Harmony of Testaments

The continuity of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is such that, as a whole, the Bible is symmetrical in its teachings about creation, the fall, sin, death, forgiveness, and salvation. That is to say that both the Old and New Testaments are in harmony, they agree with each other.

Both Testaments teach that God made humanity in His perfect image, and that the universe also was perfect when He created it. Both Testaments teach that humanity fell into sin, and became alienated from our holy God who is love. Both Testaments teach that God is both holy and loving; that He is about justice and mercy. Both Testaments teach that sin (disobedience toward God) is evil, and deserving of death (Genesis 1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:29, Psalm 97:10, Psalm 11:7 Psalm 103: 6-10, Micah 6:8, John 1:1-5, Romans 1:18-2:4, Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23). 

Both Testaments teach that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but desires that sinners repent (turn away from sin and be reconciled to Him) so that they may live abundantly forever. Both Testaments teach that the unrepentant sinner will die (Ezekiel 18, with attention to verses 4, 20, 23,32; also read Matthew 3:1-2, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 11:20, and Luke 13:1-5). Sin deserves death; not only physical death, which is separation from the physical body, but spiritual death, which is separation from God who is the eternal First Source of all blessings, love, comfort and good things. If anyone rejects Christ, and dies both physically and spiritually, they can not blame God for that any more than they can blame food if they refuse to eat and consequently die of starvation. Both Testaments teach that everyone is a sinner, deserving of God's judgment (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalm 130:3-4, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23).

That is the whole entire reason that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and descended into the place of the dead (Sheol in Hebrew, Hades in Greek) before He rose victoriously over death to provide everlasting life for all who trust in Him (Isaiah 53, Matthew 20:28, Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 Peter 3:18-20). When we say that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin, we are in fact, implying that we really do deserve exactly what He got on the hill called Calvary. We are, in fact, implying that we personally deserve to be physically crucified, or executed in some dreadful manner, and go to Hell. 

Otherwise, why would Jesus Christ have to pay a penalty for our sin, which our sin does not actually merit? Why would Jesus die on the cross for our sin if our sin is not actually deserving of death by crucifixion? Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross for our sin is consistent with the Old Testament laws regarding sin and death. And all the animal sacrifices prescribed for sin in the Old Testament were foreshadows of the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (read Hebrews 9).

On the cross, Jesus Christ received the wages of our sin. "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). He got exactly what we deserve, so that in turn we may get what He deserves. He offers to take away our sin and condemnation, so that He may share with us His righteousness and good standing with Him and the Father through the Holy Spirit. For "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:23b).

Dissenters may criticize the way that God dealt with certain people in the Old Testament. I myself, a believer, also used to have trouble grappling with such things. But both Testaments teach that every one of us is deserving of physical and spiritual death because of our sin. And God is the Creator and Owner of all life anyway (Ezekiel 18:4). So when He takes a life, He only takes what rightfully belongs to Him in the first place. But through His Son, Jesus Christ, the heavenly Father has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him and receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Paradise with Him (read 1 Corinthians 15).

Tongue Bad

If you have never read it, you should read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. It is a very good autobiography, eloquently written (unlike the intentionally silly title of this post). In the course of telling his story, Fredrick Douglass wrote about the various masters that he had before he escaped to freedom. And he told about an overseer named Mr. Severe. It was Mr. Severe whom Douglass described in this way:

"Mr. Severe was rightly named: he was a cruel man... He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity. Added to his cruelty, he was a profane swearer... Scarce a sentence escaped him but that was commenced or concluded by some horrid oath. His presence made it both the field of blood and of blasphemy... and he died as he lived, uttering, with his dying groans, bitter curses and horrid oaths".

What an epitaph! How would you like to have that engraved on your tombstone? "Here lies a cruel and blasphemous man. He died cursing God". 

The Bible has a lot to say about the words that come out of our mouths. James, a half-brother of Jesus, called the tongue "a world of iniquity". He pointed out how with the same tongue that people use to praise God, they often also curse their fellow humans who are created in God's image (read James 3:1-12). 

