The Old Testament Scriptures and The Christian

With the work of God’s grace in the hearts of his people, both Jew and Gentile, by the Holy Spirit opening the Old Testament Scriptures to us (Luke 24:44; John 17:17; Acts 16:14), and with what we learn about the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, Christians should more clearly see Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures than the Old Testament saints did before his coming. As Paul says, we have the vail over the Old Testament Scriptures “done away in Christ” so that we with “open face” behold the glory of the Lord there (2 Corinthians 3:14-18).¹

We must not set aside any part of the Law, the Prophets, or the Writings² as not for the Christian. We must agree with the apostle Paul, who affirmed that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Paul is here commending the Old Testament Scriptures to Christians for doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. We know this “all scripture” of which Paul writes is what we now call the Old Testament Scriptures, because he said to Timothy in the previous verse: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (v.15).

Timothy had been raised by his Christian mother Eunice, and his Christian grandmother Lois. These two Jewish women (see Acts 16:1) had come to believe in their Messiah with a strong, “unfeigned faith” and, by God’s grace working in the young boy’s heart, they had passed this same faith on to Timothy—from their own Scriptures. Moreover, this multi-generational faith in Christ did not begin in that family with Lois or Eunice. For the apostle Paul rejoiced with them in the fact that theirs was the same faith that their ancestors had, many generations earlier. So says Paul: “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers [and yours] with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee [Timothy] in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also” (2 Timothy 1:3-5).

Paul the apostle commands Timothy the Christian: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (3:14). Timothy, you have been blessed with a good Christian upbringing in your family, learning and being assured of certain things from your mother Eunice and grandmother Lois. Being godly Christian women themselves, they taught you those things from the Holy Scriptures of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, that are able to make thee wise unto salvation through the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And I am persuaded that you now share in their unfeigned faith.

Now, being such a man of God as you are, and that you too may be throughly furnished unto all good works—“continue thou in the things you have learned and been assured of”. You know your mother and grandmother, who taught you the gospel of Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures—you know the unfeigned the faith and godliness of these two dear women of God. And you know how both they and myself stand in the line of our forefathers who had these Holy Scriptures before us, whose God we too now serve with a pure conscience. This God has breathed out these Scriptures—the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings—for you, even a Christian, to impart to you doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. So, continue, continue thou, in them. Read them, learn them well, believe them, love them, obey them, preach them, and pass them on.

All Christians should follow this apostolic command and Christian example.

Unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus

With the change from the Old to the New Testament, the covenantal relationship of the people of God with their God has not changed. But what has changed is that the LORD’s Anointed Son, whom they previously saw dimly—in the ceremonial laws and the prophetic types and figures such as the Temple itself, the altar, the great prophet Moses, the High Priest Aaron, the priest-king Melchizedek, king David, Solomon the son of David (we could go on and on)—we see the Anointed One more clearly now that he has come (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; Psalm 2:2; Isaiah 40; Luke 3:1-6; 7:19-23; John 1:23; Hebrews (all)).

As Peter confirmed in his preaching: “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus…For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you” (Acts 3:13, 22; see also 7:37). And when Paul had opportunity to preach to the Jews in their synagogues, he proclaimed the same truth: “…And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: When John [the Baptist] had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent” (Acts 13:22-26; see also John 1:15-34).

I also refer you to Hebrews chapters 5 through 7 to learn now the great Melchisedec “king of Salem, priest of the most high God” teaches and reveals Christ to us, and typifies his “unchangeable priesthood” and “better testament”.

The Noble Bereans

When Paul preached the gospel to the Jews, of course he preached from the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. And when Jews came to believe the gospel, the good news that Jesus the Christ (Yeshua the Messiah)³ has come, they believed in him because they were certain that he is indeed their Messiah: this is he who was promised and prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. Luke, the author of Acts, speaks highly of the Jews of the synagogue in Berea for their readiness of mind to receive the Christ whom Paul preached, when they verified from their own Scriptures that he was preaching the truth: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither 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, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:10-11).

Who was Paul the Christian preaching to? To the Jews who lived in Berea. What did Paul preach to them? The same gospel of the Messiah that he preached to the Gentiles. Over a number of days he preached Christ—he preached authentic Christianity. Now, what did Paul preach out of—where did he get his Christian gospel and his Christian doctrines from? From the Old Testament Scriptures, as understood by him and by the other apostles whose understanding the Lord had opened. And what did these Jews of Berea, in their synagogue, search every day that Paul preached to them, being determined to prove whether or not what he preached was true? They searched their own Scriptures. They wanted to be totally sure that what Paul was preaching was what their own Scriptures actually said, and that what he argued and concluded and proved from these Scriptures was the truth: namely that Jesus is the Christ, the Fulfiller of prophecies and types and ceremonial laws—the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all who put their trust in him—and that the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) was now established by his blood, and that in him we have eternal life.

