How Christians Should Read the Old Testament (Part 4)

I admit it, the Old Testament is a little hard to understand—at least harder than the New Testament. It contains things that don’t make sense to our twenty-first century minds and may even be confusing. As a result, some would prefer to ignore it, even declare it irrelevant, and just spend all of their timing focused on Jesus.

I prefer to learn how to read and defend the Old Testament instead of ignoring it. Without it, we rob Christianity of its foundation, and we will never understand who Jesus was, what He came to do, and why He has to come again!

Speaking of Jesus, how did He approach the Old Testament? It was the only Bible He had, and He never called it “old.” He referred to it as the Scriptures, or the Word of God, and He considered all the stories in it to be true. He referred to its authority when He said, “It is written.”

The apostle Paul said the Old Testament Scriptures were “God-breathed” and useful for doctrine, correction, and instruction in righteousness. He summed it up by saying they fully equipped Christians for “every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Learn how to understand the Old Testament and be enriched in your life and walk with the Lord in this week’s Out of Zion podcast.

About this episode:

Many people have questions about the Old Testament, and this episode, will answer several of them. The key to how Christians should approach the Old Testament is to view it through the eyes of Jesus and Paul. It was their Bible and it was respected as authoritative. For us today, reading the Old Testament is a cross-cultural experience. That challenge makes it all the more interesting.

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Links for Part 4: