The New Testament was written assuming that readers are thoroughly familiar with the Old Testament. Without that background, readers of the New Testament will miss much and are in danger of misinterpreting the New Testament. Moreover, both Jesus and the New Testament writers highly revered the Old Testament as the very word of God.

Consider this famous Scripture:

2 Timothy 3:15-17 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Even at the time of writing, the New Testament was only just being written (and the above ended up being part of it) and Paul is referring to the “holy Scriptures” Timothy knew in this infancy. In other words: not the New Testament but the Old Testament.

The Old Testament was divinely crafted to warn and instruct those who live under the New Covenant:

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning . . .

1 Corinthians 10:5-11 . . . God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. . . . Let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. . . . Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. (Emphasis mine).

1 Corinthians 9:9-10 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? . . .

Consider also:

1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the [Old Testament] prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to . . . . To them it was revealed, that they served not themselves, but you . . . (Emphasis mine.)

To begin to understand the immense importance of the Old Testament, please read The Inspiration & Reliability of the Bible and follow the links. You will find that it focuses on the Old Testament.

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