by Phil T. Arnold
There is often a great deal of misunderstanding concerning the beliefs and practices of almost every religious body, and the church of the Lord is no exception. We have been charged with believing, teaching and practicing a number of things which have never had any “part or parcel” of the church of Christ. These false charges may at times be deliberate attempts to slander and “speak evil of that which is good”. More often perhaps it is simply the result of misunderstanding. This misunderstanding may have resulted from generalizations (such as “all Baptists believe the same thing” or “all ‘antis’ are opposed to Bible classes an multiple containers for the Lord’s Supper, etc.). Or it may be the result of prejudice (that is, drawing conclusions without considering the subject or the situation completely). Of course the source of this misunderstanding may also often be traced to the actions, attitudes and statements of the members themselves. One of the most common misunderstandings concerning the Lord’s church relates to our belief concerning the Old Testament Scriptures. I cannot really speak for others or for “the church” but only for myself, and I can only hope to “speak as the oracles of God” in an attempt to clear up this misconception concerning the church of our Lord.
All Scripture is inspired of God… including the Old Testament
It is sometimes charged that “YOU PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT”. That charge simply is not true. The Bible is the inspired word of God and that includes both the Old and New Testaments. Paul wrote unto Timothy and said, “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God…” (2 Tim.1:15,16a). All Scripture is inspired of God including the Scriptures of Timothy’s youth, which of necessity would have been the Old Testament Scriptures.
In fact, I fail to see how anyone could possibly believe in the New Testament without believing in the Old Testament and vice versa. The New Testament constantly affirms the inspiration of the Old Testament and constantly looks to it for confirmation and agreement. In fact, how could anyone believe in Jesus as the Christ without believing in the Old Testament? Jesus continually quoted those Scriptures in proof of His own person. Would the Son of God have lent support to writing which claimed to be the Word of God if they were not? This is what the Old Testament Scriptures claim for themselves when they state, “Thus says the lord”, “Hear now what the Lord is saying”, “The word of the Lord which came to me”, and other such phrases. I believe that the claims are true. I firmly believe the Old Testament to be just as much the word of God as the New Testament, and on this I have staked my soul’s eternal destiny.
It is sometimes also charged that “YOU PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE THE OLD TESTAMENT HAS ANY USE TODAY, THAT IT IS A DEAD LETTER AND THAT IT SIMPLY DOESN’T SPEAK TO US TODAY IN ANY WAY.” Again the charge is false. Unfortunately, I could see how some might draw such conclusions by viewing the attitudes and practices of some members of the church. Sometimes members of the church are not prepared to properly discuss the abolition of the Old Law and as a result they just tell people that it doesn’t have anything to do with us and leave people with the wrong impression. Or perhaps the misunderstanding comes from the unwillingness of some members of the church to study the Old Testament Scriptures. If someone would charge us with not studying the Old Testament, there are times that it might be pretty hard to refute.
I don’t believe that the Old Testament is a dead letter. It does speak to us today and contains words of benefit for us. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor.10:11). “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Rom.15:4). In each of these texts, it is obvious that the writing under consideration is the Old Testament Scriptures. Yes, God has preserved the Old Testament Scriptures for us and they have a definite value and purpose. They are not a dead letter nor are they just some ancient history that is without relevance to modern man. If no other reason for their importance to us could be offered than but simply that they are Scripture (God-breathed, inspired by Jehovah), that would be sufficient to make them precious to us, worthy of our study and demanding of our reverence.