Was Paul, in his preaching, really bringing them the truth out of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings? Or was it those Jews who rejected the gospel of Christ who held to the true meaning of those Scriptures? Moreover, if Paul was indeed preaching the truth, then to reject Paul’s gospel would mean to reject their own Scriptures. Grasping the significance of all of this, these Bereans saw that it was imperative that they “searched the scriptures daily”, so that they could prove for themselves “whether those things were so”.

These Scriptures that the noble Berean Jews searched daily made them wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And they are able to do the same for us if we will study them today—whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth.

Who the Lord Jesus Christ Is

Who the Lord Jesus Christ is was first understood by his eye-witnesses when “opened he their understanding” (Luke 24:32, 44-48; see also Matthew 16:17; Acts 16:14, etc.). And the preachers among these first disciples of Christ bore witness to this same truth every time they “made [him] known” in their preaching from the “more sure word of prophecy”, as Peter did: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:16-19).⁴

The gospel, the Good News, is that this promised Saviour has come, and he saves us from our sins. That promise is in “the scriptures”—the Old Testament Scriptures. So says the apostle Paul: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

So when we have become Christians, do we set aside the Old Testament Scriptures as not for us? No, not at all!

The Faith of Our Fathers

As we have seen in 2 Timothy 1:3, the apostle Paul affirmed that he still had the same faith as his forefathers in Israel as a Christian. So sure of this was he, that he made his stand upon this truth in his defence in court, when he was accused of turning against the faith of his forefathers to a way of heresy. Paul had been raised on the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings of the Jewish Scriptures. And in his faith after he had become a Christian, he remained a firm believer in the teachings of these same scriptures: “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day…But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I [as a Christian] the God of my fathers [in Israel], believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 22:3, 14-16).

And when Paul was delivered to the Romans, and had opportunity to speak to his fellow Jews who were residents of the capital city of Rome, he repeated his profession of faith in the doctrines of the Old Testament Scriptures: “And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people [of Israel], or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel [i.e. the Messiah himself] I am bound with this chain” (Acts 28:17-20).

In Paul’s personal religion as a Christian, he still worshipped the God of his spiritual forefathers. Their God was still his God. As a man who had been born-again, he still had the very same faith as they had, although he now saw the Messiah, the Hope of Israel who had now come, with New Testament clarity whereas they saw dimly through the ceremonial laws and the prophecies and “figure[s] for the time then present” (see Hebrews 9:1-10). And therefore, Paul rightly protested that he was innocent of the accusation of heresy that the Messiah-rejecting Jews raised against him.

The apostle professed that he exercised himself “to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men”. This is an interesting phrase that would have gotten his Jewish hearer’s attention. Here Paul is deliberately referring to the Ten Commandments—though this is often missed by modern readers. “Toward God” refers to the first four Commandments, or what is sometimes called the first table of the law. “Toward men” refers to the second table, or the last six commandments. So here, Paul is saying to the Jews that he still keeps the Ten Commandments as a Christian. Indeed to have a conscience void of offence toward God or toward men cannot be had in any other way than in keeping God’s moral law.

This twofold aspect of the moral law is also seen in those two greatest commandments that our Lord Jesus Christ pointed to—which the Pharisees would or should have agreed with. The first great commandment is “toward God”: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”; and the second greatest is “toward men”: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (see Matthew 22:35-40).

Putting it another way in another place, Paul professed to have “committed nothing against the people [of Israel], or customs of our fathers”. The apostle consciously continued to embrace the spiritual Israelite religion as his personal religion—as a Christian. And if we knew the Law and the Prophets and the Wisdom writings well enough, we would understand that this godly living is what he Paul taught and applied throughout all his epistles.

And this is evidenced throughout Paul’s writings to the churches, even in his epistles that comprise such a large part of our New Testament Scriptures. The very same spiritual, personal religion of the Old Testament Scriptures is taught to us by the apostle—it is not contradicted, annulled, replaced, but rather it is intensified, reemphasised, expounded, and applied. Again, what Paul commanded Timothy he commands all Christians: continue in these things, knowing that all these Scriptures you have learned (namely the Law, and the Prophets, and the Wisdom Writings, including the Psalms) are profitable for your doctrine, your reproof, your correction, your training in righteousness, to throughly equip you unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:14-16). Christian! If you are lacking in these things, you know where to go and what to do. And James, Peter, John, and Jude teach the same things. Moreover, every Christian preacher should follow them in expounding spiritual, moral, and practical religion in the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as the New.

