You are on page 1of 17

1

The Continuity of the Bible


All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
16

Thats II Timothy 3:16. Let me read that again.


All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
16

Almost no one in the world believes that statement. Atheists and non-Christians
regard scripture as simply the words of men, not the inspiration of God.
But whats far more sad than the people who dont believe the Bible at all is the fact
most Christians dont believe this verse either. Many think they do. Of the 210
million Christians in America, many if not most of them would say they do believe
that verse. They would say the scripture of the Bible guides their life. Many millions
read it daily. But almost none of them actually believe that verse.
Have you ever tried to talk to someone about the food laws contained in Leviticus
11 and had them tell you its okay to eat pork today because God changed all that
in the New Testament? They dont believe you can build doctrine on that chapter of
scripture in Leviticus. They dont think you should be corrected by it. They dont
believe a church should offer reproof to its congregation from it. They dont think we
can draw any instruction from Leviticus chapter 11. They think it doesnt apply to
us.
Or have you mentioned youre attending Tabernacles and had someone tell you the
Biblical holy days are a ceremonial ordinance that only applies to Old Testament
Jews. Those scriptures that speak of the holy days dont apply to New Testament
Christians. In their minds those scriptures are meaningless. They arent profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, or for instruction.
Maybe youve talked about the wars God commanded Israel to fight against the
Canaanite tribes and had a pacifist Mennonite tell you that under the New Covenant
we are held to a higher standard than they were in the Old Covenant, so we cant
take instruction, or doctrine from those stories in the scriptures.
Maybe youve quoted Ezra chapter 10 where God commanded interracial couples to
divorce and got the response from a modern Christian that things were just different
back then before Christ. Jews might have had to be separate, but we dont today.
They believe what Ezra did then isnt relevant to what we should do today.
Or maybe you pointed out Leviticus 20 where it says homosexuals should be put to
death and were told that now under the New Covenant, with the Holy Spirit, our
relationship to God is personal. Morality under the New Covenant is a personal

2
decision between the individual and God. And while homosexuality might be a sin,
God now wants people to be free to make their own personal moral decisions. They
might have lived that way back under the Old Covenant, but under the New
Covenant a righteous society shouldnt force morality on anyone. That law in
Leviticus isnt relevant anymore.
Maybe youve read about the government of Moses and of the Judges, and of David
and the Kings of Israel; of how they authoritatively administered Gods moral code
on the nation and how God called the kings good only if they removed the other
religions and pagan traditions. Moses and David didnt allow other religions in the
land. But in the New Testament with Jesus Christ taking the office of High Priest
away from man, maybe we cant learn anything from those scriptures anymore.
Maybe government is supposed to work differently today.
Turn with me to II Corinthians chapter 3. The subject today is the continuity of the
Bible how all scripture not just some all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
It is true there is a division in the Bible. There is a division between the Old
Covenant and the New Covenant, but it is only misunderstandings about this
division that cause most of modern Christianity to ignore the bulk of scripture as
irrelevant to modern life. II Corinthians 3:6:

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the
letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
6

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was


glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of
Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
7

How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

The ministration of death and the ministration of the spirit: The Old and the New
Covenants. This division defines the way modern Christians read the Bible.
Everything prior to the crucifixion is seen in a different light than what comes after.
Christians imagine a different standard and different requirements under the Old
Covenant than what we live by today. And these standards were done away which
makes them think the guidance of the Old Testament does not apply to their lives.
Galatians 4. So what actually are the differences between the Old and the New
Covenants? There really are good reasons people believe the covenants are starkly
different. Galatians 4:21:
21

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the
other by a freewoman.
22

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the
freewoman was by promise.
23

Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one
from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
24

