| |
Bible Question: I
am having trouble understanding how the Old Testament Law coexists
with the New Testament. For example, did Jesus believe it was wrong
to eat pork (and other foods), and did He support the idea of capital
punishment? It seems that Jesus' message is about not getting hung
up on what you eat and that we should forgive versus capital punishment.
I realize that in regards to the food issues, He was implying that
other things are more important. But isn't the old law about food
still valid and would not Jesus have given the okay for someone to
be killed for their sins as written in the Old Testament?
Bible Answer: Your
question is a very important one. But before we look at the answer,
we need to ask, "When can we ignore a command from God?"
The answer is, "When He changes the command." He is the
only One who can change the command. When we come to the New Testament,
we find that God has replaced most but not all of the Old Testament
laws.
What Laws Changed? The Mosaic
Law, also called the Old Covenant, was replaced by Jesus Christ with
the New Covenant. The Mosaic Law includes all of the rules about the
sacrifices, priests, temple, tabernacle, food, capital punishment,
and how to handle disease. Then after Jesus died, God replaced the
Old Covenant with a new one called the New Covenant. He eliminated
all of the old rules. In Hebrews 8, God says that the Old Covenant
or Mosaic Law was going to be replaced. The Old Covenant was going
away or growing old and it was ready to vanish.
| |
.
. . there are priests who offer the gifts according to the
law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,
as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make
the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things
according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
But now [Jesus] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch
as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established
on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless,
then no place would have been sought for a second. Because
finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are
coming, says the LORD, when 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
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land
of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant . .
." says the LORD. “For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days,"
says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write
them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people . . . In that He says, “A new covenant,”
He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete
and growing old is ready to vanish away. (NKJV) Hebrews 8:4-13 |
The Old Covenant was all of the rules and ordinances of sacrifice,
priests, and many other things.
| |
Then
indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service
and the earthly sanctuary. (NKJV) Hebrews 9:1 |
But after Jesus' death and return to life, a new
covenant replaced the old one and those old laws disappeared.
|
|
