Footsteps #352. However much some Christians, for various reasons, seek to separate the Old Testament from the New, it can’t be done without denuding the New Testament of its true meaning. The New Testament, in its revelation of Jesus Christ and its theological explanations of His life, death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry, points to the fulfillment of many of the Old Testament prophecies and types. In many ways, the Old Testament forms the background, the context, and the basis for the New. Both testaments reveal the goodness and love of God. This is one reason why the New Testament, including, Jesus, Paul, and other writers, again and again, quote from the Old. (It was in fact the only Bible they had.) 

For Example, when Jesus was asked by a scribe which is the greatest commandment, (Mark 12:28-30) he quoted the Jewish Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and Leveticus:19:18. He didn’t say anything new, He just fed the Scribe what he should have already known. Shema is the first Hebrew word “hear”,  “Shema Israel” “Hear O Israel…” was the centerpiece of Jewish prayer services and genuine worship. How some Christians then make an assumption that this somehow replaces the Ten Commandments is a denial of what Jesus was trying to establish with the Scribe’s question. 

I have often thought if I could go back and change the course of my life, that I would have loved to have done a PHD on how the sanctuary / sacrificial service from the Old Testament was used in the New Testament. E.g. you cannot understand the book of Revelation until you see how the sanctuary, its furniture, services, and calendar are overlaid over the whole book. Paul, a Pharisee, was thoroughly steeped in Old Testament theology. In fact, his doctrine of Justification by faith alone came from the Old Testament. The Old Testament was the only Bible he had and he had major portions committed to memory as evidenced by the way he extensively quoted from it (He did not carry a cartload of scrolls with him as he traveled.) Romans 8:31-34 is a demonstration of Paul’s use of Sanctuary theology that a 21^st century Christian could easily miss.  

Romans 8:31 – 39 is a courtroom setting.  This passage is really telling us about the kind of God we believe in! As we shall see, this divine courtroom becomes a place of joy and jubilation, with our High Priest (Jesus) working on our behalf in the courtroom (sanctuary) of heaven.