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children.
25

26

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The Old and the New Covenants DO stand in stark contrast to each other. The Old
Covenant is bondage while the New Covenant is freedom. The Old Covenant is the
letter of the law that is found in II Corinthians 3. The New Covenant is the spirit of
the law Romans 8. The Old Covenant is external law engraved in stone II
Corinthians 3. The New Covenant is the law written in our hearts Hebrews
chapters 8 and 10. The Old Covenant is man attempting to save himself by his own
works, while the New Covenant is the free gift of salvation through faith found in
Galatians 3. The Old Covenant is man on his own. The New Covenant is the Holy
Spirit dwelling within us John 14. The Old Covenant has a man as high priest. The
New Covenant has Jesus as high priest Hebrews 5. The Old Covenant was faulty. It
could not save anyone, while the New Covenant is a better covenant that can save
us Hebrews 8:6-7, and Hebrews chapter 10. The Old Covenant had no mercy while
the New Covenant is the grace of God Hebrews 10.
There ARE vast differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. And
there are passages like Colosians 2:14 which say Christ Blots out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to his cross;
But taking these verses to mean that the scripture of the Old Testament is made up
of different standards that no longer apply to New Covenant Christians involves two
misconceptions.
The first misconception is that the law creates right and wrong, that good and evil
come from the law. But good and evil do not come from the law. What is good and
what is evil come from God. The law only records good and evil. It reflects right and
wrong, but the law does not create right and wrong.
Exodus 24. The Bible uses the term law frequently to refer to the Old Covenant. This
is because the terms of the Old Covenant are the Mosaic Law. Exodus 24:3

And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the
judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the
words which the LORD hath said will we do.
3

and go to verse 7

And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the
people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be
obedient.
7

The book of the covenant the Old Covenant that was read here on Mt. Sinai was
the Mosaic Law.
The common perception is that God made a set of rules we know as the Mosaic Law
which made certain things good and made other things evil. This is the Old
Covenant. So when the Old Covenant was done away the common thought is that
set of good and evil was done away. But if good and evil change because the Old
Covenant passes away that means good and evil come from the Old Covenant.
This isnt the case. Good and evil were not created by Mosaic Law. What was good
and what was evil existed long before the Old Covenant was given at Mt. Sinai.
When did murder become evil? Mosaic Law records murder as evil, but John 8:44
tells us Cain was a murderer long before Mosaic Law existed. Murder was already
wrong long before Moses wrote the law. The law didnt make murder wrong. It only
recorded the fact it was already wrong.
Turn to Genesis 8. And this applies to what people call the ceremonial ordinances as
well. Genesis 8 and verse 20:
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of
every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
20

So here we are again long before the Mosaic law of the Old Covenant, and Noah
already knows certain animals are clean and he knows others are unclean. And he
knows about altars and he knows about the sacrificial system.
Remember back in the garden as well. Why did Cain kill Abel? He did it because he
was jealous. His sacrifice wasnt accepted by God and Abels was. They were
already sacrificing in the Garden of Eden. The Old Covenant didnt introduce the
sacrificial system. It didnt create clean and unclean food. The sacrificial laws were
already in existence all the way back in the Garden of Eden. The food laws existed
at least as far back as Noah.
The Old Covenant did not make these things good and evil. All the Old Covenant did
was write down the right and wrong that already existed and set up the letter of
those written laws to rule over us.

5
But murder was wrong before the Old Covenant. Clean and unclean meats existed
before the Old Covenant. These rights and wrongs didnt come from the Old
Covenant. So when the Old Covenant was done away it doesnt mean these things
are no longer rights and wrongs.
When people think of right and wrong as being created by law they think of the
Covenants as different sets of rights and wrongs. They really arent. The Covenants
arent different sets of rules. They arent different sets of rights and wrongs. The
Covenants are different ways of administering the same set of rights and wrongs.
The Old Covenant is the administration of written law. It is the rule of law. It is
salvation through keeping the law. The New Covenant, on the other hand, is the
spirit or intent of the law. It is not the rule of law, but rather the rule of the Lawgiver.
Under the New Covenant we serve the Lawgiver not the law and therefore we serve
the spirit of the law rather than the law itself. But both covenants have the same set
of rights and wrongs. Good and evil arent the product of law. They come from God.
Turn to Colosians 2. So what does it mean when Colosians says blotting out the
handwriting of ordnances? Colosians 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
14

And drop down to verse 16:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an


holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
16

17

Which are a shadow of things to come.

