Is the old testment a refernces book

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Theresa Theil on January 10, 2011 at 7:36am

The New Testement is the light by which we may see and understand the Old Testement.  Everything in the Old Testement must be read through the lens of the Gospel.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 10, 2011 at 11:50am

Very, very good comments by our sister, Amanda.  Amen.  One idea I might add:  Jesus is the Word of God.  He IS the OT.  The OT is all about him.  Anyone is misusing the OT who uses it for any other reason than to point to and speak of our Lord Jesus.

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on January 11, 2011 at 12:47am

I agree with all the comments here and will add a verse we all know, which adds one more aspect of the OT.

 

Colossians 2:17 New International Version (©1984)
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

 

Hebrews 10:1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Theresa Theil on January 13, 2011 at 8:22am

Very good insights my Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

 

I would also add that there is very little in what Jesus taught both by word and by deed that is not directly taken from the OT.  In fact, I have a little game where, during my Bible study time, I try to find even the smallest sliver of the Gospel that is not in the OT in some way, either directly or indirectly via types and foreshadowing and the like. 

 

I would think it would be impossible to understand the Gospel without understanding the relationship between the work of Christ and the whole of Divine Revelation as revealed in the totality of Sacred Scripture.

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Misty Eyes on January 15, 2011 at 12:12pm

My dear fellow Christian brothers and sisters,

 

The Old Testament is God's explanation of why He created us and where we are heading. God in His infinite wisdom chose a people for Himself and gave them precise instructions in how to live their daily lives, thus setting themselves apart from the rest of humanity. They were also to circumcise their men (later with the Mosaic Law all male children were to be circumcised at eight days old), eight days being symbolic in that God made the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.

God also wants us to know how disobedient we are to His ways and Laws. We are born into sin as the children of Adam and Eve and God particularly wanted to tell us of a saviour that He would sent. Many acts in the Old Testament are symbolic of the type of Redeemer that He would sent. One example is the sacrificial lamb. During the Passover, the Jews are to strictly observe and adhere to rules that were given such as the sacrificial lamb MUST be spotless and unblemished and MUST be perfect.

 

The bible is also about two Adam's, one destroyed paradise and the other regained it for mankind.

 

Yeshua the Messiah did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. Throught the Old Testament God had told us time and again about the Saviour that will come to establish the New Covenent. This Redeemer was given all authority in heaven, on Earth and under the Earth. We all crucified him to the cross and we are all guilty.

 

It was actually man who abolished the Law and set a different path to God. This path is twisted and false and is leading billions of people into the second death. Man has interpreted God's intentions falsely and strayed too far to ever come back to God and be reconciled to Him. 

 

It is clearly written in the Old Testament how we should live our lives. It is amazing how many christians never even read the old Testament. 

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Permalink Reply by Misty Eyes on January 16, 2011 at 12:24pm

Amanda, yes we are under the Law.

 

The different path that has been set is the path that man made without any guidance from God Almighty. God decreed a set of Law for the Jewish nation which they are still following today. Read the Old Testament and it is clearly stated that they are to follow this Law for all eternity. However, the gentiles have been grafted into the vine that is Judaism. We are also supposed to follow and obey this Law. Whenever a foreigner came to live with a Jewish family or a slave was brought into the household, these people were honoured and welcomed into the household, thus living as part of the family and obeying all the customs and rituals of the Jew.

 

What happened at the dawn of Christianity is that all of these customs and laws were disregarded and replaced by whims of man. He decided what is best for himself and partly got rid of the Mosaic Law. By this I mean that the ten commandments were kept but everything else was abandoned. Man decided this. Not God. Then man began to add to the gospels and certain things were twisted around to create a complete new religion.

 

Blessings.

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on January 16, 2011 at 1:54pm

Misty,

 

Being that you are from this era of time as we are, how do you suppose to establish that you are right about history? How do you suppose to prove that the gospels have been changed? What proof do you present for these accusations that you are right and the majority of Christianity is wrong?

 

Lord BLess,
LT

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on January 20, 2011 at 5:54am

Jesus was the fulfillment of the law in His death and Resurrection. He was the final and perfect sacrifice for the law. Because He willingly came and gave His life to cover the sins of the world, there is no other sacrifice. Now we are under the new covenant where sin has already been paid for, unless one is not a born again Christian.

When we accept Christ, we are accepting His action of paying for our sins. If one doesn't accept Christ, they aren't accepting His blood being payment for their sins.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 20, 2011 at 12:29pm

That is an excellent, sublime, Holy Ghost-breathed reply, Rita.  This is also the correct interpretation of Hebrews 10:26, instead of the deadly nonsense we usually hear about Gentile Christians falling from Grace and losing their Salvation by committing intentional sins.  The only Unpardonable Sin is to impenitently resist Christ who is the Only Sacrifice for Sin.  As someone who for decades has felt a special call to evangelize Jews (hence my badge), I like to point out that with the destructiion of the Temple and the cessation of prescribed Offerings for sins, Jews who obdurately reject Christ have no assurance anywhere in the Law and the Prophets of the LORD's forgiveness.  Rabbinic (Pharisaical), Synagogue-oriented Judaism has unsuccessfully struggled for hundreds of years to find a true replacement for the divinely prescribed blood Atonement.  

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on April 2, 2011 at 4:58am

Grace supersedes the law. If one is living under the law, one is under the entire law and must obey the entire law. With the crucifixion of Christ, God gave us Grace, (unmerited favor), to those who believe in Christ. Our salvation is secure. That doesn't mean that we won't sin...it means that when we sin, God forgives that sin. At the same time, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the time of our salvation, we try not to sin.

Along with this, we need to try to understand "spirit, soul, and body" and "regeneration of the mind" (soul). Regeneration of our mind means to teach our soul to understand the things of God. Our soul frequently tries to do it's own thing outside the will of God. We need to regenerate it until it also stays in the will of God. 

 

blessings,

Rita

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