Noted theologian and preacher John Piper recently listed eight ways he says the Old Testament doesn’t apply to modern Christianity while also believing that the promises of the Hebrew Bible largely apply to the Church.
In an episode of the podcast “Ask Pastor John” posted last week, a listener named Maureen asked Piper, “Which Old Testament verses are for me, as a Christian, today.”
“Sometimes I select a verse that is meaningful to me from my Bible reading in the morning. But then later in the day, as I further reflect on it, it feels like I’ve lifted the verse out of context and misapplied it to myself. How, Pastor John, do I know which Old Testament promises are for me?” Maureen asked.
Piper responded that, while he believed “all of the Old Testament is for those who are in Christ Jesus,” there were still “differences between the people of God — the Church — today and the people of God — Israel — in the Old Testament, and how God relates differently to each.”
Piper listed eight specific differences, beginning with how Old Testament Israel was “an earthly, political nation-state,” while the modern Church “is a people whose citizenship is in Heaven and who are sojourners and exiles here, scattered among all the nation-states.”
The second difference Piper pointed to was that Israel was “a theocracy to carry out God’s punishments for those who broke His law, including capital punishment for idolatry and various other sins.”
“The Church is not a civil government and is not authorized as a church to carry out God’s punishments. Excommunication from the church through church discipline replaces execution through the judicial processes,” Piper said.
A third difference is that Israel was “basically one ethnicity” while “the Church is made up of all ethnicities.” Piper added that “practices that were designed to separate Israel from the surrounding peoples and ethnicities” are “done away with as requirements for God’s people.”
The fourth difference Piper laid out was that while Israel “had defined geographic borders and a geographic religious center,” the New Testament Church “has no geographic borders or religious center.”
A fifth point of difference, according to Piper, was that individuals were born into ancient Israel, while “people are born again into the Church.”
“The new covenant is entered by the miracle of God’s forgiving sins through faith and through God’s writing the law on our hearts,” he explained.
Difference number six was that Israel did not have a “great commission,” specifically a call on members to evangelize, whereas the New Testament believers are called to evangelize.
“The Old Testament religion was mainly a ‘come and see’ religion, while the New Testament religion is mainly a ‘go and tell’ religion,” Piper said.
A seventh difference, according to Piper, was that ancient Israel had a sacrificial system in place, “but that entire system was done away with when Jesus fulfilled it by becoming the final sacrifice and by acting as the final High Priest.” theologian saying that “the people of God in the Old Testament did experience the working of the Spirit of God, but they did not experience or know the Spirit as the indwelling Spirit of the risen Christ.”
“Today, we know the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ. He works in His Church, therefore, in a way that he did not work in the Old Testament, because the Church is His body, the body of the risen Christ,” he added.
Despite the key differences, Piper added: “We can take any text in the Old Testament and make it our own by treating it as fulfilled in Christ, with the necessary changes implied in those points.”
In May 2018, megachurch Pastor Andy Stanley garnered controversy when said in a sermon that Christians needed to “unhitch” the Old Testament from their faith.
Stanley referenced Acts 15, in which the leaders of the early Church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.
“[First century] Church leaders unhitched the Church from the worldview, value system and regulations of the Jewish Scriptures,” said Stanley. “Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”
Critics, among them Messianic Jewish author and radio host Michael Brown, argued that “throughout the New Testament,” Gentile believers “were called to live holy lives, based on Old Testament teaching.”
“Pastor Stanley forgets that the Old Testament also tells us the story of Israel, including Israel’s blessed future,” wrote Brown at the time.
“Cut out the Old Testament, and you cut out much of Israel’s destiny, which all believers should understand. Cut out the Old Testament, and you also cut out the destiny of the nations.”
For his part, Stanley told Brown in an interview in July 2018 that he still considered the Old Testament inerrant, and that his comments were centered more toward an audience that does not trust the Bible.
“I told my kids growing up, if anyone ever asks you, ‘Do you believe Adam and Eve are real people?’ here is how you are to answer: do not say ‘yes’ because the Bible says Adam and Eve were real people,” Stanley said.
“You say this: ‘I believe Adam and Eve were historical characters because Jesus did. And when somebody predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, I go with whatever they say.'”
