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CHRISTIAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT

Early Christians directly related to the Old Testament as they viewed it as God’s scripture to them that had to guide their conduct. In this regard, they acted in line with the scripture, which defined their Christian walk. As such, the early Christians valued the Old Testament as they viewed it’s as their “Bible” from which all preaching’s emanated.  Therefore, the critical point of interaction with the Old Testament was using it to understand God’s purpose for the people and how they should behave to ensure that they do not endure God’s wrath.

The relationship of Christians with the Old Testament was also highlighted by the sentiments of Jesus in Mathew 5: 17 when He said, “Do not think that I have come to destroy the law, I have come to full fill it^[1].” The statement indicates that The Old Testament was viewed by Christians as God’s purpose and will for the people. Therefore, having been predicted in the Old Testament, the coming of Jesus was a fulfillment of the early teachings to Christians about what God wanted for His people.

The coming of the New Testament, including Paul’s Epistles, changed how Christians relate to the Old Testament. In this regard, they are to “learn” from it (1 Corinthians 10:6). According to 2^nd Corinthians 3:14, modern Christians do not have to follow the way of worship described in the old testament as it is no longer in force. Instead, they should learn from it. For instance, instead of building an ark like Noah, Christians can learn from Noah’s experiences regarding the consequences of disobedience.

Notably, Jesus sees Himself as a fulfillment of the Old Testament. However, contrary to the view by many that He came to break with the Old Testament, he warns against dissenting from the Old Testament (Matt. 5:19). Moreover, Jesus depicts firm reverence for the Old Testament, which indicates Jesus’ teaching about the Old Testament Law is binding for his followers as seen in  John 10:35, John 13: 18, and Matt. 5:17^[2].