Do we need to Study the OT and the NT?

Scripture: Origin and Purpose

The origin of the Bible- “All Scripture is God breathed”

the ESV’s “breathed out” is translated from the Greek word theopneustos which only occurs once in the New Testament and is found nowhere earlier in all of Greek literature. “To express the sacred nature of the Scriptures, their divine origin. … perhaps St. Paul coined the verbal adjective

the ESV’s “breathed out” is translated from the Greek word theopneustos which only occurs once in the New Testament and is found nowhere earlier in all of Greek literature. “To express the sacred nature of the Scriptures, their divine origin. … perhaps St. Paul coined the verbal adjective

Video Clip

theopneustos which only occurs once in the New Testament and is found

nowhere earlier in all of Greek literature. “To express the sacred nature of the

The Purpose of the Bible- “Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training”

Scriptures, their divine origin. … perhaps St. Paul coined the verbal adjective

If the Bible is not applied, it is lifeless.

Paul uses the word “profitable” not mandatory! We always have an option whether or not to use the Bible. Clearly we see the benefit in this passage.

Almost every job has a training manual, or a training program. What would happen if you never studied the manual or took the training?

A Christian is a “little Christ” can we be “little Christs” if we neglect the one text that teaches us about Christ?

When Paul wrote he was talking about the OLD TESTAMENT

Jesus said the OT was about Him

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

English Standard Version Chapter 4

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22

“And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22

18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Church of the Brethren: No Creed But the NT

“No creed but the New Testament” has been common core belief for the CoB for most of our existence

Creed- an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of Christian belief (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/creed?s=t)

All of Jesus’ life was based on the OT

“All Scripture is God Breathed and Useful” in the throws of the debates n the CoB there is probably been no one Scripture that I have heard referenced more than that Scripture over the past 5-7 years. Let me be clear, it is a wonderful Scripture, and I believe it 100%, but my fear is that we cite this verse without really understanding some of the thoughts behind it. So today we are going to consider the question “should we study both the OT and the NT?”

I will confess to you that we at Mt Zion certainly study the NT more than the OT. I did a quick scan of my sermon notes from the past 3 years and it looks like we are in the NT 70% of the time and the OT 30% of the time. This, of course only accounts for the targeted Scripture reading, and not the other verses we may reference throughout the sermon or service. So while even though we are not equal we are still in both- leading me to share with you today that YES, we should be in both Testaments, and today I want to show you why.

So, lets discuss . In these verses we are given the origin and the purpose of Scripture. In other words, where it comes from and what it is used for, both of which are EXTREMELY important to us as Christ-followers.

First, Paul says that all Scripture is “God-Breathed” or the Greek word θεόπνευστος (theopneustos). This is the only time this word is used in the Bible, and there are no other occurrences of this word in contemporary Greek writing. That alone should show us how unique the Bible really is! The same way that God breathed into Adam in the Garden and he came to life- God breathed into the hearts of the men who wrote the Bible and it too came to life!

I was trying to find ways to explain this idea, and I came across this video- it does a great job explaining what God Breathed means, let’s watch it.

After speaking of the origin of the Scriptures Paul speaks of the purpose of the Scriptures- they are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. Paul says that they are useful, or profitable- in other words, it is a good idea to use these teachings if you want to experience life with Christ to the fullest. Sure, Exodus explains the history of Israel breaking from captivity, but it is more! It is a Spiritual story that will also teach us about God.

Think of it this way, basically every job nowadays has a training manual- or some type of training program. Once you are hired they have some sort of program to get your prepared to do the job. There is almost no job in this country you can take and show up your first day and get a nametag, some keys, and they just say- Okay! Go for it. They have a way of preparing you for the position that you have accepted- Paul says this is the job of the Bible. That these Scriptures are the training manual for the position we have accepted- a part of the Kingdom of God!

