I have been doing a Bible study with a good friend of mine and his sons and we just completed a lengthy look at what the Scripture has to say about war, asking the hard questions.  For our next topic we decided to look at the relationship of the Old and New Testaments.  It is my conviction that in the whole of Scripture, including the Old and New Testaments, we have God’s chosen self-revelation.  There is much truth about God and the world He made to be discovered outside the Scripture but within the two testaments are contained God’s self portrait inspired by the Holy Spirit and worth a life time of study and meditation.  This is a brief summary of the relationship between the two.

I first heard this from Bible Teacher, Ern Baxter:

THE OLD TESTAMENT IS IN THE NEW REVEALED WHILE THE NEW IS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEALED.

There is a school of thought that believes the advent of the New Testament sets aside the validity of the Old.  This is an argument that fails to stand in the light of the New Testament itself.  Every reference in the New Testament to the Scriptures is a reference to the Old Testament for the New did not exist at the time.  Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 &  17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (ESV)  Accepting the authority of the New Testament then we accept the Old Testament as (1) breathed out by God.  The Old is part of God’s revealing of Himself and breathed by Him.  He hasn’t changed His mind and what is breathed by God is eternal.  (2)  The Old Testament is profitable for reproof, correction and training.  That means it is not only breathed by God but the content retains its value.  There is wisdom to be mined, principles of life, stories of faith journeys, stories of God’s interactions with the creation He made.  In Jesus Christ we see the radiance of the glory of God and His exact representation set in the context of the people of the Old Testament.  It is that context which provides the background for the incredible gift and revelation of Christ as recorded in the New Testament.

Luke 24:13 – 35 contains the story of two disciples disconsolately walking on the road to Emmaus following the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and His resurrection of which they were unaware.  After describing their reason for being so glum to an unrecognized Jesus He said to them, “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  The New Testament records Jesus Himself encouraging His disciples to believe starting with Genesis and going all the way through the history books, the wisdom books to the prophets showing how He has been concealed in them all.

There are over twenty references to the Scriptures in the Gospels alone.  Remember this is referring to what we now call the Old Testament.  It was the only Scripture that existed for the Jewish people.  There are another seven references in the book of Acts and over twenty more in the rest of the New Testament.  Clearly the New Testament affirms the value of the Old Testament and the Old was central in the life and teaching of the early followers of Jesus Christ.

Next we will look at some guidelines for the relationship between the two Testaments and how together they provide a treasure and focus for our journey of discovery of God.