Several years ago, there was a lady who attended our church. She was a very intelligent and accomplished woman, now in retirement. She had fascinating tales to tell of her varied careers and experiences and I enjoyed speaking with her.
She never joined our church, which was fine. She came to our church because she had not been happy with her church’s current pastor. She never joined our church because she was fundamental in her views.
One Sunday, she asked to share a word with our church. I was glad to let her speak. She wanted to affirm our fellowship and our strong Bible-based messages and Bible studies. She did say, however, that she wished I would preach more from the Old Testament.
As soon as she said that, my first thought was, “Why? We’re a New Testament church, following New Testament precepts as taught by Christ.”
It’s not that I don’t appreciate the Old Testament. I do. I find there is much to learn in the Old Testament, both about God and about people. (Someone once asked me about the “begats” in the Old Testament, and why we really need them. I assured the person that the begats were relevant because it gives us a lineage of the tribes and families of the Old Testament. For instance, the lineage that traces to Moses lets us know that Moses was the younger of the two brothers, Aaron being the older, and that Miriam was probably the eldest of the three children. Also the begats show us that Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, was the grandfather of Noah, and that Methuselah died the year of the flood. But I digress.)
I find the Old Testament gives us a good foundation for a better understanding of the New Testament, but I prefer the New simply because the New Testament is the source of Jesus’ teachings and the work of the Holy Spirit in the spreading of the Gospel and the living of the same Gospel in the first century after the creation of the Church. The New Testament speaks more closely to our understanding of what it means to be a child of God and how to live out a ministry of reconciliation.
Why Do I Believe the New Testament is Superior?
There are numerous reasons a hold to this belief.
First, the New Testament speaks to its superiority over the Old. We can see this in the book of Hebrews, where the writer spends the entire letter discussing how Jesus is superior to the angels (chapters 1-2), to Moses (3), to the Law, to the Aaronic priesthood (5-8), and other aspects of the Mosaic tradition. It addresses the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice versus the sacrifices of atonement in the Old Testament. So there is that.
Second, the New Testament’s focus is on grace, not the law. To be sure, the Old Testament is underscored with grace, and God’s grace can be seen in the way He deals with the various characters of the Old Testament. But the clear emphasis of the New Testament is that of grace as opposed to the law. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Paul wrote Galatians to refute the idea of returning to the old ways once we come into relationship with Christ.
Finally, there is Jesus’ statements that support my preference for the New Testament over the Old. “Do not think I have come to abolish the Laws or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Conclusion
If we are to learn about the teachings of Christ and of the early church, we will need to be aware of the New Testament. It cannot be found in the Old. Jesus came to fulfill the Scriptures, and He came to not only point us to the Father but to make a means possible for us to have fellowship with God.
In order to grow closer to the Father through the Son and the Spirit, we need to know Christ’s words and ministry, and it can only be found in the New Testament. That’s why I prefer it to the Old.
© 2018 Glynn Beaty