![]() ![]() ![]() We obey the laws of sacrifice by trusting in Christ as our once-for-all sacrifice, not by bringing sheep or goats to be slain each weekend in church. Here's the principle: all of the Old Testament applies to Christians, but none of it applies apart from its fulfillment in Christ. It’s just that some laws no longer have validity because they have been completely fulfilled in Christ, such as the sacrificial system. The law provides us with a paradigm of timeless ethical, moral and theological principles. So does the law in the Old Testament apply to us today at all? ![]() The Old Testament remains the yardstick, but not the pathway. But Christ on the cross took on the penalty for our sin as a grace-gift to all who would receive it. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. So is it “an eye for an eye” or “ turn the other cheek”? Understanding the two testaments as a single story, we now know the answer:īecause it’s a singular story, we interpret the Old Testament in light of its fulfillment in the New Testament. God Himself shed His glory, assumed human form, and took the place of sacrifice in order to save us. From creation through to Abraham, Moses to the prophets, a relentless love was being poured out that was growing, building, revealing itself until it reached its climax in the most radical moment in all of cosmic history: It tells the progressive, unfolding drama of the wild pursuit of God of those He created. Together, they form a single picture, for the story of the two testaments is one story. The truth is that God is a God of love and justice, grace and judgment, mercy and accountability. The first 39 books of the Bible are more marked by God’s incredible restraint, His unbelievable patience, His undying love, than any manifestations of His wrath. In truth, there isn't a difference between how the two testaments picture God at all.įor example, there is enormous love and grace and mercy in the Old Testament pictures of God. The only way to reach that conclusion would be through a superficial reading of the texts themselves. Yet here is the caricature: we have two testaments with two radically different theologies - even two radically different “gods.” In the Old Testament you get a God of wrath and judgment, but in the New Testament, you get a God of love. ![]()
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