When a Christian reads this with the preconception of the Old Covenant creating its
own standard of good and evil he focuses on the word ordinance. Blotting out the
ordinances is what his mind reads. But it doesnt say blotting out the ordinances.
What does it really say? It says blotting out the handwriting of ordinances.
Handwriting is the object of the sentence, not ordinances. Its not talking about
doing away with the ordinances themselves. Its talking about doing away with the
handwriting, the written law. Its saying the rule of written law is blotted out; the
legalism of the letter of the law is blotted out.
If it was saying that the actual ordinances of clean and unclean meats and holydays
and the Sabbath are done away why does it say in verse 17 that these are a
shadow of things to come.? If these things are a shadow, something casts that
shadow. So something resembling these laws is coming in the kingdom. We followed
these laws before the Old Covenant and we will follow a standard in the kingdom
under the New Covenant that includes the Sabbath, the holydays, and clean and
unclean.

6
Turn to Mark 2. When we understand that good and evil are not products of the
covenants were able to understand the purpose of Gods law in the first place. Mark
2:27

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the sabbath:
Why does God hold one thing as sin and another as righteousness? What is the law?
The law is a record of what is love for your neighbor. Galatians 5:14 says
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself.
God gave us the law because it shows us what is love for our neighbor. Its what is
good for us. So why would He blot out something that is good for us? Why would
God blot out what is love for us? In fact when He says Hes blotting out, He says
Hes blotting out something which is contrary to us. Colossians says He did away
with the handwriting of ordinances that were against us. But Mark says the Sabbath
was made for man. So if He did away with something that was contrary to us, He
didnt do away with the Sabbath. What He did away with was the rule of the letter of
the law of the Old Covenant.
When someone tells you the food laws are done away, ask them why they think God
gave us the food laws in the first place. Did He do it out of spite to make life hard on
people who already struggled to find enough to eat? Or did He do it out of love for
His children because He knew what was good for us and He knew some foods are
harmful to us physically and maybe even spiritually? The Bible says the law is love
for our neighbor, so He gave us these laws out of love. And if He gave us these
instructions out of love, why would He take them away?
What is the law of the New Covenant? Murder is still wrong under the New Covenant
isnt it? Theft is still wrong. Lying is still wrong. The laws havent changed. What was
good for us is still good for us. What is wrong is still wrong. What is good for us
hasnt changed. Even the ceremonial laws havent changed.
If youre ever talking to someone about the holy days, ask them this question: Why
is Jesus called the Lamb of God? We call Him the Lamb of God because the Passover
sacrifice is a lamb. Without realizing it modern Christians still acknowledge the
Passover sacrifice of Christ. They just insist on ignoring Gods instructions by
wrapping Passover in pagan fertility traditions of Easter eggs and rabbits and
pretending its something different than what God commanded it to be in the first
place. But Christs crucifixion was, and is, the fulfillment of Passover. Passover is not
done away. Christ fulfilled it. And in recalling the crucifixion we still commemorate it
today.