Or to think about it one other way- the word Christian literally means “little Christ” how can be we little Christs if we do not engage in the book that tells us what Christ is like?

One more thing I want us to think about in terms of . Perhaps this is all we need to say to end the debate on the need to study the OT. We must remember when Paul says all SCRIPTURE is God breathed. When Paul wrote those words the only Scripture was THE OLD TESTAMENT. There are no Gospels, no Epistles, nothing past Malachi is around yet- so Paul tells those Christians STUDY THE OLD TESTAMENT. Why would our charge be any different?

Second, consider that Jesus himself said that the OT was about him. He said this on a few occasions, but today we will discuss 2 in particular. First, in . Jesus is talking about OT prophecy and the Pharisees. You see, the Pharisees thought that obeying the letter of the law would save them, that the legal code was their way to salvation. Jesus is clear- the only way we have salvation is through him. He tells them, those laws do not provide life- those laws point to me! And I give eternal life. So, if Jesus says that the OT points to him, the giver of eternal life, then I would say yes, we need to study them.

In we see this again. A few years ago I had the privilege to stand in Israel right in the spot that tradition hold Jesus read these words and hear them read in both English and Hebrew- it was powerful! When Jesus wanted to establish his identity as the Son of God, where did he turn? To no other place but the Old Testament.

Now, I will tell you that when I work with someone who has little to no Bible experience I always tell them to start with the Gospel of John because I think John paints the most full picture of our Lord Jesus. However, John’s testimony of Jesus is rooted in the OT. So, we cansee a snapshot of Christ in many OT passages- including the passage from Isiah that Jesus uses in this story.

Third, I want to think for a moment about the DNA of the Church of the Brethren. For most of our existence as a denomination the CoB has lived unter the montra “no creed but the NT” I want to think about that for a moment, because I do not think that the earliest Brethren meant for that phrase to pull us away from the OT.

The word Creed can be defined as an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of Christian belief. I think the emphasis today is on the word CHIEF. In other words, if someone asks you what the Church of the Brethren believes you could simply say- Go read the NT. The NT forms our pillars of belief. That does not mean we throw out the OT, but that the OT fills in between these pillars.

Think about it, the things that we might say “make us Brethren” love feast, anointing, service, and nonresistance- those are NT teachings an concepts in passages like , and . But a way to think about a creed is this: what is the bear minimum someone needs to affirm to be part of a group. That is the point of the Apostles Creed, the Nicean Creed and others- to give the bare framework of what someone is affirming as a Apostle. So, when you think about it, no creed but the NT is a strong stance, because the Brethren say we are not going to pick and chose parts of the NT to form our basis of faith- we affirm that this entire text is needed to follow Christ.

So, I do not we need to ignore the OT, I think we need to consider how the OT paints the rest of the picture for us as we follow Jesus together.

Finally, we study the OT because Jesus based his entire life and ministry on it! Remember, friends Jesus was a Jew! His life was, in fact, completely immersed in the OT. We would not have any of Jesus’ teaching if not for the OT. No one would have known who he was when he got here if it wasn't for the OT. It might be pretty safe to say that without the OT Christianity would have never been birthed into existence....So it seems to reason. Yes, we need to study the OT

About 2 years ago, someone asked me if God would grant me any request for this church, for my people at Mt Zion, what would my request be. I told them that it was quite easy- that we would love the Bible- the whole Bible. Not just sections or parts, but all of it, and that we would be passionate about studying it, that our SS and BS would reflect our love of God’s Word. Can I ask, does your life reflect a love of Scripture?

What makes a sunset beautiful? Is it the sun and the light it gives? Is it the clouds and the way the light reflects from them? Is it the shadows of the mountains? I dont think it is any of those things alone. It is the way each piece comes together and makes a breath-taking scene. In the same way, if we want to see all the beauty that the Bible holds we need all 66 books- from Genesis to Revelation. History books, wisdom, prophets, poetry, Gospels and Epistles…we need it all!