We might all agree that God inspired the Old Testament, but is it authoritative for the Church? Isn’t the Old Testament written “for the Jews” and not for the Church? The Old Testament is foundational for understanding the New. In fact, Jesus uses the Old Testament extensively in the Gospels. For Jesus, the Old Testament was authoritative because it “testified concerning him” (John 5:39). Jesus used the Hebrew Bible to “validate His mission, His words, and His actions.” From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus announced that the “Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:14). This is based on the idea from Daniel 2:44, 7:14, 18, 27 that God was going to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem at some point in the future. In Luke 4:18ff, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah (61:1ff) and claims that His ministry is fulfilling the text of Scripture. There are many passages that make it clear that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the ministry of Christ (Matt 1:22, 2:17, 2:23).
Likewise, Paul cannot be understood without a foundational knowledge of the Old Testament. In 2 Tim 3:16-17 he makes it clear that the Old Testament is inspirited by God and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (NIV). For Paul then, the Old Testament is foundational for doing ministry. Paul also makes more use of the Old Testament than any other writer, quoting the Old Testament 90 times in his letters.
Comments are closed