In our modern age, the Bible has often been treated as an outdated and patriarchal book that people should not be in high regard and the Old Testament particularly has been referred to by Andy Stanley as something that Christians should be “unhitched” with¹.  The Apostle Paul wrote to his young protege Timothy this timeless truth about the Bible: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). When he wrote these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the New Testament was not yet completed as the canon of Scripture we know as the Bible. Paul was primarily referring to the OT and likely parts of the NT that had been written. 

The entirety of the Bible, both OT and NT, is one unified story that points to the person of Jesus and his redemptive work. The NT expounds on many commands, promises, and redemptive themes that were first established in the OT. In many places of the NT the authors claim that the OT Scriptures were being fulfilled in the life of Christ when he came and lived, died, and rose from the dead. Certain themes such as the Kingdom of God continued to progress in revelation from the OT to the NT. A summary of the teaching and preaching of Christ could accurately be described as the “good news of the Kingdom” (Luke 4:43), which was the subject of most of his parables (Matthew 13). Jesus is the King through whom the Redemptive work of God culminates. Scripture consistently points to the promise of his reign and redemptive work. Jesus testified of this to the religious leaders of his day who searched the Scriptures but failed to miss the main point of them, namely Jesus (John 5:39).

After Jesus was resurrected from the dead he had a life-changing conversation with some of his followers in which he walked them through the entire OT and showed them how it pointed to himself (Luke 24:27, 44).  Perhaps in Genesis, he revealed himself as the Creator and Promised Redeemer who would crush the head of the serpent (John 1:1, Colossians 1:16) and then explained how he was the Ram at Abraham’s altar (Genesis 22:13). Or in Exodus, he revealed how he is the Passover Lamb (John 1:29,1 Corinthians 5:7). When he came to Leviticus surely he revealed himself as High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) and our Sweet Smelling Aroma (Leviticus 1:9)². In the book of Numbers, he spoke about himself being the Rock that was struck to give water in a desert place (1 Corinthians 10:4), and the Bronze Serpent on Moses’ Pole that when looked upon brings healing to the sin-sick world (John 3:14-16). In Deuteronomy, he likely mentioned himself as the great Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15) who would be like Moses but greater or how he would become a curse for us (Galatians 3:13, Deuteronomy 28). Perhaps he described himself as the mana in the wilderness or the Bread from Heaven (John 6:51). In Joshua, he could have identified himself as the Commander of the Army of the Lord. In Judges, perhaps he explained how he is the Faithful Judge and Deliverer of his people (Judges 2:18). Surely in Ruth Jesus explained himself as the Kinsmen Redeemer (Ruth 3:12). In the first and second Samuel perhaps he explained how he is the Prophet, Priest, and King. Perhaps when he got to Job he identified himself as the Redeemer who lives and the Mediator between God and man that Job was longing for in his suffering. Perhaps in the Psalms, he mentioned that he is the Good Shepherd and the Strength and Song of his people. In Proverbs, he may have identified himself as the Wisdom of God like the Apostle Paul described him as (1 Corinthians 1:30).  In Songs Of Solomon, He could have spoken about being the bride-groom and the Author of faithful marital love. Surely in Isaiah, he must have spoken about him being the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53).  Perhaps in Daniel, he identified as the fourth man in the fiery furnace and Ancient of Days or the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. In Malachi, he could have mentioned how he is the Sun Of Righteousness who brings healing in his wings (Malachi 4:2). Since the OT points to Jesus preachers should not fail to locate Him in the OT books that they preach through. Pastors who don’t teach the OT do a disservice to their people and risk the failure to convey the whole counsel of God, as Paul sought to do (Acts 20:27). Paul leaned heavily on the use of the OT in his ministry.  

The Law of God is put into three categories by theologians, namely, the moral law, civil law, and ceremonial law. The NT is clear that the ceremonial law is no longer an obligation to be kept by followers of Jesus, however the moral law is reemphasized in the NT and considered by Paul as a standard that is in accordance to the Gospel (1 Timothy 1:10). The civil law portion of the Torah has proven to provide a helpful basis for just and wise laws. The history of America displays evidence of having based parts of the constitution upon biblical principles in civil law. 

The law of God reveals the nature and character of God, particularly his holiness, righteousness, justice, and love³. God’s holiness is the basis of his requiring holy living from his people (Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15). The law confronts and corrects unrighteousness and injustice and the fulfillment of the law is love for God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40, Romans 13:10, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:34). The Apostle Paul told Timothy that the law is good, and it is good when used properly.  The function of the law is to expose sin and have a basis for holding people accountable ethically. It is for the lawless, sinners, ungodly, and unholy people (1 Timothy 1:8-10).

