“Why isn’t the New Testament written in legal form; i.e., broken down into encyclopedic categories and lists? Instead, it contains much historical, biographical and personal material. Yet we are asked to believe that this is God’s law for us today. How can this be?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The above paragraph sets forth a question that we believe is legitimate and needs to be carefully considered.<\/p>\n
As a point of fact, some of the New Testament does have catalogs or lists of things both right and wrong (see Galatians 5; I Corinthians 6; Ephesians 4-6; Colossians 3-4; etc.). Therefore, the negative effect of the question is somewhat mitigated. Our remarks will be directed to the bulk of the New Testament – why it should indeed be considered as our law and standard of authority.<\/p>\n
Consider what would be lost to us if the New Testament consisted only of categorized lists of “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”:<\/p>\n
The Personality of the Speakers<\/h2>\n
Specific statements in legal form tell us very little about the law-giver. We may conclude that the author of a law forbidding stealing held stealing in abhorrence. Beyond that, we are left in the dark. But not so in the New Testament. When Jesus laid down the law that we should “love one another,” His inspired biographies reveal how He lived this law every day of His life. This serves to give a moral force to the law which would not otherwise be possible. Much of the “non-legal” portions of the gospel set forth the sinlessness or holiness of Christ. Man is more inclined to heed the precepts of a righteous law-giver than those of evil-doers. Therefore, the scriptures which tell of the holiness of our Lord do not distract from the authority of the New Testament. On the contrary, such accounts establish the New Testament’s authority!<\/p>\n
Corroborative Material<\/h2>\n
The historical statements in the New Testament regarding rulers, customs, and events are necessary for they furnish corroborative evidence for the accuracy of the gospel. The accounts of the miracles were given for the stated purpose of creating confidence in Jesus (John 20:30-31). That which serves to confirm a document surely cannot be cited as evidence against its authority.<\/p>\n
Illustrative Material<\/h2>\n
Laws become exceedingly difficult to apply when dealing with complex situations. However, Jesus cut through this problem by demonstrating the truth in stories, illustrations, and parables. He couched the underlying law in language that only the hard of hard would fail to understand. Truths taught in “doctrinal passages” are exemplified in such historical books as Acts. The New Testament is thus made meaningful and alive for those who will recognize it.<\/p>\n
There may be other considerations that should be added. But a New Testament without the above material is unthinkable. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable …<\/em>” (II Timothy 3:16). Every word in the New Testament is there by God’s design. Therefore, an encyclopedic catalog of laws would be far inferior to what we have now – God’s living law for mankind.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Bob West The Milpitas Messenger, February 1996 “Why isn’t the New Testament written in legal form; i.e., broken down into encyclopedic categories and lists? Instead, it contains much historical, biographical and personal material. Yet we are asked to believe that this is God’s law for us today. How can this be?” The above paragraph…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,799],"class_list":["post-56290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-new-testament"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14144,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-we-follow-the-old-testament-and-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":0},"title":"Shouldn’t we follow the Old Testament and the New Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Shouldn't we follow God's rules in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament? (I'm reading the Bible currently, and I'm only in Joshua right now.) I mean, well, some of the rules would be considered kind of illegal, such as sacrificing your first born child. I could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93024,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-pursue-those-who-dont-keep-their-vows\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":1},"title":"Does God pursue those who don’t keep their vows?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, dear pastor, I have a question for you.\u00a0\u00a0Today, while I was reading the Bible, I read Deuteronomy 23:21: \"You must not delay in repaying your vows to the Lord your God, for the Lord your God will seek you back, and you are guilty if you do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-quote-from-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":2},"title":"Why do you quote from the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read Why We Don't Follow the Old Testament and saw your point of view on the matter, but you do quote laws from Leviticus to justify positions. Aren't all those laws thrown out, along with all other laws from the Old Testament? I'm not debating homosexuality here, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91734,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-use-the-old-testament-to-bind-covering-our-thighs\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":3},"title":"Should we use the Old Testament to bind covering our thighs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, Should we use Exodus 28:42 to bind covering our thighs all the way down to the knees? There has recently been controversy over whether the context of this verse provides a clear indication of what the Hebrew word yarek refers to. I've heard sermons from both sides,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-christians-celebrate-yom-kippur\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":4},"title":"Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur? Should Christians fast on Yom Kippur? Why or why not? Is there anything that Christians should do on Yom Kippur? Thanks! Answer: Yom Kippur and the other Jewish feasts are a part of the Old Testament. Jews continue to celebrate them because they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1180,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-we-dont-follow-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":56290,"position":5},"title":"Why We Don’t Follow the Old Testament (Article)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Our Bibles are composed of two major parts, an Old Testament and a New Testament. Why were these names selected? A testament is a will or a covenant. We still use the word today when we speak of a person's \"last will and testament.\" These names\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}