Why is the Old Testament Important?
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. “It is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words, ‘Ashrei temimei derech’ (‘happy are those whose way is perfect’). It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law.”[i]
Modern church culture is so afraid of “the law.” However, the word law actually translates out as instruction. We are quick to write-off the Old Testament in exchange for the “new covenant.” Yet, so many do not understand that what this literally means is a renewed covenant.
The Old Testament instruction helps us better understand matters of the heart, and also defines how God expects us to interact with our families, our neighbors, and EVEN our enemies. This wasn’t done away with when Jesus died on the cross, and rose again. No! Instead, those acts were literal fulfillments of the law itself. The covenant that was destroyed between God and man through Christ’s sacrifice, have once again been restored.
If we throw out the Old Testament in exchange for a free grace message, we actually lose sight of the story completely—creating a Bride who doesn’t understand her identity as a covenant child of Abraham. This can even be taken to an extreme where denominations begin to remove all references to Israel out of their hymns and liturgy. The Church then becomes a replacement for Israel, and movements like Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel rise up in the name of God, to divest the Jewish people of their right of existence on the very land God promised them through Abraham.
I was contemplating all of this as I was reading through Psalm 119 again this morning. As Believers in Christ it can often be hard to decipher the Old Testament laws and understand how they apply to us in modern day. The scripture says:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.”—Proverbs 25:2
This is where Biblical study, with an understanding of true Jewish custom, helps us better grasp the ancient instructions. As we apply our new understanding through the filter of the Holy Spirit, not through legalism, we can examine the significance of the Old Testament in our contemporary lives. I cannot tell you how often the Word of God has spoken into direct situations in my own life. Even the parables of Jesus became clearer to me as I continue to understand the culture in which He comes from.
It says in Psalm 119, verses 1 and 2:
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!”
It is our desire at Curt Landry Ministries to bring the Church into a greater revelation of who we are in Christ. We understand that we have been grafted into the seed of Abraham, and not vice versa. We understand that throughout history doctrines have sprung up that did not understand their Jewish roots of the faith—many times this lack of understanding fueled hatred against the Jewish people.
“…having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace…”—Ephesians 2:15
Like Paul, we seek to become the “new man” that he reveals in Ephesians 2:15. We love the Word of God and we pray that as we continue to seek the Lord for revelation that he will help us bridge the gaps in our own current understanding.
If you would like to learn more about the concept of the “One New Man”, CLICK HERE—where we have provided an in-depth study guide on what it means to walk out the One New Man lifestyle spoken about by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians.
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_119