There is an on-going discussion in many places, and among Christians, surrounding this pertinent question: IS THE OLD TESTAMENT STILL RELEVANT TODAY?
It appears the 21st century Christians now cherry-pick which parts of the Old Testament that should apply to them and which part is not applicable. This has caused lots of confusion and controversies among Christians and critics alike.
Are we not supposed to embrace ALL the Old Testament? And we not supposed to discard the entire Old Testament? How do we decide which part of Old Testament to embrace and which one to discard? Is there anything like “New Testament Christians”?
Furthermore, some critics gladly quote the different parts of the Old Testament Laws, rubbing it on the Christians, and challenging Christians why they are not keeping such absurd Laws, after all, they are in the Bible.
Some other critics isolate verses from the Old Testament Laws to discredit the Bible as a whole: For example, what kind of God would endorse slave trade? What kind of God would command that nations wiped off the map and people to be killed?
The purpose of this post is to attempt to make some clarifications, and to answer some of these questions.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) reads: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Note that when Apostle Paul wrote this epistle, the New Testament had not yet been fully written. The “all scriptures” that existed at that time included some parts of the Old Testaments and just a minuscule part of the New Testament.
The Book of Galatians is considered Apostle Paul’s first epistle. It was short but full of fire and fury.
WHY?
Some Jewish Christians, who had lived all their lives practicing Judaism (i.e the Jewish religion described in the Old Testament) before becoming Christians, started telling the non-Jewish Christians that their salvation was not complete until they started practicing the law of Moses in addition.
In Galatians 3, Paul called the Christians in Galatia “Foolish Galatians” for believing their salvation was not complete without practicing the Law.
Now, the Law was given BY GOD, to Moses. So, why is the Old Testament “BAD” for Christians? Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law. Does that mean the Old Testament is now irrelevant?
3 Components Of The Old Testament Laws
To understand this, we need to know that the OLD TESTAMENT LAWS can be broadly classified into THREE:
The Ceremonial law;
The Civil law and
The Moral law.
(Sometimes though, these laws overlap)
1. Moral Laws
These laws are the direct COMMANDS of God.
For example, these include the 10 commandments.
“Moral Laws” reveal the Nature and Will of God, hence they still apply to Christians today, we still need to ‘obey’ them, and they are still relevant.
Refusing to follow the Moral Laws will be equivalent to sinning against God.
We do not obey these laws as a way to obtain salvation, since salvation is through Faith in Jesus; but we need to practice them as a way of life for believers. (Refer Fruit of the Spirit). Christians should walk in the Spirit and practice this godly lifestyle called holiness.
The wonderful thing about Moral Laws is that they are reiterated in the New Testament. Everything in the Old Testament that is meant for Christians is mentioned in the New Testament.
Every single one!
So, if it is not confirmed in the New Testament, as a Christian, you are not bound by it!
2. Civil Laws
These were the “RULES FOR A SAFE, HEALTHY AND ORDERLY, SOCIETY”.
The “Civil Laws” guided and dictated instructions for daily living, to ensure law and order.
While reading the law of Moses, we will come across these laws. And, to be honest, some of these laws do are bizarre and absurd, but they did work for the people and the society that time in history.
However, we must understand that modern society and culture are so radically different that some (or most) of these guidelines cannot be practiced specifically in today’s world.
Examples of civil laws include the following:
The law of divorce says if you don’t love your wife again, give her a certificate of divorce and send her to her father’s house. Today, you can’t just chase your wife. She will bleed you dry.
Or harvest law: if you’re harvesting, you must leave some for strangers! Today, you don’t want strangers on your property. That would be trespassing.
There are many of those laws: criminal laws, warfare laws, domestic laws,capital punishments, and so forth.
Other sundry laws include –
do not plow with donkey and ox together,
women must not wear men cloth or vice versa,
if you see baby bird and mother bird in a nest, do not prey on both but you can take the child and not the mother…
Or if a virgin is raped in the city, she must be stoned because she didn’t scream…
Or if you mistakenly grab another man’s genital, your hands must be cut…
What? All these laws are in the Bible?
You bet!
Our society today is guided by its own sets of Civil Laws completely different from what was being practiced in the Bible (Lawyers will agree with me).
3. Ceremonial Laws
This is where a lot of Christians get confused.
Ceremonial Laws are specifically related to Israel’s (Temple) worship. That is Judaism. The laws pointed forward to Jesus Christ and are no longer necessary after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
They are NOT laws for Christians.
We as Christians are no longer bound to them, but the principles behind the ceremonial laws, to worship and love God, still apply. Hence, if you have personal revelation to keep these laws, you may, but they are Optional.
For example:
Food Laws
Clean and Unclean animals. There are so many laws on what animals to eat. We visit Chinese restaurants and can’t do without sushi. Trust me, many of these are meat of unclean animals.
Also, Biblically, you shouldn’t eat pig – no pork, no sausages, no bacon (keto ladies), no spare rib.
You can’t eat fishes bottom dwellers of the ocean, salt water fishes, including catfish, eels, mackerel, “titus” etcetera because those fishes feed on junks, and you cannot eat fishes without scales.
You can’t eat mammals without 4 stomachs (i.e. non-ruminants)
Blood is forbidden, which means you must drain the blood completely from animals before you can cook it.
Circumcision: All male children must be circumcised (by the way, “un-circumcision” is back)
Temple Worship:
There’s a whole lot of these!
You can’t serve in temple if you have physical disabilities, skin disease, fractures or even crushed testicles!
You cannot come to Temple is you’re on your menstrual periods
A Priest cannot marry a widow, a divorced woman or a prostitute
Religious Festivals
The Sabbath Law: Some Christians still practice Sabbath, isn’t it?
Passover Feast… But we all celebrate Easter, isn’t it ? Easter and Passover overlap
Atonement feast, etcetera.
What about those offerings.
For example, Deuteronomy 12:5 mentioned some of the offerings to bring – “your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.” Deuteronomy 14 also encourages to use your entire tithe every 3 years to help the less privileged, and even hinted that the tithe may be converted into money and spent for celebration in God’s presence!
In summary, these Ceremonial Laws are not for Christians. But obviously, many Christians today still practice some of these laws. Anyway, they really are not sins, but just not required for believers in Jesus Christ. And some of these ceremonial laws have been completely abolished, for example, sacrificing animals. If you are sacrificing animals today, that will be idolatry.
SUMMARY:
Whenever we read the pages of the Old Testament, or we explore the Laws of Moses, we must ask the vital question:
Is this a Moral Law? Or a Civil Law? Or a Ceremonial Law.
The answer will guide us as to which is relevant and which is not.
REAL BIBLE PEOPLE 
Good clear overview. Thanks.
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Thanks for your input.
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