Question
Why Do Christians Use the Old Testament?
Christians use the Old Testament because Jesus himself said it pointed to him (John 5:39, Luke 24:27). The Old Testament is not a different religion — it is the same story, the first half, leading to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christians do not read it as a separate law code but as preparation for the Gospel.
Author | Shafraz Jeal
Updated,
25 Apr 2026
Intro
One of the most common questions from Muslims is why Christians use a Jewish scripture when they have Jesus and the New Testament. The answer reveals something important about how Christianity works: Jesus did not start a new religion from scratch. He fulfilled everything the Jewish scriptures were pointing toward. This page explains the relationship between the two Testaments and why Christians hold both.
When Jesus was walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Luke 24:27 records that "beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (NKJV). He did not start a new story. He revealed what the existing story had been building toward the whole time.
This is the key to understanding why Christians use the Old Testament. It is not a separate religion that the New Testament replaced. It is the same story in two parts. The Old Testament establishes who God is, what sin is, what the human problem is, and what God promised to do about it. The New Testament records the arrival of the solution those promises pointed to.
Many of the big themes Muslims have questions about — sacrifice for sin, blood atonement, God's holiness and justice, the promise of a coming king — are all Old Testament categories that the New Testament fulfils in Jesus. When Christians talk about Jesus dying "for our sins," that language comes from Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Christ. When Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 — "the just shall live by faith" — he is showing that salvation by faith, not merit, was always God's way, even in Moses's time.
The relationship between the Testaments is one of promise and fulfilment, not contradiction and replacement. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them (Matthew 5:17, NKJV). The ceremonial laws about sacrifice and temple worship are no longer observed by Christians — not because they were wrong, but because they were temporary signs pointing to Jesus, who is the final and complete fulfilment of what they foreshadowed.
For Muslims who are familiar with the idea of earlier revelations being superseded, this might sound like the Islamic concept of naskh (abrogation). But there is an important difference. In the Christian view, the Old Testament is not cancelled — it is completed. A promise fulfilled is not abolished. A shadow giving way to the real thing is not a contradiction.
The Old Testament also provides essential context for understanding who Jesus is. Without it, the titles "Christ" (Messiah), "Son of David," "Lamb of God," and "High Priest" are just words. With it, they are a complete portrait assembled over centuries, pointing to one person.
Muslims learn that Christians have a "new" scripture (the New Testament) and sometimes assume the Old Testament was either replaced or irrelevant. Others have been told the Torah was corrupted and wonder why Christians still use it. The question often reflects genuine puzzlement about Christian scriptural consistency.
Why Muslims Ask This
The Old and New Testaments form one unified story. The Old Testament prepares for and anticipates Christ; the New Testament records his arrival and explains his significance. Christians read both together because one without the other is incomplete.
Christian View
Islam holds that the Torah (Tawrat) was given to Moses as a revelation from God but has been corrupted over time. The Qur'an references it as a legitimate original scripture while treating the current Old Testament with suspicion. Muslims do not use the Hebrew scriptures as part of ongoing religious practice.
Islamic View
"And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27, NKJV). "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil." (Matthew 5:17, NKJV)
Biblical Basis
"The Old Testament was for Jews only — Christians should just follow the New Testament and leave it alone."
Common Objection
The New Testament makes almost no sense without the Old. Jesus is introduced as the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy on the first page of Matthew. Paul's argument in Romans draws on Abraham, David, and Isaiah throughout. Strip out the Old Testament and Christianity loses the context that makes it coherent.
Conclusion
Understanding the relationship between the Testaments is foundational for reading the Bible honestly. It also challenges the claim that Christianity departed from its roots — the Gospels are Jewish documents, deeply embedded in Jewish Scripture, proclaiming a Jewish Messiah who arrived exactly where the Old Testament said he would.
Why It Matters
Read Isaiah 53. Then read the crucifixion account in any of the four Gospels. Ask yourself whether the match is coincidental.
Many assume Christians believe Old Testament laws still apply in full — dietary laws, animal sacrifice, capital punishments. They don't. Christians distinguish between ceremonial, civil, and moral categories, recognising that Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial and civil law while the moral law reflects God's unchanging character.
"Diatheke" (Greek, covenant/testament) — the word behind both Old and New Testament. Both are covenants God made with people. The New Covenant, promised in Jeremiah 31:31–34, is what Jesus establishes — not a cancellation of the old, but its ultimate fulfilment.
FAQs
Do Christians follow the dietary laws and other rules in the Old Testament?
Why did God give different laws in the Old Testament if they no longer apply?
Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament?
Does the Old Testament predict Jesus?
Do Muslims and Christians agree on the Old Testament?
Author
Shafraz Jeal
Shafraz Jeal is the founder of By Design Ministry, created to help people discover Jesus, understand the Bible, and grow in faith. After encountering Christ in 2016, his life was radically changed, and that journey continues to shape everything he shares.