The Old Testament spirituality is significant to the Christian faith today as it was in the past. However, some of the New Testaments proponents/churches have argued that it is not important since it is outmoded. According to Gołębiewski (2020), the Old Testament has less significance in the study and practice of spirituality than claimed by the Bible. The “New Testament” believers often cite how infrequently Old Testament is referenced by the New Testament in references to spiritual exegesis or they completely ignore any mention of the latter. Nevertheless, the relevance of the Old Testament to the Christian faith is not based on the New Testament referencing, rather, it stems from the Christian faith and its origin in Judaism. The Old Testament is important today because it is impossible to alienate it from the New Testament without violating the message brought by the two sections of the Bible.
The Old Testament is crucial because it is an introduction to God and his plans for mankind. It helps Christians to have a deeper understanding of the Bible and God’s unfolding love and spirituality. The OT, which is made up of the Pentateuch, poetry, wisdom, and prophetic books, is full of stories and characters who journeyed with God (Gołębiewski, 2020). Additionally, it contains wonderful stories of how God gave prophecies and fulfilled them. However, some of the prophecies that God gave in the Old Testament were later fulfilled in the New Testament, such as the coming of the Messiah. Hence, for anyone seeking to understand God and the creation of the universe, the Old Testament has the answers.
Old Testament helps to elucidate the fundamental questions of life, death, and understanding of the incomprehensible. Thus, separating the OT from the NT would render the latter meaningless since spirituality is a life that has been lived within the structure defined by God through the saving grace of his people (Gołębiewski, 2020). The sacred history of the Israelites is reflected and defined by the faith of the community, its beliefs, and rituals, especially in the yearly commemorations of past events such as Passover (Gołębiewski, 2020). Therefore, the Old Testament is important as it is a record of God’s interaction with his people and how he saved them from their enemies.
Christians agree that the Temple in the Old Testament was replaced by Jesus in the New Testament, while the Church in the New Testament replaced Israel from the Old Testament. As such, from that perspective, Christians perceive the Jews as their spiritual ancestors, and to understand the New Covenant that was made through Jesus, the Old Testament acts as the link between the New Covenant through Jesus, and the Old Covenant that was made with Moses (Gołębiewski, 2020). For example, by separating the Old from the New Testament, the modern Christian would miss the significance of the genealogy of Jesus from Chapter 1 of the four Gospels. Gaps would exist in who Jesus was, his ancestors, and their association with the gentile communities.
The Old Testament has relevance because it prophesied the coming of the Messiah. Parts of the Old Testament are best understood if they are read concerning understanding Jesus. Reading the old text as referring forward to Jesus despite the author not knowing that their writing did not know their work would have a second meaning, is referred to as a Christological interpretation of the Old Testament. Therefore, it is the spiritual rereading of the Old Testament. For example, “On the third day, he rose again following the scriptures.” The phrase was borrowed from 1 Cor 15:3-4 which states that Jesus died for our sins as prophesied by the scriptures and that he was buried and rose on the third day. Hence, the early Christians referred to the Old Testament for references to Jesus and read it as the fulfillment of the prophecies.
Additionally, Jesus himself recognized the connection of himself in the Old Testament which he came to fulfill in the New Testament. For example, in Luke 24:27 (New International Version, 2021), on the road to Emmaus, Jesus told the men that, “starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.” On the other hand, in Luke 18:31-32 (New International Version, 2021), Jesus perceived his birth, death, and resurrection as being predicted in the Old Testament when he said that everything that is written about the son of man had come true.
Rejecting the Old Testament is the same as saying that the God of the Old Testament is different from that of the New Testament. However, the Bible records and reckons that it is the same God in both Testaments. Yahweh in the Old Testament is the Father of Jesus, whom he called Abba. Additionally, in Yahweh’s justice in the Old Testament, one can see his love, particularly in the marriage imagery in the prophets. The imagery of marriage is used to show God’s love for his people. In the same fashion, Jesus is depicted cleansing the Temple and in his interactions with the Pharisees. Therefore, if the God of the Old Testament does not arouse feelings of humility, it is because he was working with the tools of the time, human authors were influenced by their cultures and customs (Gołębiewski, 2020). Christians and individuals, have to accept the Old Testament thinking, which permitted battles to integrate it into the New Testament thinking of loving even our enemies.
