Other than in a brief reference in the Preface, we have restricted ourselves to responding to quotes which represent the assertions of those who teach that MML&J are OT, were nailed to the cross, or that they do not contain any of Jesus\u2019 teachings for us today. In this chapter, we wish to summarize the evidence, the full elaboration of which can only be obtained by reading the entirety of the New Testament. However, there are some excerpts that are very definitive. The following sections present a summary of this evidence.<\/p>\n
As stated in the preface, the most compelling evidence is plain old common sense. Would Jesus have come to this earth and spent three years to do nothing but have his every word nailed to the cross? Would all of his teachings become irrelevant in (on average) 18 months from the time that they were spoken?<\/p>\n
Without getting into speculation as to the exact time of their writing, all agree that they were written decades after the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (as recorded in Acts 2). Note the following promise given to the apostles (John 14:26):<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now think about this carefully: when John wrote these words, was this not one case of fulfillment of Jesus\u2019 promise? Was the Holy Spirit not guiding John to remember exactly what Jesus said to him on this occasion? Of course. So this<\/i>\u00a0was one of the teachings that Jesus would bring to John\u2019s memory. But this teaching was before the cross!<\/p>\n
Some rationalize that the promise in the scripture refers only to the 40-day period when Jesus was \u201cspeaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God<\/em>\u201d (Acts 1:3). We agree that Jesus spoke to them at this time, but it is a perversion and twisting of scripture to restrict John 14:26 to that described in Acts 1:3. Read it again above: \u201c\u2026 whatsoever I have said unto you.<\/em>\u201d Would you, if you were John, think that Jesus was talking about something that Jesus was going to say to him in the future? Does the word \u201cwhatsoever\u201d restrict it from three years to 40 days? Should we not rather believe what Peter said when Jesus asked him if he was going to depart like the others were departing from Jesus (John 6:68):<\/p>\n
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.<\/p>\n
According to our friends, Peter was wrong as well \u2013 Jesus would not have these words until after the cross.<\/p>\n
So is it reasonable that four books inspired by the Holy Spirit, written decades after the Old Testament was fulfilled and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14), would themselves contain only Old Testament doctrines that were also to be nailed to the cross before the words were even written?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Section\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament?\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Section\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter 4 Summary of Positive Evidence Other than in a brief reference in the Preface, we have restricted ourselves to responding to quotes which represent the assertions of those who teach that MML&J are OT, were nailed to the cross, or that they do not contain any of Jesus\u2019 teachings for us today. In this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5797,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5873","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":5873,"position":0},"title":"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament? (Benton and Brown)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament? A Discussion of this Question in Light\u00a0of Scriptural Teaching by Terry W. Benton and\u00a0Dave Brown January 29, 1999 Preface The Basic Argument Proposition 1: Law Went Forth Proposition 2: When Did Jesus Cease Teaching the Law? Proposition 3: Problem of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Old-Bible-233x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/the-summary-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":5873,"position":1},"title":"The Summary Argument","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"1.4 The Summary Argument The summary of the argument stated: \"I don't think we ever see a time in the Bible when two contradictory laws are being taught at the same time.\"\u00a0This argument implies that Jesus could contradict His own teachings on the Old Law if He waited until after\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/preface\/","url_meta":{"origin":5873,"position":2},"title":"Preface (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Preface The purpose of this document is to establish the truth. The authors have neither desire nor motive to promulgate error. We both feel strongly that if we do so it will cost us our souls. We also recognize that we could be wrong on any issue and that there\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66544,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/appearance-before-eleven-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":5873,"position":3},"title":"Appearance Before Eleven Apostles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Appearance Before Eleven Apostles Reading Assignment: Mark 16:14 John 20:26-31 \u00a0 Did you understand what you read? When did Jesus next appear to the apostles? Where did Jesus appear? What evidence did Jesus offer Thomas? What conclusion did Thomas reach from the evidence? Is there a benefit to us that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":940,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/keys-to-understanding\/reviling-what-they-do-not-understand\/","url_meta":{"origin":5873,"position":4},"title":"Reviling What They Do Not Understand","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reviling What They Do Not Understand \u00a0 \u201cBut there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 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