"I cannot believe that "stand on its own " could mean you do not need the New Testament or the message of Jesus to be saved."
Well, Emile believe it!
Here is living testimony, I am it. This is an abbreviated version;
A dear Christian brother, he has posted on this thread before, Bob, asked me if I knew where I was going when I died. I said, "I hope I am good enough to go to heaven." I know, its not original. Many unbelievers say this, or something like this. He told me no matter how good I was I will not go to heaven! I told him he was nuts! He told me that he could prove to me, and he told me without the grace of God I could not go to heaven. He told me I could not earn my way there. I said, "PROVE IT." But I put a caviat on it. I told him he could not use the New Testament. I was a Modern day Jew, and I did not believe in the New Testament. He said, "If I could prove to you using only the Old Testament that you need God's grace to be saved and that the Old Testament Messiah has been come in Christ, will you believe me?" I said your on. But I truly thought he was out of his mind. He would use a book that my religion is supposed to believe in, to prove Christ was the promised Jewish Messiah. And he would convince me with the Old Testament that I need Messiah to be saved! Huh, no way!
But was I surprised. Through intensive study of the Old Testament only, and through hundreds of verses of scripture, he proved to me that,
1. I was a sinner. (That one was easy! Still is!)
2. I was seperated from God because of sin.
3. That only by the grace of God I could be saved!
4. And Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecy about the promised Messiah.
And guess what Emile, approxiametly 6-9 months after my studying and praying, I was saved! Not one, and I mean one verse from the New Testament was used. (Obviously if the verse is restated in the New Testament from the old, that might have been used. But they must have been originated in the old. I would have not had it any other way!) PRAISE GOD that the Old Testament stood on its own! It did!
So Emile, the Old Testament could stand on its own! I am living proof. The first New Testament I ever saw or heard, was after I accepted Christ as my savior. This is the God's honest truth, in of course an abbreviated format!
And Emile and anyone reading this, if a Jew could not accept the New Testament in our witness of Christ and our salvation, use the Old Testament only to prove it! Play on there own turf! It worked for me!
"You have clearly demonstrated your faith and the Spirit of Jesus on this thread."
And it is founded on the Old Testament originally. I have, obviously, since I have been saved through the blood of Christ, studied the New Testament extensively. I had a lot of catching up to do because I was studying only the Old Testament so long before and while I was being saved!
And Emile, once I found out the truth, obviously I knew I had to read the New Testament. And when I did, I learned all about Christ, his teachings. It was a clear reinforcement of what I already knew plus I learned all the principles about Christ's teachings. And if you truly believe the Old Testament, you are convicted that you must read the New Testament. You have to! Your Old Testament Messiah is Christ, and the New Testament book is all about Christ and his teachings.
So that's it! I stand by my words....the Old Testament can stand on its own....PERIOD! But you would be missing an awful lot! An awful lot!
God Bless You,
Steve |