7
And what did the law tell us to do with the sacrificial lamb at Passover? Partaking in
Passover required eating the lamb. And what do Christians do in Communion? We
eat our sacrificial lamb. The New Covenant still has the same law of sacrifice that
existed all the way back in the Garden, existed with Noah, and existed in the Old
Covenant. In fact Christian salvation is built on that law. If it werent for the law of
blood sacrifice, Christs sacrifice wouldnt save us. It would be meaningless. The law
hasnt been done away. It hasnt changed. And thank God for that! The only
difference today is Christs sacrifice was perfect which means no new sacrifice of an
imperfect animal is needed.
No, the idea that the Old Covenant was one set of right and wrongs and the New
Covenant is a different set of rights and wrongs is a misconception of what the
covenants are. The covenants arent sets of laws at all. They are different ways of
administrating the same law of God. The law isnt done away. The Old Covenant
administration of the law is.
In fact the only actual change in the law that did occur is the exception that proves
the rule. Hebrews 7 tells us a law had to be changed to accommodate Jesus as High
Priest because He didnt come from the tribe of Levi as the Old Covenant required.
The Old Covenant was the rule of law. The New Covenant is the rule of the Lawgiver
so consequently God Himself stands at the head of government in the New
Covenant. Jesus Christ is High Priest under the New Covenant. The only actual
change of law the Bible speaks of between the covenants has to do with this change
of administration from the rule of law to the rule of the lawgiver.
Again, the covenants arent different sets of laws. They are different ways of
administrating the same law of God.
The second misconception is the idea that everyone that lived prior to the
crucifixion lived under the Old Covenant while everyone that lives after the
crucifixion is under the New Covenant. With this idea, when someone reads the Old
Testament they think the requirements those men lived by arent the same as ours.
The way they sought salvation was different than the way we do today. The things
they did arent what we should do. The way they thought isnt the way we should
think. So the scripture of the Old Testament doesnt apply to us. But this
misconception isnt right either.
Did Abraham live under the Old Covenant? He certainly lived before Christs
crucifixion. His life is recorded in the Old Testament. But Galatians tells us the Old
Covenant was given at Mt. Sinai, yet Abraham lived 430 years before that. So his
life was entirely prior to the Old Covenant.
On the other side, did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John live under the New Covenant?
Their books are written about life before the crucifixion.

8
Its not so cut and dried that the Old Testament is Old Covenant and the New
Testament is New Covenant. And it actually goes a lot deeper than that. Back to
Galatians 3. The Old Covenant was given at Mt. Sinai. When was the New Covenant
given? We know the New Covenant didnt take full effect until the death of Christ
Hebrew 9:17 makes that clear but when was the promise of the New Covenant
given and when did people begin to live by the standard of the New Covenant?
Galatians 3:1

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the
truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified
among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith?
2

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by
the flesh?
3

Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles


among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
5

What is Galatians talking about here? Receiving the Spirit thats the promise of the
New Covenant. When Galatians contrasts works with faith thats contrasting the
Old Covenant with the New. Spirit contrasted with flesh again New versus Old.
Verse 8:
8

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith

Justification by faith thats the New Covenant.


Verse 10:
10

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse

The curse of seeking salvation by the works of the law Old Covenant.
Verse 13:
13

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law

Christs redemption thats the New Covenant again. Curse of the law thats the
Old Covenant. Galatians chapter 3 is contrasting the New Covenant with the Old.
But then we read something curious. Verse 16:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And
to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
16

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot
disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
17

For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave
it to Abraham by promise.
18

So what covenant are we talking about here? The entire chapter has been
contrasting the New Covenant with the Old, but then it contrasts a covenant on one
side against the Old Covenant on the other. It says this covenant came 430 years
before the Old Covenant given at Mt. Sinai and it says this covenant was promised
to Abraham.
Of course, we know the promise to Abraham as the Abrahamic Covenant. But verse
14 also tells us the New Covenant promise of receiving the Spirit through faith
comes through this same promise to Abraham.
The covenant mentioned here is also said to be confirmed in Christ. And Hebrews
7:22 tells us that Jesus was the confirmation of the New Covenant while Luke
chapter 1 also tells us Jesus was the confirmation of the promises made to
Abraham.
What we have here is a reference to the original giving of the New Covenant. The
New Covenant was given to Abraham. Abraham was given the covenant of promise.
He was given the covenant of faith. The Abrahamic Covenant is the promise of the
New Covenant. The New Covenant is fulfilled and empowered in the crucifixion, but
its promise was given to Abraham.
And whats more, that promise allowed Abraham to live under the standards of the
New Covenant, not the Old.
Hebrews 11. Lets look at those things we know are aspects specific to the New
Covenant. Under the New Covenant, righteousness is accounted to us through faith.
And what does Hebrews 11 say? It says the saints of the Old Testament were saved
by faith. Verse 2 says the elders obtained a good report through faith. It says, by
faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham, by faith Sarah, and
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and it goes on.
In verse 13 it says this,
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them
13