Old Testament calls for people to love one another as they would like to be loved. Both the Old and the New Testaments command people to live in harmony with each other. In the Old Testament, God calls Israel to show love. For example, in Deut 6:5, and 10:19 (New International Version, 2021), God asked Israelites to show love and live by it. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” is the greatest commandment while the second calls for people to love their neighbors. The above two commandments depend on the law and the prophets. On the other hand, Jesus emphasized that people should do to others what they would like to be done to them (Gołębiewski, 2020). Additionally, Paul also remarked that in Gal.5:14 and Romans 13:8,10 (New International Version, 2021), the law is fulfilled in one word, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Just like he called Jews, the Lord calls Christians to live by love.
Jesus did not come to destroy the Old Testament, or the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. Rather than doing away with the OT, Jesus came to fulfill it, and in so doing, he validated the lasting relevance of the OT to Christians. For example, in Matt.5:17-19 (New International Version, 2021), Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, rather he came to fulfill them. He said, for truly, I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Gołębiewski, 2020). Therefore, it is important to note that although the age of OT has come, it maintained its relevance by how it depicts God, and the excellence of Christ, and shows how Christians should live.
The New Testament author emphasized that God gave the OT to Christians. Paul told his followers that the OT prophets, “It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you” (New International Version, 2021, 1 Pet.1:12). Therefore, the authors understood that they were writing for the future audience and not just the Jews. Additionally, Paul was aware that the OT authors were divinely inspired and wrote it for the NT believers. According to Romans 15:4, Paul says “for whatever was written in former days was written for your instruction, that through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures, we might hope.” Similarly, Paul told Timothy, who was brought up by his Jewish mother, that the “sacred writings” of his youth can bring him salvation through Jesus Christ (New International Version, 2021, 2 Tim. 3:15). In the same regard, people today can get saved from the wrath of God and enslavement of sin by reading the OT from the perspective of Christ.
Apostle Paul recognized the importance of OT and commanded Church leaders to preach it. According to the apostle, Christian preachers such as Timothy, need to preach the OT to protect the church from apostasy. Therefore, although we have the NT, modern preachers should emulate Jesus and his disciples by referring to the OT for the benefit of the church. Thus, Paul warned that those who alienate themselves from the OT put themselves at risk of deviating from God. Thus, to modern Christians, the OT is good for teaching reproofing, correction, and training people on the righteous ways (Gołębiewski, 2020). New Testament believers can reprove, teach and correct one another through the scriptures of the OT. Based on the above, the NT authors regularly used the OT as the basis for the exhortation of Christians which the OT relevant.
In conclusion, separating the NT from the OT would be catastrophic to the modern Christian. The alienation of the two Testaments means that people would miss important pieces of literature and history. People would miss the importance of the genealogy of Jesus and his relation to gentiles. The Old Testament contains prophesies and covenants that came to be fulfilled in the New Testament. Additionally, Jesus himself approved of the OT and recognized that his coming was already foretold in the OT. In his teachings, Jesus regularly quoted from the OT verses that foretold his coming and commented how they were fulfilled by his coming. Moreover, Apostle Paul recognized the importance of the OT to the NT believers. He told Timothy that the “sacred teachings” of his upbringing had the potential of saving him through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Paul was stamping the relevance of the OT to the NT which makes it indispensable to Christian spirituality.
Reference
Gołębiewski, M. (2020). The theological importance of creation in the Old Testament. Studia Theologica Varsaviensia, 239-252. doi.org/10.21697/stv.7772
New International Version. (2021). New International Bible online.