Doing the Old Testament rag

I love the Old Book. It has great poetry, eternal wisdom, important history and a grand illustration of how God loves and forgives His people.

And it has nothing to do with Christian practice today.

Jesus surplanted the Old Book. He replaced "Be fruitful and multiply" with "go make disciples." The Sermon on the Mount became His standard, not the 10 Commandments. His disciples repudiated the Levitical dietary laws. Other Levitical rules were suspended. Most prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus, and what wasn't has only confounded and divided the Church for 2000 years (more later). Stoning was changed to forgiveness. Jews and Gentiles were reconciled. Men and women were made equal. There were blessings other than the material, in fact riches were now a burden that needed to be handled with care.

Since the first century, concentration on the Old Book has been disastrous. Cults, zealotry, a heightened concern about eschatology and legalism are all fruit of applying Old Book teaching today.

I have read a proverb and psalm daily for 25 years and studied carefully the Old Book. It has riches galore.

But don't apply it to today's problems. It's Jesus' teaching that are in play there, and they are found in the New Book.