There is a vast difference of opinion in Christian circles as to what we as Christians are allowed, commanded, or forbidden to do. But there is a major difference between being a Christian, or little Christ, and being someone who uses the Bible to defend what they believe. You can find verses to support almost any topic that God permitted, or at least didn't directly punish people for doing.
For example, if you want to find a verse in the Bible to support owning slaves, its not hard to find: Leviticus 25:44-46 gives Israel expressed permission to buy slaves. You can also find permission to beat them almost to death in Exodus 21:20-21
There are verses supporting divorce, Deuteronomy 24:1-4 ; killing your children for disobedience, Deuteronomy 21:18-21; the rape of the women of captured countries, Zechariah 14:1-2; wife-stealing from your own people, Judges 21:19-24; genocide, I Samuel 15:3 ; killing children because their fathers are wicked, Isaiah 14:21; beheading your own people as warning to the rest of the nation, Numbers 25:3-4; and even human sacrifice, 2 Kings 23:16-20. In fact, there is precious little that you cannot support with a random verse, even the great King David was not only ok with infanticide but blessed those who did it in Psalm 137:9.
Are we as Christians called to follow these Old Testament verses and examples? Can we just take verses and people from the Old Testament, that God approved, and use them to support what we are doing?
The answer, of course, is absolutely not. We are now Christ-followers or Christians and we are commanded to follow the direct commands of Jesus Christ. Jesus who was our example, our direct and perfect example of what God wants us to be. Whenever we are in doubt about what God wants for us we should turn to Christ first and foremost. If Jesus gave us a command about it, that takes number one priority. If Jesus gave us an example in His life, we should follow that instead of random Old Testament humans. It is important to remember that in the Old Testament we are dealing with fallen sinners like ourselves, who cannot be perfect examples; however, in Christ we have the perfect example.
What were Jesus' commands? Quite simple ones really; Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. We are even commanded to love our enemies. We are commanded to lay down our lives. We are commanded to turn the other cheek when attacked, with no exceptions for attacks on country or faith.
We are commanded to deny ourselves and take up our cross, not our weapon. And as my good friend Jamie likes to say, "Crosses are for dying." We seem to forget that in our world.
So as Christians it is important to remember that even Scripture considers the Old Testament, or old covenant done, as we are shown in Hebrews 8:13. Jesus didn't invalidate the Old Testament, but instead finished and fulfilled it, as He Himself states in Matthew 5:17. We are now in the covenant of Christ, meaning that the old has passed away and we are now in the era of Christ, not in the era of the Old Testament. And what does the era of Christ dictate? Love: pure and simple love. It dictates love that costs, love that can get us killed, love that does not strike back, and love that does not spew forth violence.
