As Christians, we believe that God's word, our scriptures, have been given to us in two parts, the Old and New Testaments. We share the Old Testament with the Jews, to whom we owe so very much, which is one reason why Paul encouraged Gentile congregations to help Jewish Christian congregations struggling with famine. However, the application of this spiritual blessing of the Old Testament scripture to our daily lives is not quite as straightforward as we might think. 

We cannot read the Bible like a recipe book because it was written to people in very different circumstances to ours. So, we need to think carefully about what the Laws of the Old Testament have to say to us today and how we should apply them. Are they binding, or can we pick and choose? If some are binding, how do we know which ones? Clearly, this cannot be a matter of personal preference and what suits our taste. We need some sound principles.