Why Many are Rejecting the Old Testament...

Chapter Seventy-seven:

 There has been a shift in the last number of years in those who no longer believe that the Old Testament is relevant for today. They see the New Testament as being the only part of the Bible that is necessary for Christians to understand.  There has been an ever-increasing distrust in believing that the Bible, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, is to be taken quite literally, that it is the inerrant word of God, written by men, under the unction of the Holy Spirit. The 2025 Lifeway Research study found that now only 49% of those calling themselves Christians believe the Bible is 100% inspired by the Holy Spirit and in using it as guidance for living their lives. 

I believe one of the main difficulties many have with accepting the relevancy and importance of the Old Testament can often be traced to those in the pulpit.  Many pastors, especially over the last number of years, have publicly declared that they will not teach the Old Testament, or say that it’s not relevant enough anymore to be taught. The God of the Old Testament is usually regarded by them as being one that is cruel and vengeful, not the loving God that they prefer to believe in.  It's easier for them to ignore the Old Testament than take the time to study it to see how it’s a crucial part of not only understanding the overall nature of God, but also His revealing Himself to humanity. You cannot divorce the Old Testament from the rest of Scripture as it not only records the numerous prophecies pointing to God becoming man, in the form of our Savior and Messiah, Jesus Christ, but it also unveils His plan to redeem mankind from its slavery to sin, once and for all.

And if a person wants to study and understand the Book of Revelation, the Book of Daniel, in particular, which is in the  Old Testament, is necessary reading as it ties into what happens in the Book of Revelation. However, the Book of Revelation is also a book (this book is in the New Testament) that some pastors/teachers, even entire denominations, avoid. The reasons range from it being only allegorical, to its being too symbolic, thus too difficult to understand. However if you take the time to read the Book of Revelation, it actually states that whoever reads it will receive a blessing. This blessing is not material, nor something you can puts your hands on, it's more of a spiritual blessing from God as He wishes all His children to have a proper understanding of how the end times will play out so that we are prepared and ready to be His ambassadors, so that we occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13). The Book of Revelation not only has the warning letters to the seven churches, but is also Christ revealing Himself, bringing the evil powers of Satan, the Antichrist and the Beast to final justice at the end of the tribulation, setting up His millennial kingdom and then eventually God rebuilds everything giving His children a new heaven and new earth.   So this is another incidence of where knowing the Old Testament is paramount to understanding parts of the New Testament.

 In addition, the Old Testament reveals why Israel is still so important, from God’s perspective, to how the end times will play out. At the time of this writing, the unfortunate rise of antisemitism has increased within the Christian Church, and some are loudly calling for the unlinking of the Church to the nation State of Israel.  While this chapter isn’t going to focus on the ongoing important role of Israel throughout history, and beyond, we will look at how to reconcile the seemingly cruel God of the Old Testament with the more loving God that is revealed, through Jesus Christ, in the New Testament. 

 

After the account of the creation of the world and mankind, the Old Testament is not only the recorded period of time of God beginning to reveal Himself to man, but also a time when god/idol worship played a vast role in every society.  There were many gods that were worshipped, many deities had temples built for them, and sadly most of the gods had very inhumane rules/rituals that were demanded of by the people.  From the temples of Baal and Molech, where people were led to believe human sacrifices were necessary, especially during times of famine, drought or war, there was ongoing temple prostitution (male and female), and the priests would participate in frenzied self-mutilation rituals, believing it was required of them to appease their malevolent gods.

 There were also Asherah poles, dedicated to the god they believed was the fertility deity.  It was a focal point for pagan rituals and sacrifices, and was typically located in a high place or location.  It had ritualistic prostitution and orgies, and also required human sacrifices, often the firstborn male.  Chemosh was also a well-known god that demanded bloody, oftentimes, human sacrifices.  It was with these many cultures of pagan worship/sacrifice that the Israelites had to contend.  And, sadly, at times, the Israelites themselves devolved into similar practices, from their building of the golden calves while Moses was up on the mountain with God, to eventually their own kings bringing these “gods” into the Temple of God. Man’s inhumanity to man, and their feverish adoration and worship of these demonic entities was an obvious and all too real threat to God keeping His covenant nation, Israel, safe and getting/keeping them in the promised land.  Thus the accounts we read in the Old Testament of God telling the Israelites to kill everything they came across, even the livestock, while appearing cruel and vengeful on the surface, was His way of protecting His children from being tainted by the absolute demonic depravity of the nations around them. 

