Reminder: The “Old” Testament is the Scriptures that the “New” Testament tells us to study.
It’s my personal opinion that the manmade title pages of “Old Testament” and “New Testament” have done a lot of damage to our understanding of the Scriptures as a whole today. The Scriptures that people call “Old Testament” were originally grouped together based on the type of writings they are. You’ll often hear people call it the “Tanak” because it is an acronym for the Hebrew words under the categories of: Torah (the instructions), Nabiim (the prophets), and Kathubim (the writings). This is what the disciples studied from. This is what our Messiah taught from. The “New Testament” or the “Second Writings” was not even canonized until hundreds of years AFTER our Messiah.
So, when you study the New Testament Scriptures, and they are talking about things like:
“Study to show yourselves approved,” or
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers,” or
“For this is the love of God (Elohim), that we keep his commandments,” or
“You err because you do not know the Scriptures,”
...we must rectify the truth with our understanding and we must honestly ask ourselves...
What Scriptures are they talking about? What Scriptures are they telling us to “doers” of? What Scriptures are they telling us to study and obey?
The Tanak!
This idea of “old” versus “new” has skewed our understanding of what it means to be in covenant with our Creator (Yahuah). There is absolutely nothing “old” about what we are supposed to still be studying, learning and walking in. But the body is being taught that the commandments are done away with, no longer relevant, or for the “Jews” today.
You see, the word ‘testament’ and ‘covenant’ are virtually the same thing (there’s issues with the English language when it comes to this, but now is not the time to get into semantics).
The point I want to make with this is that Christianity, broadly speaking, does not understand the covenant we are called to be in.
We have been so brainwashed by doctrines and traditions of Christianity and Judaism, that it has corrupted the truth about what it means to be in covenant, what it means to be a disciple, and what it means to truly love Yah and our brothers and sisters.
And the reason this is such a big deal is because if you don’t understand our Father’s covenant, then you won’t understand what our Messiah came to renew (not replace), HOW He renewed it, and you won’t understand the purpose of the gift of grace.
And it doesn’t help that our pastors are not teaching the truth, either. I know it’s hard for many to believe, but the majority of Christian pastors don’t understand the truth and importance of what it means to be in covenant with the Most High. They’re not even in covenant themselves. It’s a very, very sad thing and it does not make me feel good to say that.
The Bible is not meant to be separated by manmade title pages. It is ONE book, and it has to be treated and respected that way. The disciples didn’t even have a “New Testament” to teach out of when they began to evangelize, so what does that tell you? What were they studying and teaching others?
I will let you answer that.
The “New Testament” truth is not about doing away with the commandments, either—it’s about writing them on our heart (Hebrews 8:10/Jeremiah 31:33). The difference now is that the gift of our new High Priest/Intercessor/Mediator/Advocate, the gift of grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ruah) are given to us to help us be overcomers as we allow Him to help us die to ourselves so that our minds can be renewed and our hearts can be softened so that our LOVE for Him and His ways allows Him to write His commandments (that our found in the “Old” Testament”) on our hearts.
The goal is always to be LIKE Messiah. FOLLOW Him. DO what HE did. And this is why the writers of the “New Testament” taught us the importance of keeping the commandments, being “doers” of the Word, and studying to show ourselves approved.
“Faith without works is dead.”
James 2:20
With Love,
Stephanie Green