You might even say the New filters the Old.

Let’s begin.

I.. Interpreting the Old Testament in Light of the New Testament

A.. The New Testament fulfills the Old Testament

Narrative means story. The three-year (or more) ministry of Jesus Christ, culminating in his death and resurrection and his establishment of his church, makes all the difference in the transition from the OT or Covenant to the NT or Covenant. In those three short years he ushered in a new era of salvation, although the old era contained the seeds of the new.

That story is complex. Christians are commanded to read the OT and are allowed to benefit from it, but they do not take everything in it as final. Christians honor the OT as the word of God, just as Jesus did. But they read it, ultimately, through the vision of Jesus and the Spirit-inspired authors of the NT books and epistles.

Matthew 5:17-19 indicates that the Old Covenant is to the New Covenant what promise is to fulfillment. How did, does, and shall Jesus Christ fulfill the promises of the Old Covenant?

This passage is important to distinguish between fulfillment and retention on the one hand and destroying the law on the other. It appears at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matt. 5:17-19)

Fulfills means that he interpreted and lived it out in its fullness. Matthew is writing the life of Christ in narrative or story form. Matthew quotes many OT references to Christ throughout his narrative. We should therefore understand the word “everything” in that light. Jesus Christ fulfills the Hebrew Bible at his birth. He fulfills it during his life and ministry. He fulfills it especially in his death on the cross and his resurrection because these two events ratify and confirm all else that precedes them. Next, he fulfills the promises in the Hebrew Bible in the new age of salvation, through his church and through historical events (though this last category is harder to detect). He will fulfill everything in the Hebrew Bible at his Second Coming. Finally, the OT will become completely null and void only when God himself will wrap up the universe like a mantle of clothing, and re-create it.

One interesting teaching says that “fulfilled” means that Jesus was interpreting the OT authoritatively. This is thought-provoking.

In verse 19, this does not mean that the entire OT has been canceled, abrogated, annulled, demolished, dismantled, or destroyed (English words that translate the Greek word kataluō in v. 17). Not “until heaven and earth disappear” and not “until everything is accomplished.”

B. Illustration

Maybe an analogy or illustration will help. Let’s suppose that an Old House represents the Old Covenant Scriptures, and a New House represents the New Covenant and Christ’s ministry and the NT. Christ does not demolish the Old House, but he keeps it intact. Instead, he builds his New House next to it or even connected to it, sharing the same divine foundation. Christians live in the New House, which is grander and taller and has newer furnishings. They are allowed to visit the Old House. That is, they may read Psalms, Proverbs, the prophets, histories, the Torah, and so on. They may be edified by the stories and promises found there, just as a visitor to the grand Old House can learn a lot from and enjoy the old furnishings and old-style architecture. But the Old House does not hold them in. They live in the New House.

Fulfillment means to complete a promise or a prophecy or a prediction. The Old Covenant is to the New Covenant what promise is to fulfillment. The OT contained types and shadows, which find their full meaning and substance in Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment in his very being and in his coming to earth.

The Old House is still standing without one piece missing or taken from it. All the items and furnishings are still in it. Rather, Jesus lifts our vision to the New House and calls us into it. Every commandment that is contained in the OT can still be read, taught, and practiced for edification and blessing. But they must now be read through the fulfillment process and through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

C. Christ is a main theme throughout the Bible

Luke 24:44-47 says that at the end of the story about Jesus, all things in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and Psalms are fulfilled in him.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  (Luke 24:44-47)

In v. 45, he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and v. 46 indicates that he was to suffer and rise from the dead. The law and prophets have been fulfilled in him now because of the resurrection.

D. Summary

To sum up this section, Christ fulfilled or paid off your debt to the Law. It’s paid in full. He accomplishes this by fulfilling the holiness demand in the law and the fullest revelation of God’s character. In fact, he has fulfilled, is fulfilling, and shall completely fulfill the entire OT.

All you have to do is follow him as you live in the Spirit after Pentecost (Acts 2). But if people get confused about it, the moral law, which is everywhere in the NT, is still valid.

