"It Is Written": Establishing The Authority of the Old Testament By Chad VanRens

2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof and training in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. This text teaches far more than just the inspiration of Scripture. It teaches that all of scripture is profitable for training the godly in righteousness. There is no teaching or commandment of scripture which is unprofitable or invalid for the Christian. Even the ceremonial and dietary laws of the Old Testament, the purposes of which were only temporary and are no longer to be observed has use to the Christian when their figures are properly understood. The Lord Jesus left a dire warning for any who would try to teach that the Law has no bearing on the Christian or those who would say, (for example) that "the Ten Commandments are obsolete". He warned that not one jot or tittle of the Law would ever pass away and that those who relaxed the least of it's commandments and taught others to do so would be least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
There is today a prevailing teaching that the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) is obsolete, and is replaced with a law consisting only of the commands that are repeated in the New Testament. This is a teaching found in Dispensationalism and another teaching which has come to be known in modern times as New Covenant Theology (or NCT).
New Covenant Theology in particular argues that Moses was the giver of the Law - the Ten Commandments, in the Old Testament, and Christ is the giver of the Law on the New Testament. This is an odd chain of reasoning considering the fact that God gave the Law to the Israelites. Moses was only the messenger. Furthermore it cannot be shown from the New Testament where Christ gives a new Law to obey which cancels out the Ten Commandments. Nor can any place from the Epistles be shown to support this. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament and a survey of how the Law is used by the writers of the Epistles will not support such a statement.
The Lord Jesus himself as well as all of the writers of the Epistles express the authority of the Old Testament in it's entirety and this is simply assumed by them as they teach the people of God. "It is written" is the constant refrain of the New Testament and the authority upon which doctrine is established. James in his Epistle says that if a man transgress the Law in one point he is guilty of all the Law. He simply assumes that the Law is still binding. Clearly when James writes he means to reference the Decalogue and beyond. James in verse 8 of chapter 2 directly quotes Leviticus 19:18 for authority and links the failure to fulfill the command of Leviticus 19:18 as a failure to keep the whole law.
To assume then that only the commands repeated in the New Testament were binding would be absurd and in fact undermines the teaching of the Apostle Paul that all scripture is profitable for doctrine and training in righteousness. In a brief survey of the Epistles and limiting study to just texts that give direct commands for Christian conduct - one will able to find no less than twenty direct quotations from the Old Testament ranging from the books of Moses, the Psalms and the Major and Minor Prophets used to support the writers' command to the Christians reading his Epistle. There are countless more references - by way of allusion.
Paul writes in 1 Cor 6; "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Surely Paul's authority to make such a claim is because the Old Testament scriptures teach that such is the case.
Furthermore we are told by the Apostle Paul that the Old Testament scriptures were written for our benefit. Paul commands that we support those who minister the Word of God with our giving by citing Deuteronomy 25:4 and says that his command comes from the authority of God's Law. In 2 Cor 9:8-12 Paul says; "Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain'. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?"
Paul's statement speaks for itself. The validity of his teaching is based on the fact that it is written in the Law of Moses. The authority of the Law is simply assumed. He need not repeat every single command in order for it to still be binding. In fact those who would argue that the Decalogue is obsolete and replaced with a new law will find themselves in opposition to the scriptures. In Eph 6:1-2 Paul says; "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." It is impossible to claim the obsoleteness of the Decalogue when the Apostle actually cites the 5th commandment as a commandment directly from the Decalogue saying that such a command is good because it's actually one of the commandments.
The Lord Jesus knew that it is the tendency of men to find an excuse for carnal disobedience and he repeated all the commands of the Law and the Prophets in one fell swoop by saying "I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets" and left the following warning; "Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."