’t need to follow all the rules of the Old Law since it was specifically made for Israel. God still requires His people (Christians) to follow His laws. It is our responsibility to know them, and we can read all about this New Covenant through Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Text or call with any comments or questions.
Jeff Mullen
Blanco Hills Church of Christ
Worship: Sunday 11 am
Class: Sunday 10 am, Wednesday 6:30 pm
blancohillschurch.com
830-554-0701