And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Colossians 2:13–17
At the summit of Mount Sinai, Moses quaked with fear (Hebrews 12:21) amid the fire and smoke that shielded him from the face of the Almighty, who wrote a law for Israel with His own hand. Over the next millennium other writings were added to these initial precepts to form the 39 books which we know collectively as the Old Testament. When Jesus began to preach He said that not even the smallest detail of these writings would pass away until the whole was fulfilled.
The prophet Jeremiah foretold the bestowal of a new covenant which would not be like the one that God made with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31–34; cf. Hebrews 8:6–13). When this new covenant was given, there was considerable disagreement concerning what was to be done with the old one. Some thought it necessary to enforce its customs on the Gentiles (Galatians 2:3–4; 5:1–4; Acts 5:1–29). Still others wished to throw out the OT altogether. The question of the proper place of the OT is one that still needs a satisfactory answer today. Fortunately Inspiration has given us just that. While the laws given exclusively to Israel are not binding on us today (Colossians 2:13–17), the OT still serves a manifold and glorious purpose for the child of God today.
The OT was given for our learning (Romans 15:4). The earliest chapters teach us about God, about ourselves, and about the manner in which God deals with His human creation. We learn within these pages about God’s expectations for our worship and about the purpose of evil and suffering. We learn to be courageous and to trust in God from the great examples of Joseph and Joshua and David and Gideon. When Paul offers examples of faith, he offers to our consideration characters furnished by the OT record––men like Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, the sum of which comprises a tremendous “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) not easily dismissed.
The OT was added because of transgression (Galatians 3:1–22). Equipped with Inspiration’s safeguard against blasphemy, Paul speaks of the OT law as a curse to its subjects (v 10), because it offered no justification (v 11), only guilt (Romans 3:19–20). Paul points out that the law was never intended to annul God’s covenant with Abraham that all the world would be blessed through his Seed (Galatians 3:14–18). The law was given to the descendants of Abraham “because of transgression” until the promise made to the patriarch should find its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
The OT was given to lead men to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:23–29). Paul reminded Timothy that the words of the “holy scriptures” which he had been taught from his youth (i.e., the OT) were sufficient to make one “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). The prophecies of these books point to a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18–19) whose likeness is perfected in the prophecies of David, Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, Daniel, and others. When Jesus came, He was received by all who would listen to the testimony of the Scriptures (John 5:39).
Although the OT law has indeed been abrogated by the cross of Jesus (Colossians 2:14), it still holds a place of tremendous importance in the Lord’s kingdom.