ALL SCRIPTURE

Have you ever heard some people say, "old testament shouldn't be in the bible"? If you haven't, you may have heard those who say a believer shouldn't study the old testament because it is not useful for a new testament believer. Some persons took an extreme position saying the God in the old testament is not the same God in the new testament. They assert that the God of the old testament was wicked, harsh and cruel but the God presented to us in the new testament is loving, caring and merciful. These distinctions present God as two persons in different dispensations. Somehow, this last assertion is one of the fuels for agnosticism in our day. All these campaigns against the bible and God has been for centuries( 144 A.D.) and now has been revived by those who want to undermine the authenticity&authority of scriptures. They took this heresy to another dimension when they said the words and teachings of Jesus doesn't apply to us today and certain portions of new testament that present God as harsh( i believe Revelation is implied here). The man who started this campaign is Marcion of Sinope. Scholars popularly call him 'heretic Marcion'.

Is the old testament useless and not important to us? Let's go back to Paul, the man whom most anti old testament scriptures quote and believe. Speaking by the Holy Spirit, Paul said, *"ALL SCRIPTURE( including old testament scripture) IS INSPIRED BY GOD and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work,2 Tim 3:16-17 NLT. It will interest you to know that the new testament was not yet fully written and compiled at the time Paul made the statement above. Obviously, the scripture he referred to as inspired by God was the old testament. The only bible that was available to the early church from the days of Acts of Apostles until the end of 14th century was the old testament. New testament letters were written to believers in several locations and it took time before everything were brought together as one, what we know today as "New Testament Bible". The early church preached, taught and meditated on the old testament because they accepted it as the valid word of God. In fact, on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached from the old testament and 3000 were added to the church not shrine. That is the bible available to Paul in his day. Could he be wrong to say what he said? Think.

Paul didn't stop there. He said "All scriptures"( referring to the old testament in context) are useful for teaching what is true. It means that there are truths in the old testament that is useful for us in this dispensation despite being new testament believers. In fact, he said it is useful for doctrine and for training God's people for every good work( ministry inclusive). If this is true for Paul, why is it different for us in this generation? You can't be more Pauline than Paul. While I agree that the law is not the way to salvation and that justification is by faith yet inherent in the writings of the old testament is the unchanging nature of God and His principles that cut across dispensations. Selective study and cherry picking of scriptures is the bane of teaching and preaching today. Don't let the devil deceive you into thinking God is not speaking to you through the pages of scriptures (old testament), it is hell's way of robbing believers from all that God has for them. Beware!