If the New Testament effectively overrides the Old Testament...?

Question

As I have always been led to believe, then why is the Old Testament still included in current Bibles?

Answer 1

That is a big misconception. Mature Christians do not think that the NT overrides the OT. We know that both of them go hand in hand. The OT is very important because it shows the history of the bloodline that Jesus came from, not only that but it shows other histories, teaches us about other cultures and it has a lot of prophecy in it. Some of the writing in the OT is some of the most beautiful, eloquent writing that we still have today.
There is nothing that is irrelevant about the OT.

Answer 2

The New Testament does not override the Old Testament; in fact it fulfills and completes the Old Testament. Reading the New Testament should be like reading a love letter written by somebody in love with you. Having read his real feeling for you, you reflect back on how this person has been interacting with you before he wrote the letter. Then you begin to understand every behavior, every expression, every move! Truly, the Bible is the most beautiful love letter ever written.

Answer 3

I need to correct something an earlier answerer has said: the old testament does NOT contain references to Jesus. Jesus is not mentioned once.

Yes, there are references to a messiah, but it's also clear that the description does not fit Jesus.

EDIT - to those who keep insisting that Jesus appears in theh old testament: where??? Jesus is never mentioned by name for the simple reason that Jews never believed he was the messiah and still don't today.

There is reference to 'a' messiah but it is clear this is not Jesus. If you think he's named in the old testament, then kindly cite the source so I can go and look for it.

Answer 4

Because we can learn so much from the past if we study history and the Old Testament is the history of God's people. It shows the ones who were faithful followers and how they overcame problems and the way God rewarded them. It also shows many who did not follow God and worshipped idols, became homosexuals and went their own way and how God punished them for turning their backs on Him.

If we don't learn from the past, we are setting ourselves up for failure in the future. Hopefully more people will read the OT and learn from it and how to avoid the many pitfalls that will lead us away from God but as far as how we should live today, we need to study the New Testament and apply it to our daily lives and worship.

All of it is God's way of teaching us what we need to know and a way to guide us so we can have salvation if we follow Him and are faithful to Him all our lives.

Answer 5

The new COVENANT replaces the old COVENANT.

The old testament of the bible will always stand on it's own merits, along with the new testament, as the inspired and inerrant, written word of God.

Answer 6

The New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, you don't know what was fulfilled!

Answer 7

Dear Katie

No, the NT does not override the OT and it needs to be included in our Bibles because, together, they are the WHOLE revelation of God to us.

Have you noticed how many OT scriptures - usually prophecies - are quoted in the New? That is how the Bible proves itself and also how it shows that Jesus is the promised Messiah, by the cross-referencing that is contained in it. If you only had the New, you would be seriously hampered in presenting evidence of these things, especially to the Jews.

I agree with the person who said that Jesus, as Messiah, is not only predicted in the OT, he actually appears in there, too. Who do you think the LORD (JHWH) was who appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18:1) and who told Sarah that she would have a son? And who was the one 'like unto a son of the gods' walking in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Dan. 3:24, 25), etc? It was Jesus, the Son of God, their Messiah and our Christ.

As already quoted by one of our contributors, Jesus said that not one jot nor one tittle should pass from the law until all be fulfilled. In effect, he was reinforcing the Law, not abolishing it. We must all fulfill the Law, but we can only do it in Jesus.

What, then, has been abolished or done away with? It is the system of sacrifices which, in Christ, have been done away, for a very good reason.

Jesus came as the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world. Because the blood offering of the Lamb of God came before the Father in the Holy of Holies which is in heaven (Hebr. 9:24), and because it was of his sinless Son, it was able to atone for ALL SIN, once and for all.

But, before that happened, before Jesus came in the flesh, the Jews had the Law of Moses and had to rely on a system of animal sacrifice. This was the best that could be done to address man's uncleanness before God on account of his sin (ie. wickedness). So, if a person made a sacrifice, according to the directions in the Law of Moses, in the Temple, in the sincerity of his heart, God accepted that as a covering for his sins. Note, his sins were covered, not taken away.

So, when Jesus came, there were a lot of covered sins about which needed to be taken away - like you would cover stains on a white tablecloth by placing a saucer over it. But they needed to be washed clean, and only Jesus' blood could do that.

So, any Christian who, after receiving Christ, thereafter went to the Temple not just to worship, but also to sacrifice, was effectively denying the all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ. For the Christian, there was no longer any need to sacrifice according to the Temple system.

Though, for the Christian, the sacrificial law has passed away, what has remained is the moral law - ie. the Ten Commandments and how it was explained thereafter in both Old and New.

By the way, we also need to know about the history of the Jews, who they are as a people and the promises God made to them, because this has a direct bearing on current events in the Middle East today and our attitude, as Christians, to them as a people.

I could go on. I hope you get the message.

Answer 8

Because, We need to know how we've gotten to this point in our lives. The Old Testament reveals God's first covenant with man. The New Testament reveals the last covenant with man.

Answer 9

Read it, obviously you know nothing about it. The Old Testament contains the history of the Hebrews, about Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, prophecies about the birth of Jesus etc...The Old Testament was written before the birth of Jesus and the New Testament was written after his death. They don't override each other. They compliment each other.

Answer 10

Sain Paul and his followers named christians tells like that but our Jesus has told a different thing, read it:

"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Bible-Mathew:5:17-18)