How Important is the Old Testament to Christians?

• 1 Corinthians 9:8 (AMP) Do I say this only on human authority and as a man reasons? Does not the Law endorse the same principle?

Occasionally I run across somebody who will downplay the Old Testament.  They will say things like, “Oh, but that is out of the Old Testament and we are no longer under the Law.”

The Apostles would not have agreed.  A good way to study the New Testament would be to read through it one time highlighting all the passages that are direct quotations from the Old Testament and/or indirect references to the Old Testament.  You would go very few pages between highlights.

Let me remind you that the entire Bible is the Word of God.  It is important to not confuse the ceremonial laws that governed the Jewish nation’s worship and civic policies with the revelation of God’s mind and will for all people for all times.  (Even the ceremonial laws have much to teach us about God).

Anytime you find yourself devaluing any part of the Holy Scriptures you are walking on thin ice.  My dear friend, pray for a deeper love, reverence, admiration, hunger, passion and understanding for the Word of God; it is the source of hope, truth, wisdom and guidance in this age of information overload about “stuff” that does not really matter.