In the May 2006 issue of Ministry Magazine, Daniel Block of Wheaton College talks about why we should continue to preach Old Testament law to New Testament Christians. He begins by talking about why such preaching is increasingly rare, citing five myths about OT law:
“First, the ritualistic myth that OT law is preoccupied with boring ritualistic trivia declared to be obsolete with Christ’s final sacrifice on the cross. Second, the historical myth that OT law concerns the times and cultural context of nations so far removed from our own that…what it has to say about the human condition is hopelessly out of date. Third, the ethical myth that the OT Law reflects a standard of ethics that is rejected as grossly inferior to the law of love announced by Jesus and the high stock placed on tolerance in our enlightened age.
“Fourth, the literary myth that the OT laws are written in literary forms that are so different from modern literature that we cannot understand them. Fifth, the theological myth that OT law presents a view of God that is utterly objectionable to modern sensitivities. So long as these myth conceptions determine the disposition of preachers and pastors toward OT law, there is little hope they will pay much attention to those parts of the OT that we refer to as Israel’s constitutional literature…
“But how Christians can tolerate this anti-law stance remains a mystery to me, especially in the light of Jesus’ own statements that He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, and His own declarations of its permanent validity (