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The Old and The New

The Old and The New

 

     Even casual observers recognize the disagreement between what people believe the Bible teaches. Several factors influence this difference in understanding Scripture. Without addressing all of them, consider one factor which significantly affects the misunderstanding of Scripture: failure to properly distinguish between the Old and New Testaments.
    
      The Old Testament is a history of earth’s beginning, sin’s entrance into the world and God’s selection of (and dealings with) a nation He would use to bring Jesus into the world. In Exodus, God gave the Israelites a law which was only for them (Exodus 31:13-17; Deuteronomy 5:1-3). The whole Mosaic Law--including the 10 commandments--was given only to Israel (Exodus 34:27-28). The rest of humanity remained under another law.
    
     In Jeremiah 3, however, God said He would make a new covenant. This new covenant (law) would be different from the first (Jer. 31:31-34). It began in Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost. It was on Pentecost that 3,000 people obeyed Peter’s message and God’s new law took effect (Acts 2:38-42). From Acts 2 onward, we learn about the details of this new law and the instructions Christians should follow to be pleasing to God.
    
    Frequently, Paul alludes to the old law being abolished (Ephesian 2:14-16; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 8:6-13; and he even says we have been “delivered from the law” (Romans 7:6-7). To say we are delivered from the law means we do not serve that law anymore. This is quite significant, and it means that we no longer find our instructions for worship, sacrifice or godliness in the Old Testament. This does not mean, however, that the Old Testament is useless, for Paul says it was written for our learning, comfort and hope (Romans 15:4). Today, we can learn about God and what He expects in the Old Testament; but we learn the details of Christian living and worship in the New Testament.
    
    Failure to recognize this important distinction between the Old Testament and New Testament has led to a host of religious error. In articles to follow, attention will be given to how recognizing this distinction can keep one from practicing error.