How to read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament?

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There is continuity between the Old and New Testaments, but there is also significant discontinuity. We are a New Testament people and a new covenant people. Therefore, when we read the Old Testament, we must read it in light of its fulfillment in Christ; that is to say, we must employ a distinctively Christological hermeneutic.

Christians, therefore, must not resent, ignore, dismiss, or uncritically exalt the Old Testament. Christ did not come to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17). His followers must always remember that our Bible begins with Genesis, not Matthew. 

The Old Testament was written for our instruction and is profitable even now in the new covenant era “for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16). Further, in Romans 15:4, Paul writes,
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.

The Old Testament, which was “written in the past,” is for our “instruction,” “hope,” and “encouragement.” In order to live faithfully before God, we must not only read the Old Testament, but also learn to read it rightly in relation to Christ. Hebrews will help us to that end. Author: Al Mohler

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