10
The promise of the New Covenant hadnt yet been fulfilled, but these men had been
given that promise. They already believed in salvation through faith and they
embraced it and lived by it. And verse 26 tells us by faith Moses
26

Esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:

Moses already knew about the Savior and he had faith in Him and he followed Him.
The Old Covenant is salvation by works. The New Covenant is salvation through
faith. These men who lived in the Old Testament believed in and lived a life of
salvation through faith.
Matthew 12. Another aspect of the New Covenant is that under the New Covenant
we serve the Lawgiver, not the law. We serve the spirit or intent of the Lawgiver
instead of the letter of the law. Jesus talks about exactly this subject in Matthew
chapter 12 beginning in verse 1

12

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his
disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do
that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
2

But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an
hungred, and they that were with him;
3

How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which
was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only
for the priests?
4

Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in
the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
5

Jesus is talking here about letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. And who
does He use as an example of living by the spirit of the law? He uses the Old
Testament character of King David. Jesus fully admits David violated the letter of the
law and would have been guilty under the terms of the Old Covenant. Yet Jesus uses
David as an example of someone who was held blameless before God because he
followed the spirit of the law. So not only do we see an example of David living by
the New Covenant standard of the spirit rather the Old Covenant standard of the
letter, we also see that in the Old Testament God Himself judged David by the New
Covenant standard rather than by the Old Covenant standard.
Deuteronomy chapter 6. This brings up another aspect of the New Covenant that
also existed in the Old Testament. If all David had was the letter of the law, how did

11
David know eating the showbread fulfilled the spirit of the law? How did he know it
was okay for him to do that? The answer is David had the law written in his heart.
Psalms 119:11 this is King David writing.

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy
commandments.
10

11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Deuteronomy 6:4 says,


4

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might.
5

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

Deuteronomy 11:18
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind
them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 30:11,

For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden
from thee, neither is it far off.
11

It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to


heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
12

Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the
sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that
thou mayest do it.
14

Thats how David knew the spirit of the law. It was written in his heart just like it is
in our hearts today even though he lived prior to the crucifixion.
Under the New Covenant we also have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Go to Numbers 11:25. Remember what happened at Pentecost when they received
the Holy Spirit. Numbers 11:25

12
And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit
that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that,
when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
25

That sounds a lot like the giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in the
book of Acts except it occurred in the Old Testament. I Samuel 16:13 says,
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren:
and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.
13

I Samuel 19:20
And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the
prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of
God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
20

Judges 14 tells us Samson had the spirit. Judges 6 tells us Gideon had the spirit and
you can go on with other references as well.
David knew how to follow the spirit of the law also because he had the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit just like we do today under the New Covenant.
And finally, under the New Covenant, Jesus Christ is our high priest. He is called a
priest after the order of Melchisedec according to Hebrews 7. Who was Melchisedec?
Hebrews says Melchisedec was without father or mother, and without beginning or
ending of days. That description can only describe God. Melchisedec was Christ. But
He was also Abrahams priest. Christ is High Priest under the New Covenant, but
Abraham also already knew Christ as his high priest in the Old Testament.
So the covenant of faith, the New Covenant, was completed in the crucifixion. But
its promise was given to Abraham long before the Old Covenant ever came into
being at Mt. Sinai. And all the faithful men of the Bible, including those who lived in
the Old Testament, lived by and were saved by the standards and terms of the New
Covenant, not the old. They lived by the spirit of the law. They had the law written
in their hearts. They had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They were saved by faith.
So while Moses gave us the Old Covenant, he lived by, was judged by, and was
saved by the standard of the New Covenant just like we are.
So then the question becomes: Why then did God give us the Old Covenant in the
first place? If the promise of the New Covenant was already here and it is that
promise that has saved the faithful throughout history, why did God ever give us an
Old Covenant that couldnt save us and that only resulted in bondage?
Galatians 3 gives us the answer. The law of the Old Covenant was to be a
schoolmaster that leads us to Christ. The Old Covenant wasnt given to save man
from sin. God knew from the beginning it never would or could. It wasnt given to

