It wasn’t too long ago that a prominent pastor named Andy Stanley said Christians might need to “unhitch” from the Old Testament. That comment drew considerable criticism (see Albert Mohler here). Over the last few weeks at Southwest Baptist University, we’ve preached several sermons from the OT (Exodus 17, Genesis 6, 1 Sam 16, and 1 Sam 17). As you can probably tell, we do not believe the Old Testament is irrelevant, and we certainly don’t think Christians should “unhitch” from it.

Instead, we believe the OT is “written for our instruction” and is meant to lead us to Christ, who is our life.

Listen to Paul. He tells the church in Rome, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). When Paul writes those words, the Scriptures he is referring to are the Jewish Scriptures (i.e., the OT). The New Testament didn’t exist yet! Again, Paul tells the Corinthian Christians the same thing. He says, “Now these things [he is referring to the OT wilderness generation] happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor 10:11). Those OT stories still serve as examples and are recorded for our current instruction. So, the first ¾ of your Bible is still relevant for instruction (cf. 2 Tim 3:16–17). It contains wisdom for our present day (see Brian Rosner, Paul and the Law).

But the OT isn’t merely a collection of old stories meant to instruct us in ways to live. The OT is Christian Scripture. That is, it is a book that means to lead you to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself teaches us this. After Jesus is crucified, some of his disciples are walking along a road, dazed and confused. What has happened? They thought Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would restore the kingdom to Israel. But he had been murdered and buried! Were they wrong? Jesus meets these disciples and, after a short conversation, we read the following, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Jesus takes them to the OT and shows them how all this was what the prophets had spoken of (24:25). The OT had spoken of these things and pointed towards him.

Finally, consider when Jesus engages the religious leaders of his day in John 5. The religious elites were Bible scholars, priding themselves on how well they knew the OT. But Jesus rebukes the Jewish religious leaders for missing him! He says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). They read and memorized and taught Genesis, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, et al. Yet, they missed the very one those books pointed towards. They missed the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), the greater Moses (Deut 18:15–19), and the Suffering Servant (Isa 53).

There’s so much to say, but don’t miss these two realities: the OT is for our instruction and points us to Jesus. Don’t unhitch from it! Instead, soak in the first ¾ of your Bible. Learn to live a God-honoring life from that ancient book. And pray that the Spirit would cast your eyes forward in faith to Jesus.