Why is it that Christians on one hand will dismiss the Old Testament...?

Question

and then turn around and quote it as if it has meaning? Which is it gonna be? (I am not trying to be a jerk, I really want to know)

O.K., so for those who reference Leviticus against homosexuality don't eat pork, or crabs etc... (I'm sure you've heard this arguement before). So why is it O.K. to observe one law and not the others?

Answer 1

If you really want to know... well, the fundamental controversy began immediately after Christ's death. James the Just (Christ's brother), preaching to Jews in Palestine, taught that to be a Christian, you must also follow all the old Jewish Law. Paul, a fervent convert and Roman citizen, preached to the Gentiles. He argued that the Law was too heavy a burden for the Jews, much less the new Gentile Christians. The argument continued for some time, until they reached what is called the "Great Compromise". James would continue to live in obedience to the Law, but Paul was free to teach Gentiles differently. So long as they observed the rules against sexual immorality and certain dietary rules, they could be Christian.
From then until now, the church has had issues. They continue to pick and choose what Laws they think they should follow, and which ones they should discard. They've never sorted out whether Christ's death fulfilled the law, ended it, or just paid the price for breaking it...

Answer 2

Dear Sinyckel,

I think you are making an incorrect assumption. You see not everyone that says they are a Christian are Christian. You have seen this in everyday life. You remeber 9/11? Those "pilots" whos drove the planes into the World Trade Center may have known how to fly a plane but, unlike a true pilot, their interest was not in the safety and well-being of his passenger. I'm sure you heard of the recent incident of a doctor? He had a M.D. license but sexually molested and raped some of his patients that were under anesthesia! The whole Bible, Old Testament and New Testament is the word of God. The Lord (Jesus Christ) commands in Revelation 22:18-19 that man is not to add or subtract from His word. People who state they are a "Christian" and dismiss the O.T. are not true believers! In fact, if you will read Jeremiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel you will find that the Lord is talking about our present day! I could write pages to you concerning this but do not have the space. Please take a look at this website: www.familyradio.com. Everything here is downloadable and free. May I also recommend to you a book called "Wheat and Tares" focusing on the parable in Matthew 13 (This book is free also). This literature will lead you into the Bible-it does not quote some theologian from the 1800's. I hope this will help you.

Answer 3

ALL Scripture is profitable the Bible says. Herein lies the problem. When Jesus died, the handwritten law was done away with. It was nothing more than a shadow pointing to Christ. The Bible says this. The health laws were never done away with. But they weren't the law of God either. They were instructions to the people on how to live healthfully. After all, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who destroys this temple God will destroy. Paul said that. The Ten Commandments were the only things God has ever written in stone with His own hand. They were meant to be permanent. All of them.

Here is the most important point though I think. Jesus, His disciples, and Paul quoted extensively from the Old Testament - not even counting the verse in Timothy I began this with. Why in the world would someone who believes in the New Testament discount the Old Testament? I don't understand that at all.

If you would like to know the truth about the Bible, check out the following website...

Answer 4

As a Pastor and Lifelong Christian. I do not dismiss the Old Testament in my teachings. I use it. I connect the Old with the New. What I do is parallel the Old Testament with the New Testament so that many others can see God's love for us. Jesus, John the Baptist, The Apostles and others all made lots references to the Old Testament within the Bible. Even Jesus himself said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. - Matthew 5:17

To dismiss the Old Testament, is not seeing the "Big Picture". Others may do that, I do not. My idea has always been, "How can you get where you're going, if you don't know where you started from?"

Answer 5

The old testament is "supposedly" mostly for Jewish people with all the laws n such. It's also an historical account of true events that did happen and the prophecies of the coming of Christ. After Christ came, "Christians" began following His teachings. Which, some also came from the old testament. So, depending on what you're looking for, you can find it either in one area or another. Now, if you actually take time to read the old testament, you'll know for a fact, that there were animal sacrifices for everything. until the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. So, in actuality, it;ll still be both. You can't pass up the history. "In the beginning God created"

Answer 6

The old testament is not dismissed, but its meaning changed since Jesus died for us. We dont use it as a law book anymore, but we need it to make sense of the new testament. For example, we dont know what the word PORNIA in the greek original testament origanally ment. Some translate it as fornication, others as sexual wrong behaviour. But what did God mean by it? If we go to the old testament we can get all the rules God gave in a law about sexual behaviour. And tge law was perfect. So now we dont really need the exact translation anymore, we can get from the OT what Gods morals are on sexual behaviour. Like that. The bible keeps itself in line that way. The law does not contradict the morals God still has in the NT. Its all linked together.

So no matter how the meaning of words change or get lost in our world, the bible keeps being self explainatory this way.

Answer 7

First you must define what you include in "Christian". The O.T. is part of God's word. The N.T. tells us it is for an example. Sometimes people confuse the law with the O.T. Christians today are not under the law as were Jews prior to Christ. This does not mean that murder is now okay. It means that we are no longer held accountable to the law for our salvation, we have the new covenant with Christ. Under the old law there had to be a blood sacrifice for every sin that was forgiven. Jesus became the final sacrifice for those who will believe. We no longer need the law to convict us of our sin, now we have the Holy Spirit within us (new law).

Answer 8

I agree with God's Grace and Preacherman. The laws in the Old Testament are no longer laws, but they ARE still principles by which we should live.

Laws regarding how to treat people who are ill....using sanitation and isolation to keep the sickness from spreading....laws about cleanliness in how foods are prepared have all proven to be correct. Every hospital in this country uses the principles originally set forth in the Old Testament when it comes to cleanliness. Would you want your doctor to stop washing his hands, because that practice was first mentioned in the Bible? I don't think so.

I'm not sure how well I am doing at explaining this. If I haven't done it very well, blame me not God. He is infallible. I am not.

Answer 9

The Old Testament is before we are covered by the blood of Jesus. We do follow the principles and laws of the Old testament, but we do not have to do the rituals to repent, because God sent his son in the New Testament to die for our sins. Wish means in order to be forgiven we do not have to produce a sacrificial lamb, all we have to do is get on our knees and ask God for forgiveness and repent for our sins and try not to commit the act of sin again.

Answer 10

Jesus came to fulfill the law and not destroy it.(which He did).The
New Testament really makes the Old Testament more binding.
The Old Testament LAW says "Thou shalt Not Kill" in the New Testament Jesus taught if you HATE your brother you committed
murder. There is NO WAY anybody could keep Gods LAWS.The
reason God gave them is so that we would realize that ONLY GODS
LOVE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CAN SAVE US.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict all readers of SIN and show the
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS and that the world is already judged.
Draw my brothers in the flesh to saving Grace.A-Men
In Christ in LOve,
TJ57