The Root and Fatness of the Olive Tree

According to the apostle Paul, true Christians whom God has called from among the Gentiles are grafted into the one covenant family tree which Paul himself, and other Messiah following Jews remained part of, with their forefathers: “thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Romans 11:17).⁵

Paul even goes so far as to say that the Israelite forefathers in the faith have become the spiritual forefathers of Gentile Christians too, who are now in the same family of God and same faith in God by adoption. “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

So let us not be ignorant of this. The Church in Corinth whom Paul, the spiritual Israelite, calls his “brethren”, was at least partly comprised of Gentile Christians. And the “our fathers” in Israel of whom Paul speaks, he says were both his and their fathers, even though they are Gentile Christians. Some argue that here Paul has turned to address the Israelite Christian contingent in the congregation at Corinth; but it can’t be proven that he meant to exclude the Gentile Christians present when he spoke of “our fathers” in Israel. Those who say this suppress the wonderful truth of the adoption of Gentiles in to the covenant family of God in Jesus Christ, and they go against what Paul taught the Romans about how we Gentile Christians are grafted into the same “olive tree” and fully partake of its root and fatness.

True Christians, whether from the Jews or the Gentiles, are both children of “our fathers” in Israel: for they ate the same spiritual meat as us, and who drank the same spiritual drink as us from the same spiritual Rock as us—namely Christ himself, who is the Antitype.⁶ Yes, they were with Christ and Christ was with them, as much as he is with us and we are with him. Though they had only the types of Christ before Christ came into the world to save sinners, nonetheless they had Christ, and they were saved by the same Saviour as we are. By faith, they partook of him as surely as we now do. These were the spiritual Israelites of old who pleased God, and were not overthrown in the wilderness (v.5).

Our Examples in the Faith

The apostle Paul emphasises repeatedly, that we should learn important lessons for our Christian lives from what is on record in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning these saints, our fathers in the faith: “Now these things were our examples…Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [to us]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (vv.6, 11).”

Similarly, in his epistle to the Romans, after pointing to Christ in a Psalm (69:9), the apostle Paul says of the Old Testament Scriptures in general—for Christians in general, whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:3-4). The patience and comfort and personal spirituality and godliness—whatsoever is taught in these Old Testament Scriptures, “written aforetime” from Paul’s perpective, are for Christians too.

The apostle Peter said the same, concerning the writings of the Old Testament prophets: “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:10-12).

We must come to understand that, whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth, these things in the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings were written for Christians too. Their histories and personal stories and types are examples for our learning. The things predicted in their ceremonial laws and the prophecies are ministered unto us. Their personal religion of godly living is what we also should live. Their promised and now revealed Messiah is ours too.

We would do wrong if we turned to the Old Testament ceremonial laws and sought to incorporate them into our worship of God—this would be wrong for us to do, whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth. The Messiah has come and fulfilled the ceremonial laws. Paul remonstrated against the “foolish Galatians” who were doing this in the matter of circumcision (Galatians 3). But nonetheless, Paul taught these Galatians, who were Gentiles who had come to Christ, that they should follow the example of the faith, though not the circumcision, of their spiritual forefather Abraham, who “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (v.6). And that if the Galatians are believers in Christ—if they were heathen but are now justified by faith—then they too are counted as “children of Abraham” and “blessed with faithful Abraham” (vv.7-9, 14, 26-29; see also Romans ch.4). It’s the same for all of us who are in Christ.

The inevitable conclusion of what we are considering here should sit well with you now: we have as our God-given examples in the Christian faith these faithful men and women of the Old Testament.

So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to Jews who had turned to Jesus, their promised Messiah who has come, who now understood him to be the Fulfiller of the Old Testament ceremonial laws. Hebrews chapter 11 is comprised of a list of great examples of faith in God: “so great a cloud of witnesses” who had lived in the centuries before these Hebrew Christians were born and born again. This list is given to motivate them to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2)—the same as he was the author and finisher of their ancestors’ faith, who had run the same race, and whose recorded testimony in the Old Testament Scriptures is like a cloud that surrounded them even now, now that they are Christians.

