Well. I’ve heard this question plenty of times before, and the biblical answer is easier than you’d think…its just overlooked too easy. Before I answer, let me explain that when I say “Christians” I am not referring to any specific religion. I’m referring to what the bible says is a Christian, which would be exactly what the New Testament commands, adding and removing nothing. So I’m not talking on anyone’s behalf except for biblical Christianity. So from hereon out, Christians (non-quoted) will be the biblical Christians, and “Christians”(quoted) will mean denominational “Christians” of the day. (note: I’m not blasting any religion. I’m just saying what the bible says in order to help)
One of the biggest problems in “Christianity” today is that a lot of people think that we are commanded to follow the ENTIRE bible, when in fact, that is really not the case. The bible is divided up into two sections, the Old and the New testaments. The Old Testament has many different sections from history, poetry, psalms/proverbs, prophecy, and law. Many times throughout the bible, the Old Testaments rules are referred to simply as the “Law”. The Law (which can be read in books Exodus through Deuteronomy. The infamous 10 commandments are in Exodus). Was very clearly written to the people, and actually very complicated (probably to where it was ridiculous to follow every last one, but the point was to try, hence the continual sin offerings from the people) and was written in a “don’t do that” style. It counters the New Testament radically because instead of telling people what they should do (i.e. Jesus’ teachings), it was written much like our governmental laws are in the United States: “You do this, you face this punishment”.
The contrast of the presentation of the Old and New Testaments is where a lot of confusion arises. Why is it that God commanded in Exodus 20:8 to keep the Sabbath day, yet in the New Testament church, its all right to go about life on Saturday? When faced with a question like that, many shrug and say God didn’t want us to anymore, but He wants us to follow the other 9. How is that fair? Its never mentioned in the New Testament to stop keeping the Sabbath….so are we just randomly picking that commandment and disregarding it? Who’s to say I cant throw out verse 13 and go off on a murdering rampage? How about animal sacrifices? We don’t do that either. Obviously something is missing here if you can pick and choose what commandments to follow and what ones not to.
Well that “missing” thing isn’t that hard to figure out. Christians aren’t supposed to follow the Old Law. Yup. According to Jesus, we are not under the 10 Commandments anymore. Now before you start screaming “blasphemy”, hear me out. If you’ll notice, Jesus mentioned throughout his life things that the world should do….the things that Christians should follow. On those things, he says that we shouldn’t murder, commit adultery, etc…basically all those things that God didn’t like ever back in the old times. So where’s the proof? Read the New Testament. Matthew 5:17 and 18 say
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fufil. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
OK, so here Jesus is saying that His being on Earth is to not destroy the old Law, but instead to fulfill all the prophecies written about in the prophets (that there will be a Savior born of a virgin, He’ll save the people, etc…, all the way up till His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Once the ascension took place, then everything would be “fulfilled” from all of the prophecies). So Jesus says that absolutely nothing in the Law would be altered in the least (a jot and a tittle are the Hebrew markings much like our “dots” over our i’s.) until (and until is the keyword) everything was fulfilled. So, in layman’s terms, the Old Testament was to stay in effect until he ascended into Heaven. After that, then the new Law, those things Jesus preached and those things the New Testament writers wrote about would become the new Law, the only things that people would need to follow.
This wasn’t anything incredibly new to the people back then either. Hebrews 8:7-13 talks about how in the Old Testament it was prophesied that God was going to make a “New Covenant” and the old one would become “obsolete”. Verse 13 clearly states that the first law became “obsolete” and would soon “disappear”. Chapters 9 and 10 talk in entirety of how the Old Law is gone, and how Jesus’ blood on the cross created the new Law. Back this up with Galatians 1:8-10 and its made pretty clear: Christianity doesn’t follow the Old testament. Its completely new, and in fact it was in God’s eternal plan for it to be that way. (John 1-5, hey, its even prophesied in Genesis 3:15!)
Some denominations of the world have made Jesus’ life on Earth out to be a mistake. They claim that Jesus was supposed to take up an 1000 year reign on Earth (i.e. the “Kingdom”), but He was killed before he could do so, so Jesus instituted the church as a last minute kind of thing until he could come back again and “make up” for what He messed up on. The scriptural evidence for this is simply non-existent. Granted the Jews believed/believe that there will be an 1000 year reign sometime (due to the prophecies and Jesus talking about the “Kingdom of God”)….but has anyone noticed that all throughout the bible, before Acts 2 the “Kingdom of God” is always referred to “as coming”, but after Acts 2, its always talked about in past tense. So what’s in Acts 2? Well that would be the founding of the church….hmm…aint that ironic. Its also nice to add in that Jesus told the masses that some wouldn’t die before they saw the Kingdom of God…so unless there are 2000 year old people walking around, I kind of doubt the Kingdom hasn’t already been established yet.
So the New Testament doesn’t talk about an 1000 year reign…but wait, what about Revelation? Whew I could go into great detail the reasons…but the prophecies in Revelation aren’t ever referring to a rapture or an 1000 year reign. Take this for thought. John wrote Revelation while under a sort of “house arrest” on the small island of Patmos. Now if you were John and you got a prophecy that the Roman empire (the very people oppressing you) were going to be eventually die out, would you really write a letter to fellow Christians say “CAESAR’S GONNA DIE!”…that would be pointless and stupid. That would only get you in a heap of trouble, hence the cryptic language…change Caesar for a 7 headed dragon (how many hills were there in Rome again….oh 7 I forgot) and bingo, you got a letter you can slip past centurions no problem. Why else did the churches of the day receive and understand it? Sorry folks, this isn’t from me, this is from the bible…no rapture, no climactic war, no 1000 year reign, no signs for us to know when the second coming is. (Matt 24:36-44)…Matt 24-15-28 is in reference to the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, not the second coming. If this weren’t true, then why do Historians account for people who fled Jerusalem before it was destroyed? Somebody must have noticed what Jesus was talking about because the church at Jerusalem continued on after they left.
Whelp, there you go. That’s the very long biblical explanation of why Christians don’t follow the Old Testament and instead follow the new Law that Jesus brought in with His death. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the Old Testament is a great thing to have. It tells us our History, gives us some background, and gives us some great lessons of life…the point is though, that Christianity doesn’t follow those rules anymore. We have our new law, and its our job to follow through with them. If its commanded in the New Testament, we are supposed to follow it….all of it. Adding nothing, and taking away nothing. If we were to do either one, we would be ignorant enough to think we know better than God does, which is wrong. If we decide even on one thing not to follow, then that only opens up the floodgates….its pick and choose for everyone, and God’s plan would be defiled by individuals. We cant pick and choose.