We read of God’s firm instructions to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 16: 21-22 “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you make”.  In Judges 6:25 the Lord commanded Gideon to “cut down the Asherah pole that is beside it”.  In Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5 God is firmly instructing the Israelites to never follow any of those evil practices, and that there would be a severe penalty for practicing them. Sadly, the Israelites often succumbed to following them.

It is usually the accounts of the killing of these various groups of people that are given as examples of God’s cruelty and seemingly wavering intent towards man.  What is overlooked is the diabolical nature of those people who followed after malevolent gods/deities (demons), and how the worship of these entities kept creeping back into the lives of the people of Israel, in order to defile them and cause a barrier between them and God. 

 Another part of the Old Testament that is often read as revealing God as being harsh and cruel is the account of the great flood, during the time of Noah.  Again, this was a time of great rebellion towards God, with society worshiping multiple gods/deities, which included practices of child sacrifice, temple prostitution, and other things that were abominable in the eyes of God.  God, through Noah, actively warned Noah’s generation of their need to repent and walk with Him, but instead they mocked Noah and as a result, only the survivors in the Ark lived in order to repopulate the earth.

 The story of Noah is just one account of the mercy and love of God that can be seen in the Old Testament.   The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is yet another time where God’s mercy can be seen.  These cities were among some of the most sinful, and yet Abraham was able to plead for mercy “if only 10 righteous people could be found”.  What many don’t understand is that God will not, and cannot, tolerate idolatrous worship, human sacrifices and any other demonic activity that damages His creation. 

 If you find yourself in a church that won’t teach from the Old Testament, you may need to find another church as it's not teaching the full counsel of God, so you're only getting part of God's message to His children. Look for a church that says they teach the entire Bible! If that isn't feasible for you, then it's incumbent upon you to take the time to study it for yourself. There are plenty of inductive Bible classes, online, if you have access to the internet, but make sure you pray about being taught by that teacher as we know there are wolves among the sheep.  You can always count on the Holy Spirit being your teacher, as he is not only our counselor but also our teacher.  If possible, purchase a Strongs Concordance, which looks at both the Old and New Testament, word by word, and gives you a much clearer understanding of what a particular Scripture verse, or even just a word, really meant in the original language. 

As you can see, the Old Testament is irreplaceable in that it not only points out sinful humanity’s need for a Savior, but throughout its books, it points the way, by way of different prophecies, of the coming Savior, Jesus Christ. It foretells not only his birth, but also his crucifixion and his resurrection.  All these are key components of Christianity, and to divorce the Old Testament from the study of Scripture is to remove all lack of context for understanding the New Testament, but most importantly it distorts the character of our loving Father God.

How to Share the Gospel and Lead People to Christ...

Chapter Seventy-six:

Believers are oftentimes unsure how to share the good news of the Gospel, how to talk to an unbeliever with the intention of leading them into a new relationship with Jesus Christ.  I learned many years ago, while doing street ministry in Denver, Colorado, a very helpful way of using the Bible to talk to an unbeliever about their need for Jesus Christ.  For ease of learning, I will lay it out in a systematic, understandable way.  The premise is that the discussion must begin with the fact that the person you are talking to does believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, as it is the Scriptures that are to be used to show a person their need for Christ for eternal salvation.  Once you have laid the foundation of the Bible being accurate and true, you can then proceed to use Scripture to follow a step-by-step way of sharing the Gospel message with another.

First, you’ll want to establish with the person that they are a spiritual being that, regardless of how they live today,  will live forever, and that they should seriously consider that fact.  First John 5:13 reads, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life".  Using this verse shows that our lives will have a never-ending span to them, and how our choices in this life will lead to our eternal destiny.  In the context in which this verse was written, its purpose was to give assurance to believers that they have eternal life through faith in Jesus, encouraging them to continue to believe in Him and grow in their faith.

 Second, the hearer needs to learn the fact that as well as there being eternal life for those who choose to follow Christ, there will also be eternal, never ending, separation from God, and everything that is good, for those who do not become followers of Christ. In order to get the person to evaluate their life and accept their sinful nature, Romans 6:23 is a good Scripture to share.  It reads, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  John 8:24 reads, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”  This is the account of Jesus saying to the Jewish religious leaders, and the surrounding crowd, that they would die in their sins unless they believed  "I am He", referring to His divine nature and identity as God.

Third, you need to share that God has made a way for mankind, a provision, to receive eternal life in order to be rescued from their sinful nature, and ultimately spend eternity with Him.  Mark 10:45 reads, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many". This verse emphasizes that Jesus's death was a voluntary sacrifice, paid as a "ransom" to redeem people from the captivity of sin. 

