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“The Old Testament”
Categories: The Bible
God told Moses, “…Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today” (Deut. 5.1-3).
The Law of Moses, also known as the Law of God (Ezra 7.6; 2 Chronicles 34.14), was given to the nation of Israel. This was part of God’s eternal plan to bring us to Christ and the cross (Gal. 3.16, Gal. 3.19, Gal.23-25). Once Christ came and died for our sins, He nailed the Law of Moses to the cross (Col. 2.13-14; Eph. 2.13-16). Shortly thereafter His will and testament came into practice (see Heb. 8.6; 9.15-17).
The New Testament was in accordance to the prophecy found within the pages of the Old Covenant (Jer. 31.31-34; Heb. 8.6-9, 13). Therefore, since Christ has come and died, we are no longer under the Law of Moses, but under the Law of Christ (Gal. 6.2). Since we will be judged by His gospel (Rom. 2.16), we must not appeal to Moses for salvation, justification or authority for what we practice religiously (Matt. 17.1-5; Col. 3.17; Heb. 1.1-2).
The question might arise, “if we are under the Law of Christ, why the need for the Old Testament?” First, among many things, the Law taught us about sin and about obedience to God (Rom 3.20; 7.7-11; Deut. 10.12-13). Next, the Old Covenant was written for our learning (Rom. 15.4) and examples were given that we might not sin against God as those of the past did (1 Cor. 10.6). Finally, we need Christ, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10.4). The blood of Christ was and is sufficient to wash away our sins (Heb. 9.11-14). Yet, it is only when we comply with the conditions found within the New Testament that we can have our sins forgiven. In His New Covenant, Jesus taught, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16.16). – Bryan Garlock
