Speaker: Pastor Lukus Counterman Series: Ten Commandments
Speaker: Lukus Counterman - The Old Testament is not merely the part of our Bible that predicted a coming Messiah and was rendered irrelevant when that Messiah arrived; it is part of one full, complete, running drama of redemption. Beginning at Matthew’s Gospel with a disregard for the previous testament, would be like walking into a movie half-way through. It would be like ruining a good joke by only sharing the punch line. The Old Testament law tells us what we ought to do, and this leads us to despair for we cannot meet God’s standard. But the gospel tells us what God has done for us already in Christ, meeting the standard and serving as our substitute. Jesus took our punishment on himself so that we could be regarded as righteous.[1] Jesus said in John 5:39 “You diligently study the Scriptures [Old Testament], thinking by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” The Old Testament must not be reduced to a simplistic moral code or handbook for living. It must be seen as that which testifies of Jesus who alone can give life. The more clearly we see what God’s law requires, the more obvious it becomes that we need the gospel. We cannot be saved by our own law keeping because we don’t keep it. But Jesus did, and everyone who believes in Him will be saved by His keeping of the law and His suffering of its curse. May the law push us towards grace found full in Jesus.