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[Jack Be Nimble]

What parts of the Old Testament do you follow?

[jimwalton]

It depends what you mean by "follow." All of the OT has authority for us (it's God's word), but we as Christians are not under that covenant. So in one sense we follow all of it because it's God's inspired word. It was not written to us, but it is written for us. In other sense we don't follow any of it, because it's been fulfilled (Mt. 5.17; book of Galatians). We recognize what it teaches us about God, and we follow God.

You'll have to explain a little more, I guess, and we can keep talking.

[Jack Be Nimble]

I’m a bit confused because I’m under the impression that some Christians “nit pic” as to what to follow. I hope that dosent sound offence just lack of better words

[jimwalton]

Yes, some Christians do nit pick. Some Christians draw a distinction between moral law, ceremonial law, and judicial law. That's a sensible distinction, but not one the Bible itself makes.

It is my perspective that when Jesus said he fulfilled the Law (Mt. 5.17), it means He fulfilled all of the Law. The law that Christ fulfilled was the law in general—not just one part of it. He "fulfilled" it in that He did what the law failed to do: showed people how to live. The law was a temporary measure—God wanted to tell His people that they should have certain attitudes. He did that by commanding actions (the law) with the idea that they would see the attitudes behind them. They failed. Christ, on the other hand, preached the attitudes (Matthew 5) but more importantly lived an example of the proper attitudes (Philippians 2.5-8) as well as the proper actions (John 8.46), thus accomplishing what the law failed to accomplish. So the rule of thumb now is to follow Christ’s example. We can, in that sense, ignore the law, because if we follow Christ’s example, we'll get the actions of the law and the attitudes of the heart. Since the law was supposed to reflect the right attitudes, starting with the right attitudes will more often than not bring about actions that are in keeping with the law. But we don't do them because of the law; we do them because that is what godly attitudes bring about. So all of the law was fulfilled in Christ and our behavior now is not based at all on the law but on Jesus's example (cf. Romans 13.8-10). The coinciding with many points of the law is to be expected, but we are not living by even that section of law.