I think we need to be VERY careful about "ignoring" anything in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," Along with the new covenant in through Christ Jesus, we have also been given His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called "councellor" because as we pray for God to help us understand things in His word - the Bible - the Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom we need ... he opens the eyes of our understanding. That is why it is SO important to ask God to reveal Himself .. His will, His plans, His love ... whenever we are reading. I like what Alistair Begg so often prays when he's teaching ... "Lord, let the words of Your Book live to us" ... Pray to ask the Lord to make the words come alive to your spirit. Hope this helps. May God bless you abundantly as you seek Him in Spirit and in Truth!!

8/5/2012 1:11:29 PM - savedbygrace, Member of Delve into Jesus since 2/28/2012

The key thing to remember is that the Bible is ALL about Jesus - from Genesis to Revelation. There's so much in the Old Testament that points to Jesus that it is just as important as the New Testament. Take the whole thing as one single book - don't split it up and ignore parts of it. Remember that for the earliest Christians, all they even had was the Old Testament. It's certainly important. Now, I imagine that the main question you're getting at is which of the laws in the Old Testament are those that we should be following. Many of these have been fulfilled in Jesus - all of the sin offerings and sacrifices were done in one shot by Jesus on the cross. They were in the Law of Moses to point towards the final sacrifice Jesus would make. So now, we don't need to sacrifice animals anymore to pay for our sin - we have Jesus instead. Or, for instance, you could look at the dietary laws. Largely, I think they served to distinguish the Israelites from the nations and people groups living around them. It helped them to be clear witnesses of God. The issues with being "clean" and "unclean" though are gone for us, again because of Jesus. Before Jesus, one had to be ceremonially "clean" before you could take part in any of the sacrifices or worship that were in place in Jewish society. If you were unclean and went into the Temple, for instance, that would be a sin. When Jesus came and died for our sins, he made us clean permanently. We no longer need to purify ourselves through ceremony and ritual - Jesus as our high priest has made us clean, and so we are free to eat bacon and worship God at the same time. I hope that this was helpful! And remember, the Bible is always, all the time, all about Jesus!

8/6/2012 8:58:24 PM - Scott, Delve Christian Ministries

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