Source: Christian Post -Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook
FREEReligious Freedom Updates
Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.SUBMIT
slide 1 to 2 of 4
- Reformed Theologian: ‘Paul Did Not Unhitch the Christian Faith From the Old Testament’
- Witnessing to Buddhists, go to Old Testament, especially Ecclesiastes, says former Japan-based missionary
- Andy Stanley says Ten Commandments don’t apply to Christians
- No, Andy Stanley Isn’t a Marcionite
Popular in the Community
AdChoicesSponsored
White House walks back Biden remarks about seeing images of beheaded Israeli children
Pray for discernment. Pray for all who are suffering. Understand that “the first casualty of war is truth”. All wars employ propaganda.
Top Comment
Top Comment
6
Why does the Bible contain prophecy?
The Church Age is the period of time from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) to the Rapture, otherwise known as a “gap.” If you don’t believe in any of this, then you will not have the missing pieces of the puzzle.The Prophet Daniel is my favorite because he wrote prophecies concerning Greece and the Macedonian Empire that turned out to be Alexander the Great. Not only that but he also wrote about the Antichrist and the Tribulation which is the 70th “week” (which is not 7 days but 7 years due to the translation). It’s like a dozen means 12. There is a gap after the 69th week in which God stopped the game time clock. The 69 weeks have already happened (69 x 7 = 483). Sir Robert Anderson studied Daniel and wrote the book, The Coming Prince, in which he explained the prophecy that the Jewish Messiah would come 483 years after the commandment (of Artaxerxes, king of Persia) to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. Anderson’s calculations showed that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem in Luke 19, known as the Triumphal Entry, on the precise day that was prophesied by Daniel. God warned Israel about the 70 weeks (70 x 7 = 490 years). Due to the pause, there are the final 7 years remaining (490 – 483 = 7 years). And that is one reason why the book of Daniel is so helpful in learning about the Antichrist.
Top Comment
Top Comment
1
Thoughts on leftwing support for Hamas and radical Islam
We knew the end times were coming and told to be prepared. I agree with Wayne. We are to pray for Israel, support them and stand with them. I will follow God’s direction as He tells us what to do in His Word.
Top Comment
Top Comment
5
Dr. Ben Carson lists 7 ways communism has won in America
His speech is just a red meat for conservatives. The choice between capitalism and communism is a false choice. We can choose what the role of government is going to be and how to socialize those costs across the population. I’d like to see him give a speech of what programs to support and how to govern rather than mere rhetoric.
Top Comment
Top Comment
9
John Piper lists 8 ways the Old Testament doesn’t apply to Christians
“Israel was ‘a theocracy to carry out God’s punishments for those who broke His law…'”No, Israel was not a theocracy. Theocracies are ruled by human religious leaders. Israel had no human executive. God did not rule Israel day to day as human kings do. And God was no less king under the monarchy. We learn from the prophets that God is king of all nations in a similar way as he was king over Israel.And no, Israel wasn’t one ethnicity. Caleb and the Kennites who joined Israel during the Exodus were Israelites. And Israel had pagans living among them from the start, any one of whom could become a citizen of Israel simply by converting, as Rahab did and Ruth.We shouldn’t try to apply OT law woodenly, but we shouldn’t ignore it, either. It represents God’s wisdom for governments. We should try to distill general principles from it as Paul did with thecommand not to muzzle the ox.
Top Comment
Top Comment
2
Pastor arrested for allegedly raping family member at least 600 times since age 7, getting her pregnant
If this is true I hope he enjoys spending the rest of his life in prison as a recipient of what he has perpetrated.
Top Comment
Top Comment
3
Conversation24 Comments
Your voice matters. Discussions are moderated for civility.
