What about the Old Testament?

How do we understand the Old Testament? Some would say it is not necessary for the church at all or at least very secondary to the New Testament. Some would go so far as to say it speaks of a different God or God before He became the graceful/loving God of Jesus and the New Testament. What does the Bible say about itself if we allow it to speak on this topic?

The New Testament writers quote often form the Old. When Jesus, Paul, Peter and others speak of scripture they are usually referring to the entirety of what we call the Old Testament. It is in fact only in a few places that we see New Testament writing called scripture (2 Pet. 3:14-16) for example. We know other New Testament writings were treated as scripture largely by the fact that they were given an authoritative role in the early church. But what do we do with what we call the Old Testament?

Jesus gives great insight into this question several times:

John 5:37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. (NKJV) Jesus ensures His audience (self-righteous Jews) that the purpose of the Old Testament scriptures is not to bring salvation by works, but point to the need for and identity of a Savior – Him!

Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (NKJV) Jesus says the Old Testament writings not only suggest the need for a savior, but ensure and describe the fact/necessity of one based on prophecy and other Old Testament writing about Him!

Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (NKJV) Jesus connects the knowledge of Old Testament truths regarding Himself to the specifics and necessity of His death and resurrection for sin. He further connects the Old Testament and its fulfillment in Him as relevant to both the message of and purpose for future evangelism.

Clearly Jesus saw the Old Testament as describing the need for a savior and pointing to the specific identity and work of that savior. From the fall and expulsion of Adam and Eve, the judgment of the world by flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, to the failures and exile of Israel, Jesus sees the entire narrative of human history as His story!

It would seem dangerous and unwise to try to understand the grace of God as found in Jesus Christ without understanding the justice/judgment of God as described in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is not secondary, not describing a different God, not something to avoid or be embarrassed by, but rather the foundation for understanding the need of salvation as found only in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Does this mean every verse in the Old Testament is specifically about Jesus? Probably not, but it does all speak to the sinfulness of man, the holiness of God and the need for salvation to come form outside the work of men, so in that respect it is all certainly about Jesus. It also holds very specific prophecies of Jesus as well as countless types/shadows pointing to Jesus and His work.

If God’s goal in scripture/history was to save good people He would have to admit complete failure. If God’s goal in scripture/history was to show His holiness/justice as well as His mercy/grace as He redeems a people for Himself solely by His grace through Jesus Christ and all for His eternal glory - then His plan is working perfectly!

Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (NKJV)

Is Your God Like Santa?

Is your God like Santa? (Aside from the obvious issues of being real/alive.)

You probably know the song Santa Clause is Coming to Town and will recognize the description of Santa in the summary below from the song - with a little oral tradition thrown in.

Santa –

He is coming to town

Concerned about moral choices “being naughty or nice”

Crying/pouting not acceptable

Sees all you do, knows if you’ve been bad or good

 He is “Making a list” - keeping count of good/bad

Punishment for being naughty – evidently not

Better be good - “for goodness sake”

Tradition would tell us that good gifts will come to those who are “good” and others get coal or nothing?

Does this represent many people’s concept of Jesus/God? What is wrong with it?

Naughty or nice, good or bad, pouting/crying, etc. are not sins against Santa. Santa is not the offended party he just wants to see us do good and offers rewards to encourage it. We have no command to worship Santa, nor would it be reasonable to worship Santa as he is not God.  Santa has no right or means to punish evil only to withhold good rewards and let’s be honest, because Santa grades on a very generous curve - no one ever really gets coal (sounds like the school system).

What about Jesus/God as described in the Bible? Many similarities: God - knows all, sees all, concerned about moral choices, consequences for choices/sin. But there are important differences also: sin is against God, God does not grade on a curve and God's punishment for sin is real and demanded by His nature!

