Old & New Testament
How the two testaments relate, Old Testament law and violence, and the Old Testament's witness to Jesus.
Why is the Old Testament still relevant today?
The Old Testament is crucial as the foundational narrative of God's persistent redemptive work, providing divine context, patterns, and prophecies for the Messiah's mission and humanity's restoration. It chronicles God's history of Restoration through Indemnity, detailing how human failures led to compensatory periods and how central figures prepared the way for the Messiah, establishing a pattern for spiritual growth and resurrection applicable today.
Do Christians need to follow Old Testament laws?
Christians are not bound by the ceremonial and civil laws of the Old Testament, as these were fulfilled by Jesus and superseded by the New Covenant. The Old Testament laws prepared humanity through a "formation stage" for the coming of the Messiah. However, the moral laws reflect God's unchanging character and remain eternally binding, now understood and lived through the spirit of love in the New Testament's "growth stage."
Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament?
The God of the Old and New Testaments is one, unchanging in nature, but His expression shifts according to humanity’s developmental stage. The Old Testament emphasized justice for humanity in a "formation stage." The New Testament, through Jesus, revealed God's love and grace, suitable for humanity in a "growth stage." These reflect God's progressive providence to restore fallen humanity to His original ideal, moving from external law to an internal heart.
Why did God command violence and genocide in the Old Testament?
God's Old Testament commands for violence reveal a profound spiritual surgery. These were tragic, precise acts of "indemnity" to purge extreme evil and safeguard the messianic lineage, not arbitrary wrath. They dramatically separated a corrupt world from God's redemptive purpose, establishing a pure foundation for humanity's potential restoration.
How does the Old Testament point to Jesus?
The Old Testament points to Jesus through prophecy, covenant, Exodus imagery, wilderness provision, and sanctuary worship. These patterns portray deliverance, spiritual nourishment, divine presence, and restored access to God. The answer also explains distinctive providential interpretations of the tablets, sanctuary divisions, and Jesus’ mission, distinguishing them from explicit biblical teaching.
What is the meaning of "no one pours new wine into old wineskins"?
This saying means new, transformative truth (new wine) cannot be contained by outdated, rigid forms or understandings (old wineskins). Trying to force them together causes both to be destroyed. It highlights God's progressive revelation, where each new stage of divine truth requires adaptable individuals and systems to embrace it, rather than clinging to past traditions that cannot accommodate the new light.