I grant you that this is not a topic the non-follower
of Jesus could care anything about, since the authority of the entire Bible is rejected.
To the believer however, this is germane.
The easy conclusion is that the Old
Testament, suffused in Mosaic Law was written for a Jewish population. It's
irrelevant to us today. That's faulty thinking.
Rather than instructing a younger generation of Christians to disregard the Old Testament, the apostle Paul coached Timothy to let the Old Testament scriptures train him to be a godly man. During the first century as Paul wrote to Timothy, the only scripture extant was the Old Testament. These were the Spirit inspired words with which Timothy was raised. As a young adult believer in Christ living in the New Testament era, Timothy was being tutored to regard the OT as relevant to his personal Christian life. Regardless of its antiquity or it's intended primary audiences in previous centuries, Timothy was told that he could be completely furnished to be a man of God by allowing Old Testament scripture to teach him, to lecture him, and even to rebuke him when required. Here is what Paul wrote. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV. Paul said this after reminding Timothy of his upbringing. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14-15 NIV. Keep in mind that the "scriptures" to which Paul necessarily referred were Old Testament.
Rather than instructing a younger generation of Christians to disregard the Old Testament, the apostle Paul coached Timothy to let the Old Testament scriptures train him to be a godly man. During the first century as Paul wrote to Timothy, the only scripture extant was the Old Testament. These were the Spirit inspired words with which Timothy was raised. As a young adult believer in Christ living in the New Testament era, Timothy was being tutored to regard the OT as relevant to his personal Christian life. Regardless of its antiquity or it's intended primary audiences in previous centuries, Timothy was told that he could be completely furnished to be a man of God by allowing Old Testament scripture to teach him, to lecture him, and even to rebuke him when required. Here is what Paul wrote. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV. Paul said this after reminding Timothy of his upbringing. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14-15 NIV. Keep in mind that the "scriptures" to which Paul necessarily referred were Old Testament.
That informs us of the ongoing importance of the OT because it
claims that the 'old' holy scriptures contain that which effectively teaches
someone about the salvation that results from trusting in Jesus Christ. That is
not to say that salvation through faith in Jesus Christ can only be learned by
reading the Old Testament, but since that scripture is all that Timothy had, he
could have confidence that in the OT was the corroborative evidence that God
would one day send the divine Son, the perfect Messiah, virgin born, Jesus of
Nazareth to fulfill the law for us. The
understanding was that Christ (deity) fulfilling the law would mean that
successive generations were no longer under its penalty.
Resident in the OT is the biblical record of origins, the
historical verification of human sin, of God's fury, of God's promises of
blessing to Abraham and to the One Seed who would be Jesus Christ, of the Law
of Moses to serve as a censure and a guardian for a Chosen people, of
prophetical pronouncements of Jesus birth and birthplace and redemptive work.
That's all there in the OT.
If there was ever a succeeding strategy to dismantle Christianity, it was to demonise God's chosen nation and dismiss all credulity in the Older Testament. The fact that more energy is devoted to New Testament studies in our seminaries/ theological colleges and a complete ignorance of the Hebrew roots of our faith, means we are being taught a sanitised Gospel in contemporary church life, focusing more on the 'benefits' and charismatic circus treats in modern life than on the serious commands of the God of the Older Testament. The assimilation of ancient mythology into our arena of worship..... Xmas, Santa, Easter, chocolate bunnies and eggs etc etc... has not dissuaded most pastors and teachers from abandoning such traditonal error in favour of earnest and truthful exposition of the Full Gospel, which begins in Genesis chapter one. I comment as a minister (now retired) who despairs at the apostacy of modern 'christianity'. Perhaps that is why there will only be a remnant?
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