What Does the Old Testament Have to Say to New Testament Christians?

I remember as a child hearing someone ask my parents, "If we are supposed to live by the New Testament, why don't we just tear the Old Testament out of our Bibles?" I don't believe that this person was being disrespectful to God's Word, he was simply struggling, as do many new Christians, to understand how to relate to the Old Testament. Many people find the Old Testament confusing, irrelevant, and even boring. So what are Christians to make of this? I believe that as New Testament believers we must study the Old Testament. Here's why:

First, without the Old Testament, much of the New Testament appears confusing and irrelevant. How would we fully understand the need for Jesus' death without understanding the sacrificial system of the Old Testament?

Second, much of the New Testament is written to show how Jesus and the church fulfill the Old Testament. Paul writes, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"
(1 Cor 5:7).

Third, the New Testament itself testifies to the relevancy of the Old Testament. Paul wrote to Timothy, "16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). Remember that he wrote this when the only scriptures available to him were the Old Testament.

Finally, John ended Revelation with this statement from God: "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (Rev 22:18-19). While this warning concerns the Book of Revelation, I believe we would be wise to carefully consider it for all of scripture.

Why then do so many believer struggle with applying the Old Testament? Because, to use a New Testament metaphor, much of it is meat not milk. You can't guzzle Leviticus, not and make any sensible application to our present lives. The meat of God's truth must be carefully considered. It is not irrelevant. It does not need to be made relevant. It simply needs to studied so that its relevance may be understood.

If you are struggling with an Old Testament passage, don't give up or pass it over--study and pray. And when you get discouraged remember Jesus' promise: "7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matt 7:7-8).