13
create a temporary set of rules. It was given to lead us to Christ and it does that in
two ways.
From the beginning of time, man has been lied to and told he can do it on his own.
Satan told Eve in the garden she didnt need God. He told her she could know good
and evil by herself without Him. What Satan was saying is that good and evil dont
come from God. He was saying good and evil exist by themselves separate from
God which means we shouldnt serve God, we should serve right and wrong. The
implication of what Satan told Eve was that we should serve the law itself rather
than God.
One lesson of the Old Covenant is we cannot do it on our own. We do need the
savior Christ. We cannot save ourselves by just serving a law of good and evil
separated from the spirit of God. Serving a law divorced from the lawgiver, no
matter how perfect that law is, leaves no room for spirit. It has no intent. It has no
mercy. The law by itself just is and the law ruling by itself does not produce
righteousness or justice or freedom. Serving the letter of the law produces only
bondage and death. It is only in serving the Spirit of God that we find righteousness
and justice and freedom. And it is only God who can save us.
Thats one of the lessons of the Old Covenant. It answers Satans lie of the Garden.
And another lesson the Old Covenant teaches us is this: it allows us to study the
mind of God.
In John 5:46-47 Jesus says,
46

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

47

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Moses wrote of Christ. The law is a written reflection of the will of God. Reading it
and studying it shows us what God wants for us and from us. It shows us what He
considers love for our neighbor to be. It records what He sees as good for us. In
studying Mosaic Law, its not that we are governed by the letter, but the letter
allows us to study Gods will. Studying the written law reveals the spirit of Christ.
And ironically rejecting the law actually prevents a persons conversion to New
Covenant Christianity. Jesus says, But if ye believe not Moses writings, how shall
ye believe my words? A man who rejects the Mosaic Law cannot believe Christ
because they teach the same things.

You know God says that with the New Covenant He writes His law in our heart. The
written law of the Bible is one instrument God uses to do this. It is true God has
written His law on the heart of every Israelite. There is not a single Israelite that

14
doesnt have an inbuilt love of God. Even an atheist wants to serve God. He puts
mother earth or mankind in the place of God, but everyone has an inbuilt desire to
serve something bigger than themselves.
And everyone has a built in love for their neighbor. Even a newborn baby, from
birth, has a love for his neighbor. If someone is crying or obviously upset it upsets
the baby doesnt it? If a baby hits you with his rattle and you cry out in pain, the
baby will get upset wont it? Babies are bothered by others hurting. They have a
natural love for others. Love God and love your neighbor. God has written the law in
our hearts.
But that same baby will steal a toy from another baby without a second thought. He
will do this because he doesnt yet know that stealing hurts his neighbor. And
people who have grown up with it will eat pork without the slightest twinge of guilt.
We all have the basic law of love for our neighbor written on our hearts. But
understanding the details of what that law entails is written on our hearts through
our study of the law. Thats why we are told to teach the law to our children and to
talk about it in our house and when were away, when we lie down and when we get
up.
How many times have you heard modern Christians today, especially the younger
generation of Christians, grudgingly admit homosexuality is a sin, but yet you can
tell they dont really feel like its a sin. Theyll say its a sin, but immediately they
call for tolerance and compassion and understanding. They cringe at any
condemnation.
They would never call for tolerance of a child molester or understanding for a
murderer. Those are things they actually do feel are sins. Their heart tells them
molesting is a sin. They feel murder is a sin.
But the modern Christians heart doesnt see homosexuality in the same way. They
dont feel its a sin. They have discarded the Law of God. They dont study it. They
dont believe it. And because of that their heart doesnt reflect the whole law of
God.
They replace the law of God with the law of the land, and by doing that they pervert
the law written on their heart. If you dont believe Moses you cannot believe Christ.
Proverbs 28:9 says,
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
abomination.
Turn to II Corinthians 3. The purpose of the Old Covenant was and is to be a
schoolmaster that leads us to Christ. Modern Christianity rejects the lessons of the
schoolmaster.

