Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV): “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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
There are many Christians today who do not read the Old Testament, and who believe, contrary to the very words of Jesus, that he has done away with the Old Covenant Law. But the Law is an expression of God, and of His holiness, and, unless He changes (which He never will) it is still a requirement for His people. I’m not talking about the web of extra stuff, created by men, that had grown up around the Law, but the Law itself, as God wrote it. Even the sacrificial laws are still required. The wages of sin is still death, and blood must still be shed for every sin. But Jesus fulfilled that death, that blood-shedding, once for all. Every Christian should be completely familiar with the whole of the Old Testament – it is there that God revealed Himself to the first people of His covenants; there He showed them Who He is and who we are as His people. Jesus clarified and supplemented what God had already revealed, but He did not replace it. And without the original, the supplements and clarifications can often seem disjointed, make a whole lot less sense, and can more easily be taken out of context.
Father, I thank You that we “New Testament Christians” still have access to the whole of Your revelation. Continue to speak to our hearts through ALL of Your word. Amen.