Help From Above/Помощь Cвыше

by Richard Noel,

BA in Theology

I believe that Christianity is really the continuation of what Judaism was intended by God to be.

NIV John 5:39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.

Old Testament (OT) covenants vs. New Testament (NT): “but I say unto you”….
This seems to imply that the OT is wrong or that God is inadequate to save by the same means and thus has changed the rules of salvation. If it were possible for God to change the rules of salvation then it was not necessary for Jesus to die on the Cross!!

I will now document for you that Jesus did not change anything.

KJV Matthew 5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
All he did was to contradict the Pharisees and their traditions, which were in contradiction to the Bible.

NT KJV Matthew 5:20: For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
This statement focuses on the traditions not on the Bible as the problem.

#1
NT Mt 5:21-22:
21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

This only restates the same principle given by Moses in the OT
Lev. 19:17: Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart:

#2
NT Mt. 5:27-28:
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus is merely restating in a stronger way the OT

Exodus. 20:14, 17
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery…
17 thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife

#3
NT Mt. 5:31-32:
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Here, Jesus explains himself later in Matthew. This does not do away with the law of Moses.

NT Mat. 19:7-8
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

#4
NT Mt. 5:33-37:
33 ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Jesus here reinforces the reality of the Bible statement in the OT without deleting or reducing it at all. He encourages even more carefulness in what we say than the rule given to them before.

OT NIV Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

#5
NT Mt. 5:38-42:
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

This is a direct quote from Exo. 21 (OT), in reference to reparations for injuries done to others. This is not in any way a description of retaliation. Jesus gives a description of how to behave when mistreated, while Exodus is giving a judicial approach for when we have injured others.

#6
NT Mat 5:43-47:
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Jewish tradition had attempted to separate Jews from non-Jews and make them enemies, Jesus removed the excuse for the traditional prejudice of his day and restored the Bible to the people in OT Deut. 10:19 Love ye therefore the alien: for ye were aliens in the land of Egypt.

One of the greatest failings of the nation of Israel was their unwillingness to represent God to the world around them and thus draw the rest of the world to the worship of the Creator and Savior of the world. Jesus restated this mission in Mt 5:13-16.

NT Mt 5:13-15:
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

This mission was originally given by God to Moses in Genesis (OT). It is quoted by Peter in Acts 3:25,26. Peter makes it very clear that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise to Abraham.

The apostle Paul continues this line of reasoning in the Letter to the Romans. In Chapter 9:6-8 he asserts that salvation for Abraham was the same as for us, it is by faith. He also says that true Israel is really whoever believes in God and in Jesus (vs. 25,26). Gal. 3:29 “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Jesus’ prayer just before his arrest and crucifixion confirms this teaching. John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The OT prophet Daniel also prophesied the mission of the Messiah as told in the sanctuary services. These prophesy in Daniel 9:24-27 clearly focused on Jesus’ ministry and sacrifice for us. It tells that the covenant would be strengthened through the last week. Unfortunately, the nation of Israel rejected the messiah and faced the judgment when Stephen brought a covenant lawsuit against them in his trial and vision in Acts 7. That event marked the end of God’s willingness to use the hereditary nation of Israel to spread His message of salvation to the world. The punishment did not come until 70AD when the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. While God’s method of proclaiming salvation changed, the process of our salvation has not changed. Jesus paid the price in full; it is up to us to accept the gift of a new way to live in Christ. As Christians it is our privilege to receive the power of God to live a new life and to show others the joy of dependence upon God.

Thus, Christianity is the continuation of God’s redemptive work available to all of humanity. It is not the continuation of the traditions of the Jews; it is confirmation of the truth of God’s instructions to the Israelites.

I hope this is helpful in our understanding of where Christianity should fit in this world.

© Copyright 2002 Richard Noel

Translation of this piece into Russian is available at А Я говорю вам…

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Bible Teachings, Covenant, In English, by Richard Noel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.