{"id":3287,"date":"2015-07-11T18:13:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T23:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/?p=3287"},"modified":"2015-07-11T18:13:21","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T23:13:21","slug":"does-the-old-testament-contradict-the-new-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/2015\/07\/11\/does-the-old-testament-contradict-the-new-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Does The Old Testament Contradict The New Testament?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Does the Old Testament contradict the teachings of the New Testament as some claim?<\/p>\n

Jesus on the Old Testament<\/h2>\n

If the Old Testament contradicts the New Testament then why did Jesus quote out of it so much? Jesus often quoted the Book of Isaiah, Psalms, and even Genesis. In one place Jesus said \u201cDo not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. \u201cFor truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished<\/span>\u201d (Matt 5:17-18). If He were to amend the Old Testament then that would have been His chance to say it but instead He said He came to fulfill it, not abolish it. He said not even the smallest letter or stroke would pass away from it. Further, He warned \u201cTherefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven<\/span>\u201d (Matt 5:19) and \u201cSo in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets<\/span>\u201d (Matt 7:12). You cannot separate the Word of God from the law of God for they are one and the same. The psalmist wrote \u201cThe law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple<\/span>\u201d (Psalm 19:7).<\/p>\n

Paul on the Law of the Old Testament<\/h2>\n

We have to remember that the apostles didn\u2019t have the New Testament to quote out of as it was not yet written. All they had access to and all they quoted came straight from the Old Testament so not only didn\u2019t Jesus abolish or do away with the Old Testament, James, Peter, and Paul quoted it. Paul wrote \u201cDo we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law<\/span>\u201d (Rom 3:31) and in fact he quoted the Old Testament 105 times! If the Old Testament contradicted the New Testament, then Paul could have easily contradicted his New Testament teachings since he quoted the Old Testament so much but he never once did! In Romans 4:3 Paul wrote \u201cFor what say the scripture? Abraham believed and it was counted unto him for righteousness<\/span>\u201d which is what Genesis 15:6 \u201cAnd he believed in the LORD; and he God, and counted it to him for righteousness<\/span>.\u201d Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4 both say \u201cthe just shall live by faith<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"All-Scripture-is\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Are there Contradictions?<\/h2>\n

Any apparent contradictions in God\u2019s Word that we see or think we see are only the natural spiritual blindness of the natural carnal mind that doesn\u2019t have \u201cspiritual truth\u201d revealed to it. Paul wrote \u201cThe natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned<\/span>\u201d (2nd Cor 2:14). Jesus says about \u201cthe Spirit of Truth<\/span> [that] The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you<\/span>\u201d (John 14:17). That\u2019s why \u201cthe message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing<\/span>\u201d (1st Cor 1:18). Anyone that says that the Old Testament contradicts the New Testament must realize that it takes the Spirit of God to reveal the meaning of Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, \u201cFor who knows a person\u2019s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God<\/span>\u201d (1st Cor 2:11).<\/p>\n

All Scripture is True<\/h2>\n

Jesus has already assured the believer that \u201cScripture cannot be broken<\/span>\u201d (John 10:35) and naturally He was speaking about the Old Testament as this was the context of His comment. The idea behind saying the \u201cScripture cannot be broken<\/span>\u201d is that it isn\u2019t broke\u2026it does not contradict itself; it must be fulfilled and Jesus was referring to the Old Testament when He said that. Remember that the only times where Paul quoted something it was the Old Testament and he said that \u201cAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness<\/span>\u201d (2nd Tim 3:16) and Peter says that \u201cno prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet\u2019s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit<\/span>\u201d (2nd Pet 1:20-21). The word \u201cScripture\u201d was referring to the Old Testament since that is all they had access to at the time even though Peter did once refer to Paul\u2019s writings as Scripture (2nd Pet 3:15-16). If the Old Testament contradicted the New Testament, then why in the world would they quote it so many times?<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The Old Testament supports the New Testament and they are not diametrically opposed to one another; neither do they conflict with one another. Jesus applied the spiritual or internal applications of the Old Testament law (Matt 5), not doing away with it. In other words, there are not contradictions but they are just deeper New Testament elaborations of the Old Testament. If you have the Holy Spirit of God then you would come to understand that these differences are not contradictions but they are like the biblical concept of having two witnesses to have a thing be established as true. One witness was not enough, even in the Old Testament (Duet 17:6; 19:15) but \u201cevery matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses<\/span>\u201d (Matt 18:16). Paul also concluded that \u201cEvery charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses<\/span>\u201d (2nd Cor 13:1) and so the Old Testament supports and validates the New Testament and since many in the New Testament quoted out of the Old Testament, it validates the Old, therefore there is no contradiction between the two whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Article by Jack Wellman<\/h4>\n

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know <\/a>whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer\u2019s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus <\/a>or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does the Old Testament contradict the teachings of the New Testament as some claim? Jesus on the Old Testament If the Old Testament contradicts the New Testament then why did Jesus quote out of it so much? Jesus often quoted the Book of Isaiah, Psalms, and even Genesis. In one place Jesus said \u201cDo not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,377,289],"class_list":["post-3287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-answers","tag-bible","tag-new-testament","tag-old-testament"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes The Old Testament Contradict The New Testament?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does the Old Testament contradict the teachings of the New Testament as some claim? 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