The evolution of Christianity in relation to Judaism
Question:
How do you understand the evolution of Christianity in relation to Judaism which Jesus Christ practiced in his days on earth?
This is a question that is important for every believer to be able to answer; for many have stumbled over it. To address this, I will put up an old write-up of mine titled, Understanding the Old and New Testaments, the Old representing Judaism, and the New representing Christianity. I have done minor editing for the sake of clarity. It is a long article, so dig in:
Understanding the Old and New Testaments
It is vital to our walk here on earth that the believer understands clearly what the Old Testament (Covenant) and the New Testament (Covenant) are all about. This is necessary if we are to live the new life in Christ to the fullest.
1. The Old Covenant had its ordinances and commandments. The New has a different set of ordinances and commandments
Hebrews 9:1-14
1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances [or ceremonies] of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The ceremonies of the Old Testament were merely physical and temporal. They could achieve no lasting results. The ceremonies and commandments of the New are targeted at producing eternal results.
2. The Old Testament was about this world; the New is about a coming world
The Old Testament dealt with physical temporal things. The Old Testament promised health, long life, land, food, wealth etc. That was all that the blood of animals could get.
The New deals with eternal, spiritual things. Instead of long life, the New offers us eternal life. In place of the riches of this world, the New offers us true spiritual riches – the type Jesus had and gave up temporarily so we could become rich in those same things.
2 Corinthians 8:9
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Plus, in the world to come, all of the health, food and land, and abundance we could ever need would be ours to enjoy.
Revelations 21:1-4
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
3. The Old was targeted at a nation, a homogeneous set of people. The New is open to all who believe
Ephesians 2:12-13
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
4. The New is NOT a continuation of the Old; but a replacement
Ephesians 2:14-18
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father
5. Under the Old, God spoke to men by prophets. Under the New, God has spoken by His Son
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Even when we claim to be led by the Spirit, note that the Holy Spirit simply communicates the mind of Jesus to us, and certainly not any new revelation apart from what has already been revealed.
Under the New, the role of prophets is not to lead us, or tell us how to live. New Testament prophets encourage and strengthen the saints. Those who quote 2 Chronicles 20:20 in an attempt to coerce people to listen to them are mistaken. Applied properly in the context of the New would mean that we replace the prophets in that verse with the Son of God.
6. The Old did not have the ability to change men’s lives, though it had strict commands. The New changes men’s hearts first, then empowers them to live the new life
The ostensible aim of the Law was to restrain the evil tendencies natural to man in his fallen estate; yet in experience the law finds itself not merely ineffective, it actually provoke those tendencies to greater activity (Romans 8:3; Romans 2:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11). Another purpose of the law was to show the helplessness of man’s efforts to attain to righteousness.
Under the New, however, there is a transformation of the heart that produces a desire for true spirituality, and from which divine ability to live on that level also flows.
7. The Old passed away with the death of Jesus. The New began with His resurrection
Jesus lived under the Old, but instituted the New with His death and resurrection.
2 Corinthians 3:11 says, “For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious“. It is clear that the Old Testament has been done away with. It is not binding on the believer. The believer lives by a new and living way. The believer lives by the Spirit. Actually, to live by or in the Spirit implies means to live in the reality and by the truths of the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 3:1-11
1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
In this passage, we see a juxtaposition of the Old testament against the New.
Paul refers to the Old Testament as laws written with in and in tables of stone. He refers to the New as laws written with the Spirit of the living God and written in the heart.
Contrary to the popular explanation of the phrase, the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life (verse 6), here we see that “the letter” refers to the Old Testament, while “the Spirit” refers to the New.
It does not mean, as we have heard again and again, that we are not to pay attention to the words or written letters. As a matter of fact, improper and inadequate attention to the words of the New Testament have led to much of the wrong doctrines we see today. An overemphasis on “the Spirit” without understanding that the Spirit has primarily expressed God’s Will in the written words of the New Testament has done much havoc today.
Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life“.
The Spirit and the Word are one. Reading and studying the words of the New Testament won’t hurt you in any way. What hurts believers spiritually is attempting to live the Old Testament life, a life of striving in the flesh. A life of claiming promises God made to the Jews. A life and ministry structured and patterned after Old Testament ordinances and commandments. That’s what kills.
1 John 5:5-9
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
If we believe this passage, we will understand that whatever has been expressed by the Holy Spirit in the writings of the New Testament reflect His mind. The witness of the Spirit and the Word are the same. If we want to know what the Holy Spirit has to say on a subject, we simply need to go study the New Testament – we need to study what the New Testament teaches on the subject.
The New Testament, not the Old is the Gospel. To put it more accurately, the New is the complete revelation of the Gospel. The Old points to the Gospel, but the complete revelation is expressed in the New.
We have seen from passage after passage that the Old Testament was a covenant between God and the nation of Israel. None of the requirements of that covenant is binding on the believer, because the believer has a different covenant with God. None of the blessings and benefits of the Old covenant apply either.
8. We are ministers of the New, not of the Old
2 Corinthians 3:6
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;
Have you come across preachers and believers whose lives and ministries revolve around the Old Testament? Something is wrong with those fellows. We see from the Bible that the Old was done away with because it was insufficient to address the real issues of eternity. Yet, these fellows are so smart that they think God shouldn’t have scrapped the Old; so they pick up the pieces of the past and live in the shadows. They claim to be saved, but they are not living in the light that the New Testament provides. They live in darkness.
We are not ministers of the Old Testament. There it is in black and white. We do not go about telling women that the Bible says women should not put on the clothings of men. We do not go telling people that they are cursed if they do not pay the tithe. Neither do we go about telling people that they must give a first fruit offering.
Those who teach such things are clearly described by Paul to Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:5-9
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers…
The Bible says that those who desire to be teachers of the Law (or ministers of the Old Testament) do not know what they are talking about. Churches patterned after Old Testament practices as well, to the extent that they so do, also have no idea what they are doing. It is akin to saying that the sacrifice of Jesus was unnecessary. And that is blasphemy.
There is a lawful way to put the Law to use: to help unsaved men and women see how hopeless their cases are, so they can accept the offer of life in Christ Jesus. To attempt to live by the law is spiritually suicidal. You will fail, because you cannot keep the entire letters of the law.
And to be guilty of one is to be absolutely guilty of all: James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all“.
9. The Old Testament portion of the Bible is good reference material for the believer
By now you may be wondering why we bother having the Old Testament section in the Bible. Why not completely discard it; right? Wrong.
First note that there is a difference between the Old Testament as a covenant and the Old Testament section of the Bible. The Bible demarcations were made for reference purposes.
The Old Testament section of the Bible plays a vital role. Paul writing to the Corinthians about Old Testament events, said, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
The entire Old Testament section of the Bible is profitable for:
1. historical reference
2. theological reference
3. moral reference
4. spiritual reference
Broken down, we can draw examples of how it pays to serve God; how a life of godlessness does not pay; we can trace the history of how God brought to mankind the Messiah and the good news; we can better understand certain issues, for example, how would we see clearly that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God without the records of the Old Testament; how do we see clearly the fall of man, the promise of Abraham etc?
Lastly, and most importantly, properly interpreted the Old Testament section of the Bible points the reader to Christ.
The Old Testament section of the Bible is valuable; but the laws and commands it presents are not our covenant. It is not our way of life.
10. In every way, the New is superior to the Old
Hebrews 7:14-22
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