One very significant difference between Santa and Jesus/God is the motivation for doing good. While Santa says to be good "for goodness sake" and better gifts, God says obey in response to the reality that He is God and worthy of our worship, love and obedience – for His sake. In the Old Testament when telling the Israelites the Ten Commandments God begins the list by reminding them Who He is:  

Deut. 5:6 ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. (NKJV)

God’s command for obedience starts with who He is. Recognizing God’s greatness/power and worshiping/serving Him above everything else is not only required, but completely reasonable based on who He is! You can be indifferent to Santa and simply miss the gifts, but you are guilty of sin if you don’t worship and serve God!

Santa assumes we are naturally able to do good and are worthy of rewards. Jesus/Bible says no one is good and that we need forgiveness for our sins and to be born again through the Holy Spirit before we can do any God pleasing acts (John 3:3-8, Rom. 3:9-20, 8:7-10). Interesting side note – if you were to watch the movie Santa Clause is coming to town (1970 version) you would find the following song  (excerpt below) where Kris Kringle advises the evil warlock on how he can be changed:

Lyrics by Bass, Jules

If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it's just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn

I know what your thinking, surely I have better things to do than pick on Santa, a children’s movie and song lyrics. You might even think I a blaming a movie, a song or Santa for some of the worlds spiritual ills. I am actually saying the very opposite, rather than Santa being a bad spiritual influence, I would suggest that he is simply the product of our natural self-exalting religious tendencies. We all want to believe we are good (or at least better than many), that we will receive rewards from God (Heaven) for our good works and if we do need some kind of rebirth we can muster up the needed resources from within. I would assume that everyone’s god looks like Santa unless instructed differently by the word of God, through the Spirit of God, for the glory of God!

So you better watch out – that you don’t start thinking you are naturally good and deserving gifts. We are only accounted as good and enabled to practice true God honoring obedience, because of what Jesus accomplished for us through His death, burial and resurrection - He gets all the glory and He is the gift!

Eph. 4: ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. (NKJV)

Is Acknowledging Jesus by Name Necessary?

Every think or say – “well they mentioned God they are probably saved”? Is the fact that someone mentions God of any use in assessing their true position with God? What if we add the fact that they are “good people” or “they grew up in church” or “they worship God in their own way”? Do these things suggest anything regarding someone being in right relationship with God?

What does scripture say about this subject? We certainly see many gods (small g false) in the scriptures, not just Israel’s God (capital G true), but also Pagan gods such as Baal (1 Kings 18), Diana (Acts 19) and even Herod (Acts 12). We also see people, after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, who are described as “God fearers” (Cornelius - Acts 10) or “worshipers of God” (Lydia - Acts 16). What do we make of these various gods or professions regarding God or gods? It makes sense to see how God responded to them and then try to see them in the same light He does.

In the days Elijah served as a prophet to God, most in Israel would have called themselves religious. If asked if they believed in God, worshiped God, served God, the answer for many would be a hearty yes! Of course for most they would be referring to their worship of the Pagan god Baal. Not the true God, but at least they were worshipping a god sincerely, that should count for something – right?

God’s response is quite striking as He has Elijah set up a test to prove the identity of the true God and expose Baal as a fraud. The end result is all Baal’s four hundred and fifty prophets are killed for their rebellion against God (1 King 18:20-40). Later in Israel’s history (2 Kings 10:18-25) all those who claim allegiance to Baal are killed. This may seem harsh or even evil and we have no mandate/right from God to go out and kill people for their religious beliefs, but it is completely consistent with God’s call to Israel to drive out/kill the Pagan god worshipping people in the Promised Land. We also know the future Promised Land (New Heavens/Earth) will only be inhabited by worshipers of the true God saved in Christ (Rev. 21:22-27) and those who worship other gods “idolatry”, as the worshipers of Baal did, are left to punishment (Rev. 21:8).

What about the New Testament? Diana, as mentioned above, is just one of many gods in first century Roman culture. An example of the true God’s response to that god obsessed culture is found in Paul’s address to the people at Athens (Acts 17:22-34). Paul, led by the Spirit, makes it abundantly clear that their vast array of gods does not contain a single one of use for salvation. He declares that their gods are useless and that they must repent to be saved (Acts 17:29-30). He goes on to base his claim of Christ’s uniqueness/necessity for salvation in His role in the judgment of man for sin and His resurrection as proof for His authority as God (V. 31).

