I honestly can't say why I wrote that, I just did and now that I have and I read it, I won't erase it because it is important. It's not what I sat down intending to write but it is a topic I feel should be addressed. The Bible should be read in its entirety to gain a better understanding of God's character and how Jesus fulfilled prophecy. By reading both the Old and New Testaments you better equip yourself to understand the times we are living in and how it has been repeated on an ever worsening scale, since the beginning of time. You get a more clear picture of how the church began, and what God intended for it to look like, and you get a clear picture of God's perfect justice.
I know some churches today that teach only from the New Testament and I have heard a pastor defend this by saying the New Testament abolishes the Old, that because of Jesus the Old Testament is unnecessary and it was more important to teach the mercy of the New Testament than the judgment of the Old. That through Christ's death and resurrection the laws were abolished and heaven made open to all. I have also heard pastors talk about the 'God of the Old Testament' and the 'God of the New Testament' like He was two different entities, but that's not what His book says.
What these people don't realize is that by leaving out the Old Testament they are robbing themselves and others of a foundation. They are robbing themselves and others of understanding. The two parts of the Bible are not contrary to each other, there is not an Old Testament God and a New Testament God, there is only ONE unchanging God. To deny His justice, judgment, or vengeance on those who reject Him is to deny Him, when you do this you are creating and worshipping your own idea of God rather than the God of the Bible.
The Old Testament is necessary to form a foundation for the New, the Old Testament sets up the New. If you read the Old Testament you learn about the prophecies, the prophets, and great leaders that Jehovah raised up to serve Him. You start to understand that many things God had the leaders and prophets do where only precursors to the coming of Christ. You learn to recognize more clearly the ways in which God works because you are coming to know Him in fullness. And as for the those who think that the Old Testament doesn't matter because Christ abolished the law, I direct you to Matthew 5:17-20 where Jesus says 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
2 Peter 3:1-7
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
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