King Solomon tells us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it's fruit" (Proverbs 18: 21). Like Mr. Severe's bloody cow-skin whip and hickory stick, so the tongue can become a cruel devise to lash out and wound people. And if anyone blasphemes God, that person wounds their own soul; which is not really their own, because every soul belongs to God who created it.

Jesus Himself said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). But this truth leaves no one unscathed, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jesus confirms this when He calls everyone evil (Luke 11:13, Luke 18:19, John 7:7). 

And when we sin in any way at all, we demonstrate a lack of love toward our heavenly Father who is love, and who created us in His perfect image before the Fall. And so when we speak any kind of wickedness; whether cruel insults, hurtful gossip, deceitful lies, foul obscenities, or irreverent blasphemies, we speak against our holy God who is love. And it is a reflection of the condition of our hearts. 

When God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin, Nathan spoke by the Holy Spirit and said to David:

"Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in His eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (2 Samuel 12:9-10; NIV, emphasis added).

So we learn from this passage of Scripture that all sin is a personal affront to our heavenly Father. And that of course includes any kind of sinful speech, because our words are a reflection of what is in our hearts. And one thing that David understood is that even though humans are fallen creatures, God desires righteousness to be in our inward being (Psalm 51:5-6).

David also prayed, saying, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, oh LORD, my strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, can our inward being become truly right and good and pure in the eyes of the LORD. And as Jesus said "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13; NIV).

Thankfully for David, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross paid retroactively for his sin, just as fully as it pays for the sins of all who trust in Jesus. And like Abraham before him, David looked forward to the arrival of God's salvation which came through Christ (John 8:56-58, Psalm 119:81). He even prophesied concerning the Crucifixion, a millennium before it happened (Psalm 22).

Now because of His sacrifice, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, those who trust in Jesus are no longer subject to that foul, lacerating, severe old man. Sin is no longer our master. We are free in Christ (John 8:31-36, Romans 6:6-23). And as we practice righteousness in Him, we grow in His likeness; the perfect image of God in which He originally created humanity (1 John 3:2-3). 

So we are admonished through the Holy Spirit to put away that dead, decomposing old man; and become the new man, created in harmony with God. Which, among other things, means to put away "corrupt speech", or "unwholesome talk" and use our mouths to praise our heavenly Father; and to bless, and build up others through the grace of God (Ephesians 4:21-32).   

Laws, Traditions, and the Natures of God and Humanity

The Scriptures tell the truth that the laws and statutes of the LORD are perfect, and that we are to delight in them (Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 19:7-11, & Psalm 119). But some of the commandments of the LORD might seem more human to us than Divine. 

For example, there are laws in the Pentateuch that detail how masters should treat their slaves. And there are ceremonial laws concerning women's menstrual cycles, and which animals were considered "clean" or "unclean" for eating or for sacrifice, and things like that.

I think that the Law of Moses, as a whole, is kind of like the layout of the Tabernacle (portable temple) which God commanded the Israelites to to construct. The Tabernacle, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, had the outer courtyard, into which the people could enter to offer their sacrifices. 

Then there was the tent itself which was divided into two parts; the Holy place, and the Most Holy place. Both parts were more sacred, and restricted than the outer court. And the Most Holy place (or the Holy of Holies) was so sacred and restricted that only the High Priest was ever allowed to enter it; and only once a year.

Similarly, it seems that the Law of Moses is comprised of what we might call common laws, comparable to the code of Hammurabi, as well as more holy laws. It is also important to consider the role of human traditions which can differ from time to time, and from place to place. Because when God gave the Law to the Israelites through Moses, He accommodated their human traditions. 

For example, some cultures (including that of the ancient Israelites) have practiced arranged marriage. I live in a culture that allows couples to date and to choose each other, without the parents betrothing them. I think both cultural practices have their pros and cons to them. 