II. The New Testament Filters the Old Testament.

This means that we do not retain many of the verses in the OT for us New Covenant believers today.

A. Wrong way

As to the wrong way to interpret the Old, in this diagram, next, the lines represent biblical themes, like sacrifices, covenants, the building of the (third) temple, whether in this age or the new millennium (assuming millennialism is right), salvation, redemption, commanded Sabbath keeping, celebrating the commanded festivals (e.g. Passover, booths / tabernacles), and so on. Let’s not focus on the number of lines with mathematical precision. They merely illustrate the main point. The main point here is that the NT is not allowed to do its job of filtering the OT. And this is wrong.

Wrong:

The NT should act as a filter; however, in the above diagram the themes circumvent or go around the NT. Therefore the major themes of the OT do not get filtered or reinterpreted through Christ. Our interpretation must be Christo-centric.

Some even teach that there is a double fulfillment in OT prophecies: (1) historical fulfilment and (2) later fulfilment even to our times. Sometimes this interpretation is legitimate when dealing with human nature, for example. In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21), Jesus predicted before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He also said false messiahs and prophets would emerge at that time. But this can be true in all generations. God’s judgment is another example. They can happen in various generations all the way until the Final Judgment. But if we take dual or multiple fulfillments too far, confused teaching ensues, because this interpretive theory must still be filtered through the NT, but the theory is not.

So many themes do not in fact get filtered through the NT in the confusing mishmash of popular Bible teachings. Further, the NT themes are indeed built on top of the OT, but the OT themes must still be filtered, though often they are not. (We will look at more examples, below.)

No, this post does not dismiss the OT, nor does this chapter “unhitch” the NT from the OT. Jesus and the apostolic generation, some of whom he called to write Scripture, would strongly object and call such a separation “false doctrine.” But they would likewise object when modern interpreters teach the Bible as if the NT does not exist and so the themes get transferred to our own times today willy-nilly, ad hoc, without the NT filtering them.

Confusion reigns throughout the American church at large, broadly speaking, and confusion reigns in any churches that the American church influences around the globe.

B. The right way

Now for the right way to interpret the Old and New. In this diagram, the NT does filter the OT, and this is the right hermeneutic.

Right:

The number of lines should not be pressed too hard with mathematical precision. They merely illustrate that many themes do not get carried forward or they get transformed as they get filtered. All OT themes must be filtered through Christ. All OT themes must be carefully checked through the NT. Some of them we scrap–at least the command to follow them non-voluntarily, is to be scrapped. Note the question mark on the right. We need to ask the question: do the themes really apply to us today?

C.. Three examples of wrong interpretations and replies

Some points may be controversial because they have been steeped in American Christianity. But let’s proceed.

1.. A third temple must be rebuilt

Some interpreters read Ezekiel 40-48 which describe a new temple in the future, whether in this age or in the millennium (if one believes in a literal millennium). This next verse also says that Solomon’s temple is everlasting: […] “I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there” (1 Kings 9:3). But now we know that Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, so the “forever” promise was conditional. Undeterred, however, and combining Ezekiel’s promise and the rebuilding of Solomon’s temple, some interpreters say that a third temple, probably located on top of Herod’s broken-down temple, will be built in the new millennium (assuming that a literal thousand-year reign is the only and correct interpretation).

However, in reply to this interpretation, it is better if we filter these disparate verses through the NT. The writers of the NT clearly teach that the church is the new temple. In his church God has placed his name–forever–thus fulfilling 1 Kings 9:3. In no place do they clearly teach: “Look for a newly rebuilt temple two thousand years from now!” Instead, Jesus through Luke predicts the destruction of Herod’s temple (Luke 21:21-24). For more Scripture references which say the church is the temple where God’s presence dwells, please see this link:

Further, there is a heavenly temple / tabernacle where Christ entered by the authority and power of his own sacrifice:

¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Heb. 9:11-12)

And John saw one in heaven:

⁵ After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. […] ⁸ And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power […] (Rev. 15:5, 8)

