by Hugh Fulford
There are those who say that we should not read the New Testament as if it were a constitution, a blueprint, or a pattern to be adhered to in all respects. They think it should be read with room to change it and adapt it to contemporary culture and the normal changes that occur in society.
Well, how about this: Since it is a testament, a will, why not read it as such? No one has the right to change another person’s will. The New Testament is the last will and testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and once He had died and sealed it with His own blood, He has not modified it in the least iota and no one else has the authority to change it in any respect.
“And for this reason He is the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant (the Old Testament, hf), that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” (Hebrews 9:15-17).
After the death of Christ His will was inaugurated on the Day of Pentecost as we read in Acts 2. What the New Testament said when it was inaugurated 2000 years ago it still says. Christ’s will sets forth conditions, blessings, and benefits, as well as consequences of failure to comply with it as well as tampering with it. What it originally said about how to be saved from sin and become a child of God it still says. What it originally said about how to receive the eternal inheritance of heaven it still says. Christ has not changed His will in the least, and no human has the right to change it.
How people were saved before the inauguration of the New Testament has no bearing on how people are saved after the will of Christ, the New Testament, came into effect following the death of Christ the testator. “He takes away the first (the Old Testament) that He may establish the second (the New Testament). By that will (the second, the New) we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:9-10).
I think my old Bible professor G. K. Wallace was right: “The first thing a false teacher wants to do is to get you away from the Bible.”
Hugh Fulford has served as a full-time minister for the Lord’s church for over 42 years. He also writes for The Spiritual Sword, and resides in Mt. Juliet, TN.
