by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Romans 7:1-6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Our Bibles are composed of two major parts: an Old Testament and a New Testament<\/p>\n
A. Why are they called “testaments”?<\/p>\n
1. A testament is a legal document declaring a person’s wishes.<\/p>\n 2. Thus, calling the Bible a testament is to say these are the commands (the\nlegal requirements) that God wishes man to follow.\n
B. The Old Testimony<\/p>\n 1. The tablets with the Ten Commandments were called the tablets of the\nTestimony – Exodus 31:18\n 2. They were placed in the ark, which was called the ark of the Testimony –\nExodus 40:20; Numbers 4:5\n 3. And the tabernacle was called the tabernacle of the Testimony – Numbers\n1:53\n
4. When God expressed his desire it was called a testimony – Acts 13:22<\/p>\n
C. The New Testimony<\/p>\n
1. Paul taught God’s testimony – I Corinthians 2:1<\/p>\n
2. The testimony is what the disciples believed – II Thessalonians 1:10<\/p>\n
3. The law of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ – Revelation 1:9<\/p>\n D. Testament is just a form of the word testimony. Paul speaks of an Old Testament –\nII Corinthians 3:14\n
1. Because one is called “old,” this means there are at least two testaments.<\/p>\n E. We still use the word today in the same way. We speak of a person’s last will and\ntestament. This is what a person wishes to be done after his death – Hebrews 9:15-17\n 1. Notice that covenant (a formal contract) and testament are used\ninterchangeably.\n
II. The Change in Testaments<\/p>\n
A. A major theme of the book of Hebrews is the change in covenants – Hebrews 1:1-2<\/p>\n
B. This change was foretold – Jeremiah 31:31-34<\/p>\n 1. Notice that God said the new covenant would be different from the older\ncovenant\n 2. It makes sense, why introduce a new testament if the things desired remain\nthe same?\n
C. So did God change His mind?<\/p>\n
1. No, rather the change in covenants was planned from the beginning.<\/p>\n
2. Before the world began, God planned to send His Son to save mankind<\/p>\n
a. We were redeemed by the blood of Christ – I Peter 1:18-20<\/p>\n
b. Not ashamed of the testimony which saves us – II Timothy 1:8-10<\/p>\n (1) Notice that the “testimony” and the “gospel” are used\ninterchangeable.\n
c. Chosen through belief in the gospel – II Thessalonians 2:13-14<\/p>\n
D. What changed?<\/p>\n
1. A change in the priesthood<\/p>\n a. The author of Hebrews proves that Jesus is our High Priest –\nHebrews 5:1-10\n b. But Jesus was not a descendant of Aaron. He was not even of the\ntribe of Levi.\n (1) But the order of Aaron was not meant to be permanent –\nHebrews 7:11\n (2) It could not bring salvation because it was formed of flawed\nmen. – Hebrews 7:28\n (3) Hebrews 7:12-17 – A change in priesthood requires a\nchange in the covenant that defined the priesthood\n
c. This is as God said would happen – Psalm 110:4<\/p>\n
d. Suppose we said the Law of Moses was still in effect.<\/p>\n (1) Then we must say that Jesus violated the law when he\nbecame our High priest.\n
(2) But Jesus did no sin – II Corinthians 5:21<\/p>\n
(3) Therefore, the old covenant must no longer be in effect<\/p>\n
2. A change in the covenant<\/p>\n a. There was a problem with the Old Covenant – people did not keep\nit – Hebrews 7:18-19\n b. The old covenant was not flawed, but it did create a dilemma –\nRomans 7:7-13\n
(1) The law defined sin, but it brought no relief from sin<\/p>\n
(2) It only offered a future hope of salvation<\/p>\n c. The Law bound sin to men, but Christ freed us from sin – Galatians\n4:21-5:4\n (1) Attempting to retain the old covenant means keeping the\nbondage of sin and rejecting salvation.\n
3. A change in sacrifices <\/p>\n
a. Instituted with a different and better sacrifice – Hebrews 9:18-21<\/p>\n
b. Uses a permanent sacrifice – Hebrews 9:23-10:9<\/p>\n c. But such a change required removing the first in order to have a\nnew sacrifice authorized.\n
III. The Old Covenant has been fulfilled<\/p>\n
A. Jesus came to bring the law to its completion – Matthew 5:17-18<\/p>\n
B. And this he did – Romans 10:4<\/p>\n C. Before Jesus no one kept the law perfectly, but Jesus proved that it was possible to\nkeep the law.\n
D. Thus, Jesus proved that the Law was good and that it was man who was flawed.<\/p>\n
E. When did the change take place?<\/p>\n
1. The law was nailed to the cross – Colossians 2:13-14<\/p>\n
2. Jesus abolished the separation or the enmity in his flesh – Ephesians 2:14-16<\/p>\n
3. Testaments come into effect upon a death – Hebrews 9:15-18<\/p>\n
IV. Can’t we follow both?<\/p>\n
A. Does it make a difference which law we turn to since both laws come from God?<\/p>\n
B. To follow both is to ignore God<\/p>\n
1. God said He took away the first – Hebrews 10:9<\/p>\n
2. We have become dead to the law – Romans 7:4-6<\/p>\n