It seems almost self-evident that worshipping a man whether Herod, or other Roman Emperors, who demanded to be worshiped as gods, is not wise or useful for saving anyone. God’s response to Herod’s accepting people’s worship is quick judgment and death (Acts 12:20-24). It would be easy to see these as extreme cases of ancient Pagan idolatry which have little bearing on the folks we know and interact with today, but there is more to consider.

What about these folks described earlier as “God fearers” or “worshipers of God”, surely we would assume they are in right relationship with God. In the case of Cornelius the “God fearer” we see a man who does it all right, he not only fears God, but leads his household spiritually, prays always, gives to the poor and even receives a visit form an angel (Acts 10:1-4). If anyone is in right relationship to God surely he fits the bill. How does God respond to this worship of the God of Israel? He sends Peter to him to present the gospel including the following conclusion of the teaching:

Acts 10:42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” (NKJV)

During this presentation of the gospel the Holy Spirit comes upon the listeners, they believe and are baptized in the name of the Lord (Acts 10:44-48). What was the “God fearer” Cornelius missing? Forgiveness of sins/salvation in the name of Jesus Christ! The other things he did were good, but also useless if the name/work of Jesus is not heard and believed upon for salvation. This conversion is unique in one sense in that it demonstrated the gospel’s intention to save people who beleive from every tribe, tongue, people and nation, something hard to believe for a Jewish convert like Peter. What about the other “worshiper of God” Lydia?

Lydia, like Cornelius, recognized the God of Israel. She prayed regularly and we have every reason to believe she was a “good” person by most standards (Acts 16:13-14). What is God’s response to this “God worshipping” woman? He sends her Paul to share the Gospel. We even see that her own level of worshipping was so far from sufficient that the Lord had to open her heart to heed Paul’s message (Acts 16:14). Later in the same chapter we have the account of a Philippian jailor’s conversion and we find the words which we should now expect (Underlining added) -

Acts 16:29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (NKJV)

Notice the connection between believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, being saved and believing in God! There is no reconciliation to God, knowing God or saving belief in God outside faith in Jesus Christ. Those who worship Baal, Dianna, Herod, or even affirm the God of the Bible, must be born again (of Holy Spirit) through the preaching of the word, resulting in faith in Jesus Christ to be saved. The entire Bible testifies to the uniqueness of Christ to do that which is necessary for us to be reconciled to God - provide atonement for our sins! No amount of worldly goodness, mention of god(s), sincere devotion to god(s) or religious activity can do what Jesus alone can do! This is exactly why those who understand their sin and God’s righteousness, who believe Jesus really solved this problem for them at the cross, cannot help but give Him glory by name.

We could make allowance for nervousness/fear of witnessing that all experience to some degree and might cause us to resort to the generic use of “god” at times. However, to not recognize the uniqueness of Jesus among other gods or the absolute necessity of Him for salvation is to neither know nor believe in the true God!

Why is it that we are told:

Col. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (NKJV)

The names Lord, Jesus, Christ, Messiah are not magic words that do something special for the person who simply utters them. The significance is in what and who they describe. Jesus (The Christ/Messiah) is the only one able to save because He accomplished what was necessary to reconcile sinners to God.

We can’t know God or be saved accept by faith in the person and work of Jesus. We owe our lives now and eternally to Jesus’ work, dare we allow for confusion in giving glory simply to god when even today that could mean: nature, Mormon god, mysticism, Kim Jong-Il, self, Buddha, or the ever popular, but equally false god who saves “good people” who may talk about god without knowing or acknowledging Jesus Christ.

If only Jesus can save, we should be careful to mention Him by name often and even be concerned when anyone speaks often of God, but does not freely and enthusiastically affirm the necessity of Jesus Christ for salvation.

What if Peter or Paul had bypassed Cornelius and Lydia, because they seemed like “good people” who knew God?

Acts 4:10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’  12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (NKJV)

Thank You Jesus!