God graciously gave the law to his people for at least three purposes according to the Protestant Reformers. These are: to show people their need for the Savior, to function as a restraint in society, and to direct the believer in his behavior⁴. This is particularly helpful in ministry either in evangelism, preaching sermons or counseling when addressing people who assume that they are pretty good and have no need of repentance or forgiveness through trusting Christ and his perfect sacrifice for their sins. Very few patients will take a prescribed medicine without first being diagnosed with an illness. The law diagnoses all of humanity with the sin-sickness that is fatal (Romans 3:1-23). Only when sinners see themselves as such and deserving of death will they recognize their need for the Savior who died in their place (Galatians 3:24).

After being saved or redeemed by Christ the moral law does not become irrelevant. It should still shape one’s behavior by giving a blueprint for ethics and a baseline for measuring what is right and wrong. Yet the law doesn’t grant the power one needs to change nor does it provide cleansing of defilement and guilt for us (Romans 8:3-4). This is where the power of the Gospel is magnified in the Son who did for us what we could not do for ourselves and with the Father sent the Spirit to empower us to do what we could not do ourselves, namely live in victory over sin (Romans 8:13, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). The law helps us see that the penalty for sin is death and all the animals that had to die and the people who had to die under the judgment of their sin point us forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The book of Hebrews describes the ceremonial animal sacrifices for sin as a shadow and highlights Christ as the substance (Hebrews 8:5, 10:1, Colossians 2:17).  

Since the Bible is about Jesus, preachers should preach Christ-centered sermons (Colossians 1:28) to identify him as the hero and attribute the glory to him who is mighty to save and whose kingdom will never end. This approach follows the teaching of Christ and the pattern of the Apostles (Luke 24:27,44, John 5:39, John 1:14, Colossians 1:28, 1 Peter, 2 Peter). They should preach through the books of the OT to provide a well-rounded spiritual diet for their church. Tony Merida wrote, “Every text will point to Christ futuristically, refer to Christ explicitly, or look back to Christ implicitly”⁵.

In ministry today we ought to also show the ways that Christ has fulfilled the OT prophesies and requirements for righteousness. Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish the law but rather to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). So our attitude toward the OT law should not be negative or dismissive. The OT is a large part of the inspired and infallible word of God that is useful for us to learn and train others in the way of righteousness and it helps equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). To neglect such a great resource would be a disservice to us and those whom we lead. 

Yet at the same time, preachers should not preach and teach the OT in such a way that it would diminish the superiority and newness of the New Covenant, which is described as better (Hebrews 8:6) by the author of Hebrews and more glorious than the Old Covenant by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 3:1-18). 

Another important element of the OT is the consistent theme of the Mission of God’s people and leaders in the church must help people see that vision.  From the Genesis account of humanity being mandated to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, we see mission and purpose (Genesis 1:26-28). This was reemphasized after the flood to Noah and his family (Genesis 9:1).  In the call of Abram, we see God’s missional purpose to bless the entire earth through his seed (Genesis 12:1-3). Israel was called by God to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 42:6). Chris Wright does an excellent job of helping one see the mission of God’s people from the OT in his book The Mission Of God’s People. He wrote “There should be no theology that does not relate to the mission of the church – either by being generated out of the church’s mission or by inspiring and shaping it. And there should be no mission of the church carried on without deep theological roots in the soil of the Bible. No theology without missional impact; no mission without theological foundations.”⁶

The OT is full of wisdom for living well in this world and it gives us a framework of how the world became like it is and how we live within it. The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job are particularly helpful here since it is wisdom literature. The book of Psalms teaches us not only about Jesus, as it is the most quoted OT book in the NT, but it also teaches us how to pray. Each of the seven petitions Jesus taught his disciples can be found in the book of Psalms⁷. Paul instructs Christians to use the Psalms as a source of content for worship and encouragement in the corporate gatherings of the church (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19).  

Bibliography 

1. https://albertmohler.com/2018/08/10/getting-unhitched-old-testament-andy-stanley-aims-heresy/ ↩︎
2. Hawkins, O.S., The Bible Code Finding Jesus In Every Book Of The Bible, p.23, Nashville, Tennesse, Thomas Nelson, 2020  ↩︎
3. Packer, J.I., Growing In Christ, P.232, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois,  ↩︎
4. Luther, Martin,  Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, Q: What Purposes Does The Law Serve? , Concordia Publishing, St. Louis Missouri,  2017,
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5. Merida, Tony The Christ-Centered Expositor, p. 52 ,Holman Bible, Nashville, 2021
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6. Wright, Christopher J.H., The Mission Of God’s People, P. 20, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mi, 2010 ↩︎
7. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together,  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Harper One, San Fransisco, 1978, p.47, Harper One, San Fransisco, 1978 ↩︎