Though the Old Testament saints had only seen Jesus dimly while they ran their race on earth (as predicted and promised through the ceremonial laws and the types and the prophecies), their faith is nonetheless a greatly encouraging and challenging example for us all to follow in the same faith that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of, whether we are Hebrew or Gentile Christians. This is “our faith”—the faith that those Old Testament saints and we New Testament saints have in common. So, we all had better follow their example and run the same race that they ran: this race that is now set before us, looking to the same Jesus—whose name means Jehovah Saves.

Abraham, one such example of the faith that we must follow mentioned in Hebrews 11:8-10, believed the gospel that was preached to him by God himself, and his faith was counted by God for righteousness (Galatians 3:8; Romans 4:1-5)—and we Christians today, whether we have come from his loins or from the heathen, are counted as “children of Abraham” and blessed with the blessing that was promised to him, that is coming upon all the nations of the world (Galatians 3:7; Genesis 15:5-6; 17:4-7).

Moses, another example of the faith, believed in Christ—whom he saw dimly but nonetheless saw: “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Hebrews 11:25-26).

So many more we could mention—but learn Hebrews 11 for yourself, and go on to study the faith of these men and women of the faith. Be grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the same Christ that they partook of—though you should see more clearly what they saw dimly. And run the same race that their Jesus and yours is the Author and Finisher of.

The New Covenant Is Not a New Religion

This same cloud of witnesses still embraces and encourages all Christians, whether we were Jews or Gentiles by birth: what things were written in the Bible about these witnesses were written for all our learning. Open your eyes and see them, by taking up the Old Testament Scriptures and reading, over and over again. All these men and women of faith, “Of whom the world was not worthy…have received a good report [in the Holy Scriptures] through faith” to commend them to us as faith-examples to follow (vv.38-39). Now then, they would not have been held up before us as examples for encouraging us in our faith if they were of a different faith, or a different religion! But the scriptural record of their faith in God, and their looking towards Jesus their Messiah, is indeed directly relevant to us. These things were inscripturated to teach, encourage, and instruct us in the Christian life.

Yes, it is true that they “received not the promise” of the Messiah come in their lifetime; and that God has indeed “provided some better thing for us” in that we have the Messiah now come, who has inaugurated the New Covenant in his blood (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:26-28; Hebrews 9:11-15; 12:22-24). And it is our eyes that have been opened to him; and it is we who have the further revelation of the New Testament Scriptures on these precious truths of the gospel. But we must understand what the author of Hebrews concludes with: “that they [the Old Testament saints] without us [New Testament saints] should not be made perfect” (v.40). It is not that in the Messiah, we are made perfect but they have not been, or will not be. But it is that they are made perfect in Christ together with us and not without us, by the inclusion of New Testament saints come into the covenant-family of God from among the Gentiles—so that we will all be with the Lord as his one people forever. What we Christians have become part of, these Old Testament saints were already part of. Though we (should) see this covenant of grace more clearly.

We who are Gentile Christians embrace the Old Testament people of God as being our fathers and mothers in the faith, and as our brothers and sisters in the household of God. With them, we are “fellowcitizens“ and “fellowheirs”. And we have much to learn from our Bible’s historical records of God’s dealings with our spiritual ancestors. We have the same relationship with God that they had, they and we both in Christ: we have the same reconciliation to God in the Lamb’s atoning sacrifice. Their God has become our God, by their Saviour saving us, and bringing us into his one tabernacle, one temple, one city, one bride, and one people.

Even after the LORD’s Anointed Son (Psalm 2:2, 7) has come in the flesh (John 1:1-3, 14; Romans 1:3; 1 John 4:2-3), lived his sinless life, died for our sins, rose again from the dead, and ascended to the Father—yes, even now in the New Testament era, the apostle Paul says to Timothy, and to us who believe, that the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

And if we continue as Christians to learn and understand the Old Testament Scriptures correctly, the way our Lord Jesus Christ himself and his apostles did, and the way Paul urged Timothy to do, then are we neither adapting them, nor reimagining them, nor misappropriating them, nor “spiritualising” them; but we will understand that the gospel is revealed in them. The Holy Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi inclusive (as well as the New Testament Scriptures now too), are profitable for Christian doctrine, Christian reproof, Christian correction, and Christian training in righteousness.

The history of the people of God in the Old Testament has become our own spiritual family history by adoption. And their psalms and hymns and spiritual songs have become ours too. All these songs they sang to the Lord in faith and worship, we likewise sing to the Lord in faith and worship. We must let them dwell in us richly in all wisdom, whether we are Gentile or Hebrew Christians (for there are only Christians, not separate kinds: one people of God in Christ; that is one Bride of Christ), whatever our tongue, tribe, or nation, until Christ comes again.