Neither practice is morally wrong, in and of itself. In a culture of arranged marriage, the parents ought to be considerate of the needs and welfare of their son or daughter in choosing the right spouse for them. In the culture in which I live, it is up to each person to be wise or foolish in choosing a spouse.

Now the Ten Commandments, which were carved in tablets of stone by God's own finger, might be comparable to the Holy place of the Tabernacle. They are holy in nature, not cultural. And then the heart and soul of the Law is found in Deuteronomy 6:5, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength"; and in Leviticus 19:18, "...you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said that these are the two greatest commandments, and that all the other commandments hang on them (Matthew 22:37-40).

In order to understand the Law of Moses, it is important to realize what the purpose of the Law was in the first place. The apostle Paul, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, informs us that the Law was made for sinners, to make clear our inability to attain righteousness (1 Timothy 1:9, Romans 3:20). 

Jesus Himself made that pretty clear when He preached the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7. He said that if you look at a woman to lust after her, you have already committed the sin of adultery with her in your heart. And if you hate someone, you have already murdered that person in your heart. 

So the Law was given to Moses for sinners, to make them aware of their sin. By the law we become conscious of our alienation from God. It reveals the discord between our fallen human nature and the perfect, immaculate nature of God who is love, and who made humanity in His image, before the Fall. 

The Law shows us that as fallen humans, our nature is no longer in tune with the Divine nature, the nature of God who is love. As it has been said, love toward God and each other is the foundation of the whole Law (Romans 13:9-10).

Since the Law is made for sinners, the ceremonial laws serve as symbolic reminders of the impurity of our fallen human nature. The prophet Isaiah tells us that because of our fallen nature, even our attempts at righteousness are like filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). And the term translated "filthy rags" refers to dirty menstrual rags. 

According to the Law of Moses, a woman in the midst of her menstrual period was considered ceremonially "unclean", and she had to go through a whole ceremonial cleansing process before she could participate in public worship.

I remember once finding an article in a magazine that claimed that the biblical writers did not understand a woman's menstrual cycle, and that they thought of the biological process as shameful and bad. But in actuality, the author of that article is the one who does not understand the Law of Moses at all. 

The ceremonial laws were given by God for their symbolic value. It's not that there is anything wrong with, or shameful about a woman's biology. But the messy nature of it was used as a symbol for the impurity of our fallen human nature. The same idea is behind the laws concerning which animals were, or were not considered fit for ceremonial or dietary use. And the animal sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses are foreshadows of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (read Hebrews 10:1-25). 

Also, because the Law was made for sinners, there is a certain level of forbearance in it. God gave laws concerning treatment of slaves. And today we may wonder, "Why didn't He just forbid slavery altogether?" But these Laws were given as a Divine concession because human nature is hardened against doing right.

However, it should be noted that according to the Law of Moses, no one could lawfully be a slave for life. The people of Israel were required to free all their slaves at various intervals of time. And besides that, in the human traditions of those days, people were not enslaved because of their race. Ways that a person could become a slave, in those days, included being captured in battle during war-time; or a person might sell himself into slavery in order to pay a debt.

The pharisees who were opposed to Jesus once asked Him a question concerning the divorce law that Moses handed down to the people. According to the Law of Moses, if a man wanted to divorce his wife for any reason, he just had to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away. The pharisees asked Jesus if He agreed with this law. 

Jesus told them that Moses gave them this law because their hearts were hard. He told them that "from the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate" (Mark 10:2-9).

And so here is an important point. God's desire is reconciliation between Himself and us. So the giving of the Law was a step in His plan to bring us back to the way it was in the beginning, before the Fall. The point of these laws was to make us aware of our sin and prod us toward returning to God who is love, and who made us in His own image. 

But the Law alone could not accomplish that ultimate goal. As the Scriptures tell "a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

The Law only reveals our need for reconciliation with God. It points us to Christ, who is the only Savior from sin. As the Scriptures tell "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). This is what Jesus meant when He said "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). 