Many people believe that there are many roads that lead to heaven, but in John 14:6 Jesus explicitly states "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Some see this as being a very intolerant, unloving statement to believe, that there's only one way to get into heaven. But Scripture does warn us that this is true.  During Jesus' delivering of the Sermon on the Mount he warned "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13,14).    He was referring to the fact that is only by accepting his death  on the Cross that one can find the narrow way that leads to eternal life. There is only one way into heaven!

 Fourth, explain that in the years before Christ’s appearance on the earth (the Old Testament period) the sacrifice of animal blood was required (by The Law of Moses, also known as the Mosaic Covenant) in order to cleanse a person, or even a nation, of their sin.  Leviticus 17:11 reads, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.”  

 In the beginning, animal sacrifices were made, but when Jesus Christ came, he became the blood sacrifice for all mankind, a sacrifice that made animal sacrifices no longer necessary in God’s eyes.  God sees the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross as being all encompassing, all sufficient, and the final sacrifice which covers the sins of those who will turn to Christ and follow Him.  When we read Hebrews 9:28b, it states, “...so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him”.  We are reminded that Christ paid the price for all humanity, once and for all.

 Fifth, given that the nature of man is to think we need to be good enough in order to work our way into heaven, or that we actually think we can work our way into heaven, we’re reminded in Ephesians 2:8 that “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  Salvation is a gift! 

 Romans 3:20 reads, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”   This verse is a good reminder that no one can be good enough to get into heaven.  God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to give to the people of Israel to follow, and in so doing, it ultimately showed that no one is able to keep them.  Christ uses the example of adultery when in Matthew 5:28,29 he said “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  He was showing how that even if one thinks they are outwardly not living in sin, sin is something that can be done in dark of one’s heart.

 

 

 Sixth, its important that the person understand the need for repentance is paramount to one having a born again experience with God.  Sadly many think that all they have to do is believe in God, but Scripture tells us in James 2:19,  “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”   Just believing in God, or in Christ, doesn’t meet the need to be born again. Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:3  “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again".   In order to be born again, one needs to come with in an attitude of repentance.  Acts 3:19 reads, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  Repentance is simply deciding you’ll no longer live your life the way you want, that you’ll change direction and that you’ll allow Christ to lead you.

Seventh, the person will need reassurance that they can truly have their sins forgiven by God.  This is important as the enemy, Satan, will try to convince them, should they accept Christ,  that they are still unworthy of being a follower of Christ.   Ephesians 1:7 reads, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Second Corinthians 5:21 reads, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  This verse describes an exchange: Christ, who was without sin, took on the punishment for human sin, so that believers in Him can receive God's perfect righteousness. 

Eighth, lays out the simple requirement for one to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Romans 10:9 reads “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  It’s that simple.  Don’t add any rituals, doctrines or other man made ways to the way to get into heaven,. All that is required is that a person declares with their mouth, and believes in their heart that Christ was crucified and raised from the dead, and that He is now their Lord!  It’s Jesus… plus nothing! Always!

 Finally, when he/she has accepted the Lord as their Savior, explain how they are now a new creation, a new person, in God’s eyes, and in their life going forward.  Second Corinthians 5:17 reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!”.   First John 4:4 reminds us  “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”  The new believer is now a new creation, having passed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, and the spirit that now lives within him/her is stronger than any powers of darkness, as they are now co-heirs with Christ.

At this point, you will want to direct the new Christian to purchase a Bible and study it. A good place to begin reading is the Gospel of John. I recommend you have them get an actual physical Bible as AI has been slowly changing some wording in Bible apps that people use on their devices.   In addition, see that they get into a good Bible-teaching Church as they are now needing to be discipled so that they grow and mature in their relationship with God.

Preparing for the Return of Jesus Christ...

Chapter Seventy-five:

The expectation of Christ's return is at the very center of Christianity. The Book of Revelation is written to those of us who are His, those who have been forgiven of their sins, who hear and keep His Word.  It is not written for those who have refused to accept Christ's sacrifice for their sins, it is not for those who think there are many ways to heaven, and it is not for those who walk in unbelief and unashamedly disobey and mock God's Holy Word.

