Is the Old Testament applicable for Christians?

[AnOrangeCat]

It's very important. Without the OT we don't really know why we need to be redeemed. We'd be without many instances of prophecy and God showing His love and mercy. Jesus spoke of the two great commandments and also said that if we love Him we'll keep His commandments. We might not be under the law in a strict sense anymore but the OT does tell us a lot of what to do and what not to do and reveals a lot about the nature of the Father.

[TheBlade]

it is strange how we still call it OLD TESTAMENT when its GODS word that can not age haha

[farouk]

On 3/26/2023 at 12:12 PM, FJK said:

For me, the New Testament doesn't make any sense without the Old Testament.

In a sense, in a revelatory way, the opposite can also be asserted, in relation to the Old and the New Testaments.

[Who me]

On the road to Emmaous! Jesus beginning with the Moses and the prophets he explain that the Messiah had to suffer. Luke 13 to 35.

If Jesus did this how can we not diligently  study All the bible.

[Alive]

Yes--in the most real way, the OT record is the tutor that leads us to Christ. The entire thing is saturated with Christ.

I read it, in large part, to see Him there. In addition, there are a great many lessons to learn in the lives of the characters; how they were changed as the Lord dealt with them. Those things are perfectly relevant to how the Lord is working in each of us.

To come to the end of ourselves, and find 'Rest' in Him.

[Vine Abider]

I used to keep the OT at arms length, because the new covenant is better and supersedes the law.  But the more I go on, the more I appreciate the OT in it's proper context - as most posters on this thread have related.

If I could only have one I would take the NT, but I would greatly miss the OT (which certainly wasn't always the case)!

To me, the big issue is when some preach about things in the new testament, but in the old covenant way of the law, saying that we must do this or that (other than looking to Jesus and abiding in Him).  In truth, anything that is sourced in my efforts is totally unprofitable ; but what is sourced in His life and Spirit is profitable (the new covenant).

[Marathoner]

9 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

I used to keep the OT at arms length, because the new covenant is better and supersedes the law.  But the more I go on, the more I appreciate the OT in it's proper context - as most posters on this thread have related.

If I could only have one I would take the NT, but I would greatly miss the OT (which certainly wasn't always the case)!

To me, the big issue is when some preach about things in the new testament, but in the old covenant way of the law, saying that we must do this or that (other than looking to Jesus and abiding in Him).  In truth, anything that is sourced in my efforts is totally unprofitable ; but what is sourced in His life and Spirit is profitable (the new covenant).

The Lord and His apostles explain the Old Covenant to us so that we might spiritually discern the Law and the Prophets. Not only is the New Covenant in our Lord Jesus Christ the more excellent covenant, but we learn that the Old Covenant is an example for our sake. The scriptures are for our instruction and like our brother @Alive pointed out in his post, the scriptures to the apostles were the Law and the Prophets. 

I had the benefit of scriptural instruction imparted to me by the man whom the Lord sent me to when He called me from this world. From the beginning, our brother emphasized the shadows and types which the Lord provided to us from Genesis until the book of the last prophet (Malachi), so I grasped how the Old foreshadowed (and accordingly foretold) the New. Our brother also taught how the so-called minor prophets weren't minor at all, for their words speak of the coming of the Word of God and the age to come. Considerable portions of Isaiah are messianic prophecy, speaking of things which were inconceivable during his day:

The Lord shall call Gentiles into the sheepfold. 

We are blessed according to a measure that our elders in this faith didn't possess... the Lord gave us the words of His apostle to the Gentiles, Paul... and among the riches of New Testament scripture, the apostle Paul teaches us how to properly grasp the Law and the Prophets. No, we don't require scripture to be called by the Lord into the sheepfold. The scriptures are for our instruction and edification once we are in the Lord's hand.  

[Sower]

9 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

We are blessed according to a measure that our elders in this faith didn't possess.

And Get ahold of this;

"Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist"  OT

"Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he"

God's ways vs man's ways, who can know..
 

[Marathoner]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:57 PM, AnOrangeCat said:

It's very important. Without the OT we don't really know why we need to be redeemed. We'd be without many instances of prophecy and God showing His love and mercy. Jesus spoke of the two great commandments and also said that if we love Him we'll keep His commandments. We might not be under the law in a strict sense anymore but the OT does tell us a lot of what to do and what not to do and reveals a lot about the nature of the Father.

From the beginning, whenever I read from the Law and the Prophets, all I could see was the mercy and kindness of the Lord toward man. I marvel at how others glean something entirely different! We are provided with so many examples of the Lord's mercy from the chronicles of His prophets... Jonah is an excellent example. Jonah fled from delivering the words of the Lord to Nineveh because 1.) he despised the Ninevites; 2.) He knew that God is merciful and forgiving. Jonah knew that the Lord would spare Nineveh from disaster! After he delivered the words of God to that city, and they repented, Jonah was angry. 

Then he prayed to the Lord and said, Please Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. (Jonah 4:2 NASB)

The Law and the Prophets is filled with the mercy and kindness of the Almighty. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Marathoner
typo

[farouk]

On 3/26/2023 at 2:00 PM, Marathoner said:

Indeed. I've expressed this in the following way:

Moses veiled his face, having witnessed the glory of the Lord (old),
But we behold the glory of the Lord (new). 
He appeared to Moses in the burning bush (old),
But He walked among us all in this flesh (new). 
YHWH, I AM (old),
God with us, Immanuel (new). 

What was veiled (hidden) in days of old is revealed during these last days in the only begotten Son of the Father, Jesus Christ. 

This looks really good, @Marathoner!