And we will sit with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all their spiritual children, in the tabernacle of David (that is, the kingdom of God) at the same wedding supper of the Lamb (Matthew 8:11; Acts 15:16-17; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 2:7-8; 110; Matthew 12:42; 22:41-46; Revelation 5:5-9; 21:2-3, 9, 12-14; 22:16).

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Appendix

John Brown of Edinburgh (1784-1858), Hebrews (Banner of Truth, pp.596-598), commenting on Hebrews 11:39-40: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect”:

The good things provided for us by God are thus described by the inspired writers:—“We know that when the earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed, we shall have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” When we are “absent from the body,” we shall be “present with the Lord.” “We know that them who sleep in Jesus, God will bring with Him.” “When he who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory.” “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as he is.” “We look for the Saviour from heaven, who shall change these vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his own glorious body.” “And so we shall ever be with the Lord.” “For this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption; and there shall be brought to pass that saying, Death is swallowed up in victory.” These things are provided for Christians by God, inconceivably better than anything we can enjoy here below.

But it may be said, ‘These things are not provided exclusively for Christians; they are equally provided for the ancient believers.’ We readily admit this; but we do not think that there is anything in the Apostle’s language that would lead us to consider the good things spoken of as the exclusive possession of Christians. Indeed, the Apostle does not seem to be here [in Hebrews 11:39-40] pointing out a contrast, but a resemblance, in the circumstances of Old Testament and New Testament believers: ‘Old Testament believers did not obtain the promise in the present state, and neither do New Testament believers; for God has provided for them better things than any bestowed on them here below. We, as well as our elder bretheren, must die in the faith as well as live in the faith. We must live in believing, and die in believing.’

It now only remains that we turn our attention to the concluding clause of the sentence, “that they without us should not be made perfect.” Some connect the words with the first clause, considering the second as a parenthesis; thus: “All these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, that they might not without us be perfected.” We consider them as equally connected with both clauses. Their meaning, I apprehend, would be brought out somewhat more distinctly by a very slight change in their order, which the original certainly warrants, if it does not demand: “that they, not without us, might be made perfect.” God has so arranged matters, that the complete accomplishment of the promise, both to Old Testament and New Testament believers, shall take place together; they shall be made perfect, but not without us; we and they shall obtain perfection together.

The Old Testament saints died without receiving the promised blessing; but their faith was not therefore of no avail. In due season they shall be perfected; i.e., the promse, in its full extent, shall be performed to them. And as God has provided for us, too, “better things” than any we enjoy here below, when they are perfected we shall be perfected along with them.

To “be made perfect,” is, I apprehend, just the same thing as to “receive the promise,” or to enjoy the “better things” provided for us. This exactly accords with the representations in other parts of Scripture. The whole body of the saved are to be introduced into the full possession of the “salvation that is in Christ Jesus in eternal glory.” There is to be a “gathering together into Christ Jesus at his coming.” They are to be presented “a glorious church,” perfect and complete, “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” As one assembly, they are to be invited into “the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.” They are to be “caught up together to meet the Lord in the air; and so they are to be for ever with the Lord.”

Such views were well suited to encourage the Christian Hebrews to persevere in believing,—to live by faith, to die in faith. ‘The ancient believers lived and died without obtaining the great promised blessing, and so must you; but the promised blessing, in all its extent, will in due time be conferred on you both. They shall be perfected, and so shall you.’

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1. See part 4 in this series of articles, Richly in All Wisdom. ↩︎

2. The Tanakh—see footnote 1 in a part 3 of this series, The Word of Christ. ↩︎

3. There are some people today, both Jews and Gentiles by birth, who insist that we must always call Jesus Christ by his Hebrew name Yeshua HaMashiach or else we are not really respecting him, or somehow we may not be true Christians unless we call him by his “given name”. However, our New Testament Scriptures were written in Koine Greek, and we find there that יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ is translated Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. This is our Saviour’s name in the Greek. This is the name that God the Holy Spirit gave Greek-speaking Jews and Gentiles to call their Saviour and Lord, and the God-breathed authors of the New Testament committed it to writing (in the Greek) in the Holy Scriptures. In our English Bibles, the name Ἰησοῦς Χριστός is simply transliterated, so that it comes to us in the anglicised form as “Jesus Christ”. ↩︎

4. We have considered this passage in 2 Peter at length in part 3 of this series of articles, The Word of Christ. ↩︎

5. See the previous post, Fellowcitizens with the Saints in Israel. ↩︎

6. On Old Testament types and Christ the Antitype—see footnote 3 in part 3 in this series of articles, The Word of Christ. ↩︎