Jesus the Son of God, through whom all things were created, came into the world and lived a pure, perfect, sinless life. And then He gave Himself as a perfect sacrifice to the Father for our sins. Now everyone who trusts in Him is clothed (so to speak) with His righteousness, just as He was clothed (so to speak) in our sin. 

And as we are clothed in His righteousness, and practice righteousness in Him, we will grow to be more and more like Him as we surrender to Him living in us. Our fallen nature is being put to death, while the Divine nature, in the image of which humanity was originally created, is taking over in our hearts. 

As Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, also read Colossians 3:1-16).

"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). And in another passage, Paul writes "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him". 

And as Jesus Himself said, "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me". (John 6:45). And as the apostle John wrote, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

And so, the Law is truly perfect for what it was given to do; to tutor and lead sinners like you and me to Jesus Christ, who alone can reconcile us to the Father.

Who Is the Real Sin Peddler?

In March of 2013, I published a post in answer to the accusation that is sometimes made, that Christians peddle sin, because we tell the truth about sin. The truth is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Humanity was made in the image of our holy, righteous God who is love. But humanity fell into sin in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed the heavenly Father. 

And that is when death first entered into the world. That is when humanity became spiritually dead to God. And that is when Adam and Eve, and all creation first became susceptible to the physical wearing down of life unto death and entropy, which is a result of the curse of sin. 

And the Scriptures record that after speaking to Adam and Eve, and to the serpent who deceived Eve, God made a sacrifice (foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus) for the man and his wife. He made tunics of animal skin to clothe them (Genesis 3:21).There was no death of man or beast before then, contrary to all evolutionary doctrine. Now humanity is a fallen creature. We are all born with a corrupted, sinful human nature, handed down to us by our first parents.

This is the truth about sin. But the Christian message is a message of reconciliation with God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). So we do not peddle sin. We are simply telling the truth that has to be acknowledged before reconciliation can happen. No one can be reconciled to God unless they admit they have sinned, and need to be reconciled (1 John 1:8-9).

But I will tell you who the real sin peddler is. Anyone who tells you that your sins are not sins is a peddler of sin. Whoever says to you, "It's alright. Go ahead and do that thing"; that is who truly peddles sin. The person who tells you that you don't need to trust in Jesus to save you from your sin, that person is a peddler of sin. And that human person; who deceives you to sin, and to stay in your sin, is really a servant of Satan who first deceived Eve to sin, six thousand years ago. That is who the real sin peddler is.

But God is love (1 John 4:8). And He truly did make humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). Our heavenly Father who is love made humanity in His own image so that we could love and be loved (Matthew 22:27-40). He sent His Son Jesus to be the propitiation for our sin - to make reconciliation available to us (1 John 4:10). 

Those who reject Him demonstrate that they have a lack of love, because they do not love God who is love. But whoever is receptive to Him and trusts in Him is truly reconciled with Him, and free from sin (John 1:10-13, John 8:31-36).  

Nothing Is Secular

There is no such thing as secular, since all the universe belongs to its Creator God. Everything was created by Him for His glory. And all we have; the strength of flesh and spirit, and every breath comes from His hand. 

Even our sins are not secular because they are committed against God who alone can forgive our sin and remove our guilt through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Someone might say now, "Wait a minute. Those were the Pharisees, Jesus' critics, who said only God can forgive sin". But be that as it may, they were correct. Only God can forgive sin. 

This is because He is the only real plaintiff in cases of sin. This is because sin is committed against Him. What the Pharisees got wrong was that they failed to recognize that Jesus is the Son of God, equal with the Father.

When we forgive sin, we are only agreeing with Jesus, or leaving the case up to Him to judge.

So there is truly nothing secular. Everything belongs to "the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh" (Numbers 27:16). And all things will be judged by Him.

Psalm 24:1, Hebrews 11:3, Numbers 27:16, James 1:17, Mark 2:5-12, John 1:29, Colossians 1:13-14.