15
II Corinthians 3:13

And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel
could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
13

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in
Christ.
14

15

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

This vail of Old Covenant thinking remains over the eyes of the vast majority of
modern Christians. When they read the scriptures of the Old Testament what do
modern Christians see? They dont see the spirit of God. They cant see anything
but the merciless letter of an unforgiving law.
Sadly the vast majority of Christianity has yet to learn the most basic lesson of the
Old Covenant: What is love? They avoid studying the law. They reject its lesson.
They replace the law of God with the law of the land. And as a result they end up
with a twisted sense of good and evil.
And in a broader sense our entire society has yet to learn the lesson of the Old
Covenant.
R.J. Rushdoony, the author of the Institutes of Biblical Law, said the following of our
modern society Our increasingly humanistic laws, courts and legislators are
giving us a new morality. They tell us, as they strike down laws resting upon biblical
foundations, that morality cannot be legislated, but what they offer is not only
legislated morality, but salvation by law.
Salvation by law. Thats the standard of the Old Covenant. Our society believes in
the rule of law, just like the Old Covenant. It doesnt believe in the rule of the
Lawgiver. At the top of our society it is men that rule. At the top of the Old Covenant
man sat in the position of high priest. Our society hasnt learned the lesson of the
Old Covenant. We need God. But our society thinks we dont. It thinks men can
know good and evil on their own without God.
Its truly ironic. Our society rejects the Old Testament as outdated, but
fundamentally our society is an Old Covenant society. And as a result our Old
Covenant society suffers from a legalism and lack of mercy the Pharisees would be
envious of. Were overrun by lawyers, our laws are 2000 pages each, and no
tolerance rules in our schools are examples of a stunning lack of mercy, even
expelling children for using their fingers like play guns.

16
Salvation by works. Thats what our modern society believes in. And most modern
Christians believe exactly the same thing. How many times have you heard modern
Christians say it doesnt matter what faith you believe in. It only matters if youre a
good person.
Thats the common modern belief. But think about that. It doesnt matter what faith
you believe in. It only matters if youre a good person.
Thats salvation by works, not by faith, salvation by what you do, by being a good
person, not by faith in our redeemer Christ.
The next time someone tells you the food laws are done away ask them if they can
see the love of God in those laws. Because thats what Jesus says is there. The next
time someone dismisses the law as passed away ask them if Moses law teaches
Christianity, because Jesus says it does.
But we have to be careful ourselves as well. When we ourselves read the passages
on stoning a rebellious child do we see the love of God? Because it is there in that
law whether we can see it or not. If we cant see it, its because theres error in us
not the scripture. We dont fully understand everything. When we read the laws
governing slavery does our mind try to dismiss them as outdated and done away? I
know mine does. But that just points to things I still have to learn not to something
that is done away.
We should never dismiss any scripture as done away or from an outdated time or
from a different standard or not applying to us. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in
righteousness. That is all scripture. Old Testament scripture is not outdated or
inapplicable. Jesus preached out of the Old Testament. Timothy wrote of the Old
Testament as the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
The Old Testament is one with the New. It is one continuous work given to us by God
to guide us to Him. The stories in it, the law, the faithful men who act as examples
for us are all valid no matter which part of the Bible they come from. Those men
lived just like we do today with the same trials and the same temptations, the same
failings, and the same standards of righteousness that man has always been judged
by. They lived with the same covenant we do. If our mind conflicts with something
out of the Old Scriptures, its not because it was a different time. Its not because it
was done away. Its not because they had a different covenant. If our mind conflicts
with any scripture its because there is error in us. We have to allow ourselves to
learn and be molded. We need to take the correction and reproof. We need to take
the instruction. This book is one book.

17

You might also like