To be clear, this chapter is not about the specifics of the end times, as believers can study those for themselves. Scripture verses such as Matthew 24:3-44, Second Thessalonians 2:1-12, and Luke 21:7-28 tell of the signs of the times leading up to Christ's return. For the believer, it is a fine line we walk. We are to live as if Christ's return could happen at any moment, but we are also to live as if it could be after we have died.  I see Biblical prophecy as more of a warning from God that we must put our efforts into being prepared for Christ's return. And Jesus is returning!

Scripture warns us in Matthew 24:21,22  that "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." God is giving us ample warning about how terrible the times will become, that even those who are walking closely with Him will have a difficult time enduring, so for their sake He will shorten the days.  So we need to ask ourselves the question, if Christ does return in our lifetime how well will we have prepared ourselves? 

Some of us will be further along than others in how to listen to and follow the Holy Spirit, and that is to be expected, but the time has come where there can no longer be any excuse for any true believer to stay where they are, spiritually speaking. If the Holy Spirit shows us that we are not living our lives as we should, our only choice is to get on our knees, before a Holy God, and ask the Holy Spirit to create a new passion in our hearts for following Christ.  In addition, we have got to be willing to cut ties with this world. Those who are of this world, and those of us who have come out of the world,  are walking in two totally different directions. We can no longer live with one foot in both camps. We are either believers or worldlings, we cannot be both. It is to the serious believer that the Holy Spirit will give direction and guidance. 

Even now many of us are facing extremely challenging times in our lives, times of uncertainty and trials the likes of which we have never endured. I believe the Lord is allowing these things to happen to us now, so that we begin to learn how to really follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, before the times become even more turbulent in the world.  There are several things we must do. We must look for and reduce the unnecessary daily distractions that we allow into our lives. These distractions not only have the potential to increase our levels of stress and anxiety, but they often affect our ability to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. 

Remember, when we take that step of obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit, our mind and body (flesh) may not always be in agreement. Recently I have found myself in a very unexpected and stressful time. While praying about it, during a time when my body had already been affected by the stress, which resulted in a bad headache and very painful stomach issues, I heard the Holy Spirit speak three small words to me..."I've got this.".  He was giving me reassurance that He knew what was happening to me and was telling me I could rest in trusting God. Even though my headache and stomach issues didn't automatically go away, I kept reminding myself of those three small words. It took several days before my body calmed down, but whenever I started to worry again about the situation, I immediately reminded myself of those three small words. During difficult times, ask the Holy Spirit to give you something to cling on to, whether it be just a few words, a Scripture verse, a favorite song/hymn, anything that will give you hope and not allow fear to control you.

 Even if you find yourself brought to tears due to the circumstances, continue to trust in what the Holy Spirit has told you. Even if it has to be as frequent as minute to minute, hang on to what you know to be true. Do not look upon this as failure on your part if your feelings do not line up with what you are believing and clinging to in your spirit. The important thing is that you continue to follow and obey the prompts of the Holy Spirit, in spite of how your body is reacting.  It may be similar incidences like this that that God will allow to happen in all of our lives so that we learn, even more, to put our trust in Him and what the Holy Spirit tells us, rather than on what we are experiencing. We need to learn now how to walk in trust and obedience, and that comes by listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I also believe this is one of the reasons we are told in Philippians 4:8 that we must focus on those things that are true, those things that are honest, etc.  If we focus on those things that are not true, not honest, not just, but focus on disheartening and worldly things, it quickly puts us into a state of inner turmoil, which causes us to be less able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and our flesh can quickly take over. It is very difficult to hear the voice of the Spirit if we are allowing our flesh (anxiety, frustration, anger, self pity etc.) to have its way. Scripture tells us that we can, and must, learn to control our flesh.  If we allow our flesh to run our day, then any direction or leading coming from the Holy Spirit is very easily drowned out. We have to make a choice, will we allow our flesh to have precedence in our day or will we allow our spirit to be guided by the Holy Spirit.    
         
As we continue to spend time in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will teach us what we need to know. As we spend time in prayer, we will sharpen our ability to hear from the Holy Spirit and learn how to distinguish between His voice from other, unholy sources. As we put effort into becoming even more spiritually mature than we are at present, we will learn to walk in keener discernment.  We are reminded, "But solid food belongs to those who are mature, that is, those who by reason of practice have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:14).  

While spiritual discernment is simply the ability to be able to tell truth from error, the ability to walk in discernment will be vital to our staying close to God.  We are living in a time when there is an unprecedented rise in the amount of erroneous and deceptive teachings within the Church, so we must prepare ourselves to live in these times so that when we have fought the good fight and finally stand before our Lord and Savior, He will look upon us and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."  What a wondrous day that will be!