New Marcionites

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I’ve noticed recently that a number of Christians when discussing Scripture seem to relegate the Old Testament as sub-standard. The law of God is particularly shunned. Comments like “I see you are quoting from the Old Testament, but we are New Testament Christians,” abound. It’s almost as though these people think Christ has done away with the Old Testament. These are our modern-day Marcions.

To respond, we must first of all look at how Jesus viewed the Law. In Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus explains the Christian approach to the Law and the Prophets (the majority of the Old Testament.)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:8-20

Sometimes people remember the fact that Jesus came to fulfil the Law, and assume this means he has done away with it. But the very context does not support this. Fulfil cannot mean abolish, since it is contrasted with that word. Jesus does not abrogate the law, he fulfils it for us. This does not mean the law has no relevance to the life of the Christian anymore. According to Christ, people who teach that will be least in the kingdom of heaven! Hardly a view he endorses.

Paul himself, when writing to Timothy wrote these famous words.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

When Paul wrote these words, the only Scripture that was available to the church was the Old Testament. For Paul then, the Old Testament Scriptures are profitable and enable the man of God to be trained and fully equipped for every good work. Consequently as Greg Bahnsen points out in By this Standard “If we disregard any portion of the Bible we will – to that extent – fail to be thoroughly furnished for every good work. If we ignore certain requirements laid down by the Lord in the Bible our instruction in righteousness will be incomplete.“

Certainly, more could be said on the role of the Old Testament, and particularly the Law in the life of the Christian, but at the very least we should be very sceptical of those who would seek to denigrate Old Testament Scripture as irrelevant for the Christian.

One thought on “New Marcionites”

  1. Rob Berger

    Bait-and-switch. The Old Testament (so-called) is not the Law. And again, the Law continues in full force for unbelievers, NOT for Christians. The domain of the Law is in the flesh, and the Christian is to walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh. Paul talks about this constantly and yet people gravitate to the old wine like a rotten comfort blanket.

    Actually it is worse: it is like taking the circumcised foreskin, stretching it out and tanning it, and hanging it on the wall instead of chucking it in the bin where it belongs post-surgery.

    Remember the Law did not come until after Israel left Egypt; but we who believe are children of Abraham by the Promise which preceded the Law.

    But that does not mean the Law should not be understood and taught by believers to unbelievers, nor that the standard of the Law should not be upheld to those still in the flesh by those who are in the Spirit. Those who are in the flesh will be judged by the Law.

    None of this to say that the Old Testament = the Law. Nor to agree with the foolish people who don’t know the Old Testament and act as if it is inferior to the New Testament: far from it! One cannot understand what one reads in the NT without understanding the OT. Jesus and all the apostles constantly quoted the Old Testament, and it is all breathed by God, necessary for the equipping of the believer. I love the Old Testament because it is full of life and power and wisdom. There is no division in reality, and the labels of OT and NT are typical man-made traditions which lend themselves well to blindness. It would be nice to dispense with the division altogether and recognize it is ALL God’s words, by every one of which man lives.

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