THE NEW TESTAMENT:

Our Sole Religious Authority Today

Victor M. Eskew

 

          When we pick up our Bibles and glance at its pages, we quickly see that it contains two large sections.  One section is called “The Old Testament.”  It contains thirty-nine books of the Bible.  The second section is titled:  “The New Testament.”  Twenty-seven books made up its contents.  Yes, the division is there, but there are very few individuals who truly understand the distinction between the covenants.  Most people believe that both the Old and New Testaments are authoritative today,  They believe that the contents of both testaments are binding upon all men.

          In this article, we will prove that the New Testament is our sole religious authority today.  In other words, no one is bound to keep the Old Covenant.  Even the Ten Commandments are no longer binding upon any individual today.  Statements like this trouble many.  They will boldly try to argue that the Old Testament is binding.  Some will attempt to argue that the ceremonial part of the Old Law was abolished, but the moral aspect of the Old Testament, which includes the Ten Commandments, is still binding upon all men.

          First, it must be pointed out that the Old Testament was a law given only to the Jewish nation.  Moses led Israel out of Egyptian bondage.  When they encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai, God told them that He was going to make His covenant with them alone.  “And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:  for all the earth is mine.  And ye shall be a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.  These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exo. 19:3-6).  Notice how God begins this message:  “Thus shalt thou say unto the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel.”  Then, consider how the message ends:  “These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”  In between these two statements, He told Israel that they would be “a peculiar treasure unto me,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “an holy nation.”  However, this new relationship with God was conditional. The “if-then” statements are found in Exodus 19:5.  “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me…”  The Old Testament was intended for Israel.  Paul affirms this in the Roman epistle also.  He writes:  “What advantage then hath the Jew?  Or what profit is there of circumcision?  Much every way:  chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:1-2).

          Second, the Law of Moses, that is, the Old Testament, had a specific purpose.  It was designed to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ into the world.  It had one major difficulty.  As long as a Jews kept the law perfectly, everything was fine.  However, if the Jew violated the law, he could not be totally cleansed of his transgressions.  “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10:4).  On the Day of Atonement, the sins of the children were remembered again and again.  By faith, the nation waited for the Messiah who would remove every sin by means of His blood.  “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation though faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness:  that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:24-26).  And again:  “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of the inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).

          Third, because of this difficulty in the law, God designed a new covenant that had the ability to forgive both Jews and Gentiles of their transgressions.  This covenant was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah.  “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt:  which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:  for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31-34).  The Hebrew penman quotes this text almost verbatim in Hebrews 8:7-12.  He notes that it has specific application to the “better covenant” of Jesus Christ (Heb. 8:6).

          Fourth, when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, the Old Law was nailed to the cross with Him.  Paul affirms this in Colossians 2:14.  “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”  “The handwriting of ordinances” refers to the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses.  They were a symbol of the entire law.  In the book of Ephesians, Paul also notes that the law was abolished when Jesus died on the cross.  “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph. 2:15-16). 

          Jesus’ blood ratified the New Testament.  Jesus Himself said:  “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28).  Dear readers, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). We under the new covenant, that is, the New Testament of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ words will be that which judge all those who have lived on this side of the cross (John 12:48).  But, what about the Ten Commandments?  This question really troubles many.  As Jesus said on one occasion:  “Let not your heart be troubled.”  Nine of the ten commands can be found in the law of Christ.  Only one was not set forth therein.  Nowhere are we commanded to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”  It was replaced with another day of worship, the Lord’s day, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10).

          The law of Christ, the New Testament, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the binding law upon all men today.  Jesus knew the law of Moses was going to come to an end.  When He gave His Great Commission to His ambassadors, He told them to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19).  He concluded His instructions telling them what these new disciples needed to be taught.  “Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:20). His words would become the sole authority in religion.  They continue to be the sole authority to this day.