January 2001 New Horizons

Who Needs the Old Testament?

by Charles D. Drew

As a young couple looks on, the skywriter soars and loops through the air, writing: Marry me Jill As the biplane begins to spell out Jill , the camera pans to the face of the woman, and we watch with delight as she suddenly realizes that the message scrawled across the sky is for her. Her casual interest yields to a cry of recognition and an exuberant embrace. I have forgotten the product that this scene was intended to advertise, but I have never forgotten the scene. What fires Jill's response, and what fills us with delight, is not just the proposal itself. It is the packaging of the proposal. The manner in which Jill's suitor makes his love known reveals how certain and deep that love is. Private promises of devotion are not enough for him. He wants the world to know. He has no interest in cheap, spur-of-the-moment declarations. Only careful planning and great expense can adequately express his commitment. Jill sees this and gives her love enthusiastically to him. How do we give our love ... Read more

Is the Old Testament for Christians?

by Graeme Goldsworthy

Part One It is indisputable that even evangelical Christians demonstrate a neglect of and ignorance towards the first three quarters of the Bible. Ironically, the evangelical view of Scripture itself can make the problem worse. For the "modernist" is happy to dismiss as crude and primitive those parts of the Old Testament which he finds morally offensive. The "conservative," on the other hand, has to find some way of reconciling his view of the Old Testament as the Word of God with such things as...Israel's slaughter of the Canaanites, the cursing of enemies in some Psalms, or the wide prescription of capital punishment in the law of Moses. Even if parts of the Old Testament do not appear morally reprehensible to the "conservative" Christian, other parts appear to be completely irrelevant. For some, the problem with the Old Testament is simply that on the whole they find it dry and uninteresting; it is wordy, cumbersome, and confusing. Whatever their view of Scripture, the sheer weight and complexity ... Read more

We Need the Old Testament to Understand the Work of Christ

by Curtis I. Crenshaw

In the volume of the book, it is written of Christ (Heb. 10:7). How does the Old Testament guide us in understanding the work of Christ? We may ask, "Why Christ at all? Was it an accident that he appeared in human history? Why did he state that he came to offer himself as a sacrifice? Why did he not come as an adult instead of by virgin birth? Who was he? How could he do the miracles he did and teach with such authority?" The Old Testament gives the context to answer all these questions. First, why Christ at all? It was necessary for him to come because man fell into sin, as we see in Genesis 3. When man fell into sin, he incurred two problems: lack of obedience to God's law and the penalty of death. Jesus came to obey God's law perfectly for his people (Rom. 5:18-19) and to undergo the penalty of wrath and death as the substitute (Mark 10:45; Gal. 3:13). Without seeing the fall of mankind into sin in Genesis 3, we would not understand the most basic reason for the Incarnation. Second, the Old ... Read more

Why Catechize?

by Thomas Watson

I intend next Lord's day to begin the work of catechetical preaching. It will not be amiss to give you an introductory sermon to show you how necessary it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion. My text is Colossians 1:23, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled." I have two points. First, it is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrines of the faith. It is the apostle's prayer, "The God of all grace ... stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10). That is, that they might not be meteors in the air, but fixed stars. The apostle Jude speaks of "wandering stars" in verse 13. Now, such as are not settled in religion, will at one time or other show themselves to be wandering stars. They will lose their former steadfastness, and wander from one opinion to another. Such as are unsettled are of the tribe of Reuben, "unstable as water" (Gen. 49:4). They are like a ship without ballast, overturned with every wind of doctrine. Beza writes of one Belfectius, ... Read more