Early on in the New Testament Jesus quoted from the Old Testament to the devil in resisting his temptations.  Jesus reiterated that man indeed needs to read and understand the Old Testament/Tanakh (referring to the same thing- aka the Hebrew Bible).

Matthew 4:3-4 says: “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

The New Testament had not even been written at this point.

That was likewise the case when the Gospel came to the Bereans in Acts chapter 17.  Many don’t imitate the Bereans at all, yet many call themselves Bereans at heart even while they foolishly don’t seek to understand and interpret the things in the New Testament according to their true foundation in the Old Testament.

Acts 17:10-12: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither (there) went into the synagogue of the Jews.  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily (my note- that is, the Old Testament/Tanakh- the only existing Scriptures at the time), whether those things were so.  Therefore many of them believed; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.”

The Bereans believed in Jesus after searching the Old Testament Scriptures because Jesus came in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.  Everything He did and taught in person in His incarnation, and taught through His Apostles, is consistent with the Old Testament Scriptures (and that is including the release of His church from the Mosaic ceremonies- even the time that would happen was spoken of in the Old Testament- and you can see how the Apostles saw that and judged accordingly at their council in Acts chapter 15).  

As the Jews who blatantly rejected Jesus claimed (as many still do today) to heed the Old Testament/Tanakh but not the New Testament, so many professing Christians today (and throughout church history) claim to heed the New Testament while not sufficiently regarding the Old Testament.  Both groups are delusional and are testified against in the Bible continuously- even by the group of Scriptures which they claim to revere, receive, and follow.

Many professing Christians actually don’t even believe that Jews who reject Jesus Christ do so because they do not heed the Old Testament/Tanakh.  Yet this is exactly what Jesus said as He spoke to Jews who did not believe in Him in John 5:39-47.

Since they would not come to Him that they might have life due to not heeding the Old Testament, what makes anyone think that they can come to Him, on His terms, that they might have life, while they disregard the Old Testament?  To believe that anyone can actually do so is to reject what Jesus directly said in the New Testament.  Anyone who disregards the Old Testament cannot be receiving Jesus on His terms nor be properly related to the Father through Him.  

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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