Christians, how can you read the old testament and apply some of it while rejecting other things?

Question

How can you say that having sex with a beast is wrong according to Old Testament but then say eating pork is okay and ignoring that? How do you explain when Jesus said that Scripture cannot be broken, yet you can break it? (By the way all that was around then was the Old Testament) How can you read the old testament if you think some of it doesn't matter anymore, how can you tell what does and what doesn't?

Answer 1

I don't know what your motivation is for asking this question, but you are right. Most believers , as evidenced by many of the answers onhere, have been decieved into believing that Jesus "fulfilled" got rid of the old law and gave us a "new" covenant. What they fail to realize is that the word fulfilled means made perfect- He walked perfect Torah- God's perfect instruction and was an example of how to walk Torah without all of the additives by the pharisees- he never did away with the law but the new covenant was actually the old covenant renewed, elaborated upon, or realized if you will- He showed that it was never meant for salvation- the Jews, at no point in history, needed to walk Torah in order to be saved- they were given Torah as a picture of salvation (a picture of Jesus) and the idea was for them to walk it BECAUSE they were saved- the same for us- we are saved- Jesus said "if you love me , you will obey my commandments" well, which commandments dod they think he was talking aobut- either we obey his perfect instruction and truly follow him (being that he walked perfect Torah- to follow Him would mean we were to do the same- or we live in anarchy and say there is no law (yet every church has its own "law" loosly based on what is comfortable for them to follow from the Bible. It is either one or the other Christians cannot have it both ways!
Christians today want to turn their noses up at those who would follow God's commandments truly, observe His perfect feast days and walk in His righteousness claiming legalism while celebrating man made, pagan feasts and traditions, creating their own laws and guidelines to judge others salvation and offer up what is unclean as holy to the Lord.
I do believe old and new testament scripture gives us warning about this!

Answer 2

Because they are BOTH true! Leviticus 18: 23--bestiality is wrong. Acts 11: 5-9--what was formerly considered unclean for Jews was no longer so for Christians (this point was made to Peter so that he wouldn't have any objection to preaching to a non-Jew, but applied literally to the eating of animals as well). The Mosaic Law code was, for the most part, done away with when Jesus died--Romans 10: 4.
But, yes, some so-called Christians do emphasize some scriptures that bolster their beliefs, while ingoring anything else.

Answer 3

The New Testament teaches us how to apply the Old Testament. All of it is useful, but for different purposes. Some of it is to show the holiness of God. Other parts show the ceremonial side of pre-Christian religion - how they were to approach God: it was a picture of what we have now in reality in Jesus Christ. The foods that were forbidden in the old testament were a picture of how the Christian is not supposed to be. For instance one was to eat meat from animals that chewed their cud and had split, or separated hooves. The cud-chewing was a picture of meditation (in fact the hebrew word is the same). The separated hoof shows a walk separate from the sinful world. Both of these aspects were pictures of how Jesus would be - delighting in the law of God (meditating) ande separation from sin. Read Psalm 1:1-2 and you will see the whole idea there.
Now we no longer depend on the picture of it, but rather the reality.
So the Old Testament is not useless. It just has a different purpose.

Answer 4

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is the new covenant and many Old Testament laws no longer apply. The ones you question deal mainly with common sense.

Answer 5

Having sex with a beast is wrong with or without the Bible,holy cow!
Everything Jesus said was to the Mosaic law keeping Jews.Once He died .so did the Law."He took all those rules and regulations and nailed them to the cross"Paul said in Collosians 2."Now ,you're not to judge what a man eats or drinks or judge his sabbath days etc."
Don't you realize that there were 639 commandments in the Law? And James says 'A miss is as good as a mile'....If you don't keep them ALL perfectly you haven't kept any of them.
Paul also says in Galatians,"If you walk by the spirit you've fulfilled the law."
God said in the O.T. 'That a new law I will write upon their hearts not written on stone'.....

Answer 6

To have sex with a beast is an abomination. We are not to eay any animal with a split hoove. All of the old Testiment matters. It was not void when the new Testiment was added. God says this about people who go against what the bible says and follows the way of the world instead....

romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The way we are to present our bodies to God as living sacrifices is to be obedient to His word. Study His word and you will be knowledgeable as to what God expects from you. If you dont' read His word, you only have your own self to blame for now knowing right from wrong in the eyes of God.