Log in
Sort by Newest
- DDonald25 minutes agoBeginning at Genesis 1:1 and ending at Revelation 22:21, the Word of God is for all of God ‘s people regardless of anyone’s ethnic background. When Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:15, to “rightly divide the word,” (KJV) he doesn’t mean to actually divide the word up for people groups. He means t…See moreReplyShare
- JJohn1 hour agoPiper’s fifth point of difference fails to recognise the difference between the visible and the invisible church. The Reformed view is that the children of believers are part of the visible church. The Paedobaptist view is that they must be baptized into the visible church as soon as physically pos…See moreReplyShare
- JTJames Tucker3 hours agoIf you don’t at least have a basic understanding on how your behavior should be like the 10 commandments because Jesus did not or at least did not point to all things that were good and bad except when he said go and sin no more which points to the 10 commandments. The other Jewish laws where the o…See moreReplyShare
- DHDonald Hannigan3 hours agoMatthew 5:17-19 Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Therefore, whoever nu…See moreReplyShare
- MMarshall4 hours agoI appreciate John Piper giving us 8 specific examples and the fact that he was on a podcast when a listener called in that question; it means that he was able to field that question without having advance notice of it. I say, “Good job!” However, at some later point, it would be instructive for Pip…See moreReply1Share
- JJim5 hours agoIf you need the old Torah to live rightly then you aren’t following Jesus and His commands and expectations. Jesus, “upped the ante” so to speak by making following Him having greater expectations than OT Torah.Hating another is akin to murder according to Jesus.Just lusting is committing adultery …See moreReply1Share
- TTruthTeller5 hours agoEverything JP writes or states should be carefully examined before anyone agrees with him. Check out his statements on Christian hedonism or CRTJP often uses words to deflect true meanings to “ride the fence” so as not to offend. We must learn from the OT or we loose our sense of a Holy God and how…See moreReplyShare
- RRecognizingTruth14 hours agoThat is some AWFUL theology right there.Reply3Share
- MPModerate Politically15 hours agoThis does not mean we get a get out of jail free card and can do anything we want. We are to follow Christ. Most everything in the law is about showing love to God, and others. There are also some health and religious laws mixed in as well.ReplyShare
- JJohn55 minutes agoWe get a get out of jail free, but with it a new nature added, so we will not do everything we wanted to do before. And if there isn’t a signifcant difference from what happened before, that puts the new nature in doubt, giving us reason to suspect we may not actually have got out of jail either.ReplyShare
- JJohn55 minutes agoWe get a get out of jail free, but with it a new nature added, so we will not do everything we wanted to do before. And if there isn’t a signifcant difference from what happened before, that puts the new nature in doubt, giving us reason to suspect we may not actually have got out of jail either.ReplyShare
- LKLen Kinzel15 hours agoIs this saying there are parts of the Old Testamant from which we may need to unhitch ourselves? Asking for a friendReplyShare
Show More Comments
AdChoicesSponsored
report this ad
MOST POPULAR
White House walks back Biden remarks about seeing images of beheaded Israeli children
- John Piper lists 8 ways the Old Testament doesn’t apply to Christians
- ‘Gas the Jews’: Anti-Israel rallies break out following Hamas attack
- Thoughts on leftwing support for Hamas and radical Islam
- ‘Like a revival’: UMC bishops talk of ‘a future with hope’ after over 6K churches depart
FREEReligious Freedom Updates
A religious liberty newsletter that is a must-read for people of faith.SUBMIT
report this ad
MORE IN PODCAST
- Andy Stanley and the Unconditional Conference spark confusion, claims of ‘blurring of the lines’ on sexuality
- John Piper lists 8 ways the Old Testament doesn’t apply to Christians
- Mass baptisms break out across America. Is revival upon us? Here’s the inside story
- Sadie Robertson responds to Christian critics of her Disney World vacation, cites Mark 2
- Christian venues ‘cancel’ men’s ministry after it defends biblical ‘gender, sexual identity’ views: The Inside Story
report this ad
Group of Brands
The Christian Post
SUBSCRIBE NOW We want to hear from you!
Overall Navigation
NEWS
- Home Page
- Latest News
- Church & Ministries
- U.S.
- World
- Politics
- Entertainment
- Living
- Business
- Books
- Sports
OPINION
MORE
ABOUT
- About Us
- Statement Of Faith
- Leadership
- General Disclaimer
- Permissions Policy
- Editorial Policy
- Terms Of Service
- Privacy Policy
- Email Whitelisting
CONNECT
- My Account
- Submit an Article
- Contact Us
- Media Contact
- Advertise With Us
- RSS Feed
- Archives
- Corrections
- Commenting FAQ
- Community Guidelines
- Employment Opportunities
FOLLOW US
MOBILE APPS
© 2023 The Christian Post, INC. All Rights Reserved.
Psalm 119: 38 