by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
An interesting contrast between the Old and New Testaments, according to II Corinthians 3, is that the Old is a ministration of death, while the New is a ministration of life. The old prepared the way for Jesus by pointing out sin and displaying a sentence of death, thus our need for a Savior. The new presents the Savior, the giver of life.<\/p>\n
At Sinai, when the Law of Moses was given, we see the Israelites shaking in fear at the awesome presence of God, and soon after 3,000 were killed (ministration of death). “And about three thousand men of the people fell that day<\/em>” (Exodus 32:28-29 NKJV). But, in contrast, at the beginning of the New Covenant established in Acts 2, we see 3,000 people who were dead in sin, baptized into Christ, and raised to spiritual life. “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. NKJV Here we see that the New Testament was\/is a ministration of spiritual life that works to guarantee our eternal life in heaven<\/em>” (Acts 2:41-42).<\/p>\n The Old Testament was glorious, but in comparison to the New Testament, it had not nearly the same glory.<\/p>\n “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious<\/em>” (II Corinthians 3:7-11 NKJV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The old was designed to serve a temporal position of preparing the way for the Savior and then “passing away” as a binding law. The New is what “remains” and it provides all the needs of sinners to bring about their spiritual and eternal life.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton An interesting contrast between the Old and New Testaments, according to II Corinthians 3, is that the Old is a ministration of death, while the New is a ministration of life. The old prepared the way for Jesus by pointing out sin and displaying a sentence of death, thus our need…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,41,273,115],"class_list":["post-83295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-life","tag-new-law","tag-old-law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88379,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-there-something-else-i-could-have-said\/","url_meta":{"origin":83295,"position":0},"title":"Was there something else I could have said?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had a debate with someone about Colossians 2:11-12, specifically regarding how it was interpreted as referring to water baptism and that water baptism was a work of God. However, my opponent argued that \"without hands\" proved it was not water baptism since a man is involved in immersing\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":96098,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-requiste-savior\/","url_meta":{"origin":83295,"position":1},"title":"The Requiste Savior","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dale Smelser via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 Realization of what Christ accomplished on earth should increase our reverence and enhance our service. 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One such contrast is seen when the Bible refers to the Old Testament as the \"Law of\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":24873,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-the-flaw-in-the-old-covenant\/","url_meta":{"origin":83295,"position":3},"title":"What was the flaw in the Old Covenant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the flaw of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:7) that there was no way for sins to be completely forgiven (Hebrews 10:1-10)? Or was the law impossible to completely follow as well? If it was possible to completely follow, then what is Peter talking about in Acts 15:10 and\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":70275,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/only-gods-righteousness-is-in-view\/","url_meta":{"origin":83295,"position":4},"title":"Only God\u2019s Righteousness Is in View?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton We need to be careful about what we swallow from preachers and teachers. Search the Scriptures to find out what is so (Acts 17:11). 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