Answer 7

There are some things we as "men" will never understand. The most important thing is to have salvation. Jesus loves us all, and wants us to be with him forever. That is such a relief to know that my savior waits for me. Sin was dealt with in a different way before Jesus. There are just some things we can't explain. We have to have faith that God is in control, and gave us this resource as a blessing. Good luck to you.

Answer 8

>>>Only men were permitted to have multiple spouses.<<< A very long time ago, yes, this was true -- but only because there were far fewer people, and families needed to be bigger in order to run farms and such. Having one woman marry several men wouldn't address that concern, since men cannot get pregnant. >>>Only men were allowed to establish a covenant with God through circumcision.<<<< That's because men have penises and women don't. How does a woman get circumcized? >>> If a newly-wed wife were found to be unchasted she could be divorced, I found no mention of an unchasted husband suffering the same fate.<<< That doesn't necessarily mean he could get away with it, though. The Bible doesn't mention latrines either, but one is safe in presuming that they existed back then. >>>Women were only allowed in the Court of Women and no farther into the Tabernacle of God.<<< Most men were not allowed in there either. Only the priests were. >>>Why the disparity? Why the contempt?<<< It's not "contempt". I'm afraid you are judging people who lived 6,000 years ago by 21st-century standards. That's never a fair thing to do. >>> I am a Christian and I know that things are different now that Christ has come and abolished the Law.<<< Christ did not come to abolish the Law. He says so plainly in the Gospels. He came to fulfill it. >>>But, I can't help but feel devalued when I read the Old Testament. <<< Again, that's largely because you're judging ancient people by 21st-century standards. Which, again, simply isn't fair. I don't feel "devalued" as a woman reading the OT, any more than I feel "devalued" when as a black Hispanic woman I read a textbook chapter about slavery. Because I'm able to put both things in their proper historical and cultural context. Also, realize that much of what you speak of occured in very early Old Testament times. In the Old Testament eras just prior to Christ's birth, though, much of what you speak of no longer was taking place -- Jewish men having multiple wives, for instance.

Answer 9

The moral laws in the Old Testament, like having sex with an animal or commiting murder are timeless revelations of God's will and charcter. They don't require a special revelation from God to know that they are wrong. These types of laws are written on the consciences of mankind.

Romans 2:14 for whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves, (15) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience witnessing with them, and among themselves their thoughts accuse or even defend them),


When God redeemed the Israelites from Egypt He gave them special ceremonial and sacrificial laws in order to set them apart from the other nations. These types of laws were only until Jesus came to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17 "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.

By designating certain foods as "clean" or "unclean" God was establishing an outward principle of holiness. Jesus gave us the fuller understanding of what God really desires from people in this regard.

Mark 7:18 So He said to them, "Are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything entering a man from outside cannot defile him, (19) because it does not enter into his heart but into the stomach, and passes into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?" (20) And He said, "That which comes out of a man, that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, come forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, arrogance, foolishness. (23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

The ceremonial and sacrificial laws were "shadows" of the Christ to come.

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, (14) having blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the midst, nailing it to the cross. (15) And having disarmed principalities and powers, He mocked them in public, triumphing over them in it. (16) Therefore do not let anyone judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or of a new moon or of sabbaths, (17) which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.

Answer 10

When Jesus died on the cross, He said "It is finished". What He was referring to was the righteous requirement of the law and the just punishment for its trangressions that were completed in Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. Jesus said "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill "(Matthew 5:17)
We read in Romans 10:4: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes"
Romans 4:2-4 say "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness". Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. BUT TO THE ONE WHO DOES NOT WORK, BUT BELIEVES IN HIM WHO JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY, HIS FAITH IS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,
So the Law as a means of righteousness - coming into right standing with God, was done away with in Christ.
HOWEVER, as a means of instruction in righteousness, its truths are applicable today. "For the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12)
However the dietary laws were primarily to teach spiritual principles in figures of speech. Paul quotes a passage from the law "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain" He then comments on the verse stating: "God is not concerned about oxen is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it is written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops" (I Corinthians 9:9,10)
As for the commandment against unclean animals, we read in Mark Jesus's statement: "Are you so without understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared ALL FOODS CLEAN) (Mark 7:18,19)
All that being said - if you have compunctions against eating pork, DON'T EAT IT. But don't judge others, because the Scripture says "Therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to FOOD or DRINK or a NEW MOON or a SABBATH DAY - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" (Colossians 2:16,17)

Hope that makes sense.