What About the Old Testament?—No. 1

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[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles-3 page.]

            Do we live under obligation to obey only the Old Testament, only the New Testament, or both? If we fail to understand the correct answer to this question, we will never be able to correctly understand the Bible at all.

1. First, let us understand that a true believer in God and Christ accepts all the Bible as inspired of God.
2. Second, let us understand that the Bible contains two distinct bodies of material, known as the Old and New Testaments, respectively.
3. Third, it must be granted that the Old Testament portion of the Bible covers the history of two distinct periods of time. The first period dates from creation to the time when the Ten Commandment Law was given at Mount Sinai (Exo. 20), during which time man had no written law from God. He dealt with the fathers of those centuries (Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc.) directly and on an individual basis. However, after the giving of the Ten Commandments, God began dealing with the nation of Israel according to the terms of that covenant and did so throughout the remainder of the Old Testament.
4. Fourth, it is obvious that the commands and responsibilities God has given man have differed in the three different periods of Biblical history. God told Noah to build an ark, but no one under the Law of Moses or in the New Testament is ever so ordered. God commanded the Israelites through the Law of Moses to “Remember the Sabbath Day,” but He never required this of the Patriarchs before the Law, nor is it a command of the Law of Christ. Likewise, the New Testament contains many commands that are found neither in the laws given to the Patriarchs, nor in the Mosaic Law.
5. Fifth, it is impossible for men to be responsible to three distinct bodies of religious law simultaneously. To which body of Biblical law are we responsible? The Patriarchal? the Mosaic, or the Law of Christ—the New Testament?
6. Sixth, if we don’t answer this question correctly, we will fail to handle the Word of Truth correctly (2 Tim. 2:15). Please check out our subsequent brief articles on this subject.

[Note: I wrote this article for, and it was published in the “Bible Thoughts” Column for the Hood County News, Granbury, Texas, October 23, 1977.]

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