I do believe that when Christ returns, it will be to Jerusalem (Acts 1:11; Luke 21:24), but once this and other kingdom business are done, God will recreate the heavens and the earth by eliminating or redoing the surface of this earth and heaven or by some powerful, fiery cataclysm, whose description goes beyond our words (2 Peter 3:10). All churches–even the Medieval cathedrals and St. Paul’s cathedral in London, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the national cathedral in Washington–the temple in Jerusalem, synagogues, mosques, Hindu temples, Shinto shrines, LDS temples, Buddhist shrines, American mega-churches, and small, store-front churches in the inner city–will be destroyed in the fiery cataclysm. God will have no more use for any of them anymore, for he will dwell among his people, and they will be his new kind of living temple (Rev. 21-22).

Remember: if Moses lived, say, in 1400 B.C, then the Israelites followed his temple religion from then until the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 (with a gap during the Babylonian exile). Jesus predicted its destruction.

Matthew 24:4-35 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

Mark 13:5-31 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

Luke 21:5-33 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

And thus, from A.D. 70 to right now adds up to about 2,000 years, without any temple religion. There is no theological or biblical reason to reinstitute the temple and its religion. We have lived for 2000 years without it. Most importantly, biblically speaking, everything is fulfilled in Christ and everyone in him, his church.

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. (Heb. 8:13)

And so Hebrews 7-10 teach the teachable that there will absolutely be no future sacrifice in a third temple because there will be no temple, whether in this age or in some sort of literal millennium. Most importantly, Jesus already told us how to honor his sacrificial death: through the Eucharist or communion.

And we will not have to be purified by Mosaic sacrifices done for this purpose; instead, the Spirit of God living in us will continuously purify us.

Therefore, now we have clarity about the (supposed) third temple and any and all OT tabernacles or temples because we have filtered the OT verses through the NT. Simplicity leads to clarity.

2.. The temple religion and festivals

Some claim that they must be reinstituted to fulfill OT prophecies about the temple religion and festivals.

Here is a sample verse:

¹⁶ Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. (Zech. 14:16)

In reply to the error, Zechariah was speaking from his own limited perspective. For him, the ultimate sign of peace after war was for nations, like Egypt, in his (small) world to go to Jerusalem and celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. They had to submit to the Law of Moses. He saw something of the future, but God was speaking to him with a picture that he could understand from the now-obsolete, old law. God momentarily accommodated his prophet’s limited perspective.

Further, the previous point answers this unfiltered interpretation. We have no need to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles around a new temple in Jerusalem. The call of the gospel is to go into all the world and preach the simplicity of Christ, not an (American) obsession with these festivals. Moreover, how many people would exist in the new millennium (assuming a literal thousand-year reign of Christ is the right viewpoint)? A hundred million? Five hundred million? One or two billion? Whatever the number, the nations could never fit around Jerusalem in the first place because of the logistical nightmare. Not enough port-a-potties and food for distribution!

We celebrate Christ, not by carrying out the details of Passover or the Festival of Tabernacles or any other festival, but by worshipping him. The NT writers were emphatic about streamlining everything down to Christ and conspicuously omitted commands to keep the festivals in the law of Moses.

And so we now have clarity because we have filtered Zechariah 14:6 (and many other verses about the temple and tabernacle) through the NT.

3.. The Sabbath

Some Torah observant Christians tell us that keeping the Sabbath is in the Ten Commandments, after all (Exod. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15). So has God changed his mind? Is he a liar?

In reply, no, he is not a liar, but we have noted that progressive revelation is a fact of the Bible. Christ has freed us from the command to keep the Sabbath (Luke 6:5; Rom. 14:5-6; Col. 2:16-17). But if Christians wish to keep it voluntarily, they may do so, but not by command so that they may get stoned to death for breaking it, as it happened to one man (Num. 15:32-36). In Christ, there is liberty.

