Search the Scriptures
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39
In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began "at Moses and all the prophets" and "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form....
Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declares, "They are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39). In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears. (Christ's Object Lessons, 127, 128)
Reflection: John 5:39 tells us to "Search the scriptures." 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." Jesus said that He did not come to change the law, but to fulfill it. These New Testament texts come from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is as important to our salvation today as it was when it was written. Old and New should be searched and studied together.
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39
In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began "at Moses and all the prophets" and "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form....
Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declares, "They are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39). In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears. (Christ's Object Lessons, 127, 128)
Reflection: John 5:39 tells us to "Search the scriptures." 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." Jesus said that He did not come to change the law, but to fulfill it. These New Testament texts come from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is as important to our salvation today as it was when it was written. Old and New should be searched and studied together.
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