3. It is the same situation as a wife whose husband has died. <\/p>\n a. While her husband lives, she cannot be joined to another man –\nRomans 7:1-4\n
b. But after her husband dies, she is free to join to another man<\/p>\n 4. In the same manner Jews could not join to a new Law until the first Law\nwas taken away.\n
a. If they had done so, they would have committed spiritual adultery<\/p>\n
C. We cannot keep a portion of the Old Law<\/p>\n
1. First, which portion would a person chose to keep. <\/p>\n
2. Worse, is it God or man who is deciding which portion to keep or discard?<\/p>\n
3. We are inadequate to make such a decision – Jeremiah 10:23<\/p>\n 4. Besides, it would not work. To justify ourselves by one part obligates us to\nthe rest – Galatians 5:3-4\n 5. This is why Paul argued so strongly against those attempting to cause\nChristians to do this very thing – Acts 15:1-2\n
V. Why do we still have the Old Testament in our Bibles?<\/p>\n
A. It is there for our learning – Romans 15:4<\/p>\n 1. Much of the New Testament could not be comprehended without\nknowledge of the Old\n
B. Much of the proof of the New is found in the Old – Galatians 3:23-25<\/p>\n C. It contains examples so we can learn from the mistakes of others – I Corinthians\n10:1-12\n D. Thus we establish, first, what we must do from the New Testament and then can\ngo to the Old Testament to understand why, and how this is to be accomplished.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 7:1-6 I. Our Bibles are composed of two major parts: an Old Testament and a New Testament A. Why are they called “testaments”? 1. A testament is a legal document declaring a person’s wishes. 2. Thus, calling the Bible a testament is to say these are the commands (the legal requirements) that…<\/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":[32],"tags":[78,177,268],"class_list":["post-63787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-law","tag-old-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":63787,"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":67117,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-matthew-5-only-for-the-jews\/","url_meta":{"origin":63787,"position":1},"title":"Is Matthew 5 only for the Jews?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, A friend of mine who is against divorce and remarriage says that Matthew 5 has a \"Jewish element,\" that is, the word \"council\" in Matthew 5:22, so it is a chapter only for Jews and not for Christians.\u00a0 What do you think about that? Thank you. Answer: This\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":29411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drinking-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63787,"position":2},"title":"Drinking in the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Old Testament Sermon with Audio: Drinking in the Old Testament Article: Old Testament Beverages New Testament Sermon with audio: Drinking in the New Testament Article: New Testament Beverages","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0013_tif-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3337,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-talmudism-different-from-zionism\/","url_meta":{"origin":63787,"position":3},"title":"Is Talmudism different from Zionism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is Talmudism different from Zionism? Answer: Zionism is the movement dedicated to creating and maintaining a country for Jewish people in the region that is now called Israel. Talmud is the Hebrew word for \"instruction.\" It has come to mean the body of rabbinical commentary on Jewish law, ethics,\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":94813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-canon-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63787,"position":4},"title":"The Canon of the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Inspired Books The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 1 The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 2 The New Testament Canon False Books The Book of Enoch The Book of Jasher The Apocrypha New Testament Apocrypha - Infancy Gospels","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24103,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-say-that-the-613-laws-of-the-old-testament-are-a-myth\/","url_meta":{"origin":63787,"position":5},"title":"Why do you say that the 613 laws of the Old Testament are a myth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please point me to the area of teaching that shows the 613 laws are a Jewish myth? I would like to study this too. Answer: The claim that there are 613 laws in the Old Testament first appeared in the third century A.D. when a Jewish Rabbi,\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63787","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=63787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}