D.. More examples of fulfillment and filtering

They are fulfilled or not retained in the New. They have been filtered out:

• Old Sinai Covenant (Heb. 8-10, all the next points come from it)
• Harsh punishments for private sins, for Jesus took the penalties of sins on the cross (1 Cor. 6:9-11; some of those sins listed in the three verses required the death penalty in the OT, but Christ is sanctifying those sinners)
• None of the curses embedded in the Sinai Covenant with Israel for those in Christ (Gal. 3:13)
• Rituals and ceremonies (yes, Sabbath is a ritual and we are free from it; Luke 6:5; Rom. 14:5-6; Col. 2:16-17)
• Jesus fulfills Yom Kippur
• Exclusive class of priests (we are all priests, even women; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9)
• Kosher food laws (Mark 7:19; Col. 2:16; 1 Tim. 4:3; Heb. 13:9-10)
• Circumcision (Rom. 2:25-29; 1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 5:2-3; Col. 2:11)
• Theocratic religious taxes (e.g. the tithe. Click here for more information: Why Tithing Does Not Apply to New Covenant Believers)
• Animal sacrifices (Heb. 7-10)
• Festivals (1 Cor. 5:8; Col. 2:16)
• The Jewish calendar and years

What is retained from the Old in the New?

• Moral law (e.g. many throughout the Torah and the Ten Commandments, in case Christians get confused)
• Wisdom literature (e.g. Job and Proverbs)
• Devotional literature (Psalms)
• Prophecies (Messianic or otherwise)
• Stories and principles to teach life lessons (e.g. Genesis and parts of the Torah and the histories and the Prophets, and so on) (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11)
• Universal revelations about who God is (e.g. he is loving and gracious and a judge, and the other attributes and titles)
• All of the promises, e.g. salvation and redemption and blessings and love (2 Cor. 1:20)
• Anthropology, that is, who we humans are in relation to God and each other.

II.. Reflections

A.. Simplify

If Christians want to practice the commandments in the OT, they should learn from Christ’s wisdom revealed in Matthew 22:24-40. As noted in the analysis of Matthew 5:17, the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus with words, so one of them, an expert in the law, asked him which commandment was the greatest.

³⁷ Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:37-40)

Jesus boils down all the commandments in the OT to these two. They are the best way to obey all of them. Jesus’ followers should live a life of divine love through the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name.

Paul is in agreement with his Lord and Savior, using the key words “fulfilled” and “fulfillment” (Romans 13:8-10):

⁸ [F]or he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself. ¹⁰ Love does no harm to the neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:8-10)

B.. Love through the Holy Spirit

Only the life and love of Jesus Christ that he sends into our hearts through the Holy Spirit can enable us to walk in divine love. Our love for God cannot be self-initiated. God draws us to love him by his Spirit. This is the first great commandment. Only as we love him, we love others. That is the second greatest commandment. As for righteousness coming from keeping the two greatest commandments, only his righteousness that he offers us freely after his death on the cross and resurrection can save us. Our own righteousness cannot.

We must trust in Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit and his righteousness in his name.

C.. Honor the Old Testament

We Christians honor and revere the OT, but we interpret it through Jesus Christ and the new era of salvation and fulfillment that he ushered in on the day he was born.

Christ paid off your debt to the Law. It is paid in full. Do not send in any more payments. Just live life in the Spirit. But if you get confused, then the moral law still applies, especially the moral law that was transferred from the Old into the New. Therefore, we should never unhitch the OT from the New. The New flows out of and is built on the Old. The better way is to interpret the Old correctly by comparing it to the New.

D.. Wise saying

It has been wisely said:

The New is in the Old concealed, and the Old is in the New revealed.

The Old Covenant is to the New what promise is to fulfillment. I add: The Old is in the New but filtered.

Jesus ushered in the new era of salvation in the flow of God’s plan of salvation that had begun in the OT. All the promises of God are absorbed in Christ’s life and being. He becomes the fulfillment of the OT without destroying it. He and the NT filters out many themes in the OT. Jesus has fulfilled, is fulfilling, and shall completely fulfill the entire OT.

Therefore we must not unhitch the New from the Old. We keep both, but the Old must be interpreted properly through the New. Remembering this simple truth, we will live the Christian life in balance and not lurch over into extremes and strange ideas.

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Sec. 2, 1 Bibliology, Doctrine of the Bible: The Basics

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