Christians, do you abide by the OT law or NOT?

Question

Or do you cherry-pick what to abide by and what not to?

Ok, you follow the ten commandments, you believe in the Creation myth, but you no longer stone adulteresses (I hope) or approve of bears killing kids who mock a bald man, or openly speak to your kids of a God that commands his "chosen people" to kill men, women and children by the sword *

Then you say that Christ came to clean all sin; but then you go back to the Creation, the Ten Commandments and so, your kids even get thrilled when those baddie Egyptians drown in the Red Sea...

When or why did you decide (for yourselves) what to blatantly ignore from the Bible?



*FYI, all this is in the Bible; you might want to read it just to check...

Answer 1

they do cherry pick...and then condemn us for pitching the whole book out the window...

Answer 2

The fact is that it is not just the OT that certain Christians cherry pick. They cherry pick the NT as well. Many allow females to lead their churches clearly against Paul's admonishments in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, 1 Cor: 11:5-6 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12.

Yet when it comes to Paul's opinions on gays, they are all for quoting from him and using it as a lance against others.


The only arguement I have EVER heard a Christian make concerning this matter that seems FAIR and balanced and theologically sound is that NONE of the bible should be taken as law, whether it is the Old or New Testament.

Jesus became THE LIVING WORD and fulfilling the law, and there is only one law- Christ.

But Christians like that are few and far between.

Answer 3

I don't personally. I am still learning. I have currently learned a lot more about the relationship between the old testament & new testament. How events in the old testamnet phrophecy the new. I do try to follow the 10 commandments, and love thy neighbor. I asked the deacon at chirch a long time ago why we don't follow the kosher laws, and he said because, Jesus said nothing we put into our mouths would make us unclean.
Jesus followed the 10 commandments and we are called to imitate Him.
Maybe I don't understand your question completey, but I try to abide by the whole bible. There is still much I do not know. One day I am going to take up my cross and follow Jesus, but I haven't the courage yet. To be a real christain is hard, especially when your married like me. It's harder to serve 2 men then it is to serve 1. I can't exactly sell all my belongings & give the money to the poor, i have to honor my husband. (sorry I'm rambling, I have my own issues)

Just so you know I recently watched the story of Moses and I cried we those soldiers dies in the red sea, they were just doing their job.

Answer 4

I abide by the New Testament Law..
Very similar in some things and very different in others.
Some laws in the NT are more strict than the OT.
You are confusing the Laws of the two teataments with the history written there..
The laws were commandments to be kept, but the creation story is not a commandment or even part of the law. It is the story of how God created the world.
Even the OT stories of how they dealt with sin shows us just how serious sin is and what can actually come of it.
Even though God might not tell us directly to destroy a nation, he still has control of nature and can send hurricanes, earth quakes ect. to punish people that get way out of line..

Answer 5

well your asking an awful lot of questions that would be best answered by a local preacher that can sit down with you and find out whats really bugging you over a longer time then we can
do here in a paragraph or two.

1. When Christ came he replaced some things but not all.

2. God in the Old testament was more a God of the sword,
now with Christ's sacrifice he's the God of a second chance
AKA Mercy.

3. Christ repeated MANY of the 10 commandments as things
TO DO...so we do try not to break them.

4. Christ's blood saves us now...not the blood of animals.

5. Creation is not a myth.

6. we can judge between right and wrong but were not supose
to pass judgement on others(execution) as was done in the old
testament. God will take care of that at the very end now as he
will be perfect in his judgment of each of us as we tend to screw
up the facts too much.

7. the way your wording your questions and examples your using
tell me you haven't reach a level of common understanding of
the bible yet...it wont be done in one sitting it takes a life time
of study and prayer...

Answer 6

Dog Sneeze made a good point. We are supposed to be holding each other (other Christians) accountable for living as our faith teaches, not trying to make non-Christians live like Christians. That said, much of the morality within Christianity is also found in the other great religions and in Enlightenment thinking and no doubt many other sources--it is the basis of human rights and a good legal system. So a good legal system would have many laws in harmony with the Bible--no stealing, no murder, support of family. Big difference in that and a theocracy.

Answer 7

Three things.

1. Christians, by definition, apply New Testament ideals first. They are Christians, not ancient Hebrews. In the New Testament, Peter, Paul AND Jesus all put forth new law based on belief in Christ, faith, and the Golden Rule. There is no cherry-picking going on. Times change. Laws change. That is most evident in the New Testament. So many of the "laws" in the OId Testament are outdated and irrelevant to Christianity.

2. No doubt all of that is in the Bible. That said, it is funny that you accuse Christians of cherry-picking the Bible when you just did it yourself. Everything you just mentioned occurs in the Bible under certain historical and cultural contexts that you are choosing to ignore. So who's being unreasonable here?

3. You obviously have a very narrow view of what Christians believe and do not really understand the diverse nature of Christianity and the varied beliefs that they have. So all you are basically demonstrating here is narrow-mindedness, ignorance on the topic, and selective interpretation of the text you are reading. Does't that make you just like the kind of Christians you obviously have a beef with? Hmm...

Answer 8

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1–7:29
Key Verse(s): Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them. I assure you, until heaven and earth disappear, even the smallest detail of God's law will remain until its purpose is achieved. (Matthew 5:17-18)

So they should

But Jesus also said that the law was a living thing not made of stone, so not all of the OT is the same as it was originally intendeds.

Answer 9

Judging by the answers that fore go the Old Testament, I can only assume the OT to be considered mostly a bunch of lies.


An example of Christian belief in the OT are the Gideons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Genesis, Adam and Eve, the Serpent, Lucifer, God, etc.

Are we to pick and chose?

Answer 10

The OT is really background information.

The teachings of Jesus are what Christians are called to follow. If you're quoting from the OT as a justification for living your life they way you do. Then as a Christian you'd better be sure those OT quotes are in line with what Jesus taught. Jesus would never approve of "An Eye for an Eye".

Answer 11

I've read the Bible thank you very much, but you are talking the Old Testament. I have made a constant practice of following all of the rules because they work best for me and the people around me. You might try a little anger management. All of that hate is really bad for your heart.