Chapter Twelve

Error Ten: The Old Testament Promises Are For The Jews Only (Part Two)

In our last lesson we saw that there are many who claim that Christians are not allowed to claim Old Testament promises because these promises were only meant for the Jews. We saw through a study of many Old and New Testament Scripture that this was an error because as children of Abraham, who was the father of the nation of Israel, all Old Testament promises are available to God’s children today by faith in Christ Jesus.

As stated in the last lesson, we can trace this disdain for the Old Testament as far back as the second century of the church. About 138 A.D., a rich ship owner named Marcion from Sinope (northern Turkey) began to teach that the Old Testament was inferior to the New Testament and should not be in the canon of Scripture that currently makes up our Bible. This truly offended the church fathers such as Tertullian, Ireneaus, and others and they severely opposed him through their writings. It is to be noted that Marcion had been influenced by false Gnostic beliefs. John Bright points out:

It is impossible to understand Marcion and the impact of his teachings apart from Gnosticism, a strange mishmash of philosophical and religious speculation which in various forms swept over the ancient world in the early centuries of our era and attracted so many adherents that Gnostic sects became a rival to orthodox Christianity. Now one cannot generalize regarding Gnostic beliefs, for the various Gnostic systems differed from one another chaotically. But one feature was common to them all: a dualistic notion of the universe, together with the belief that the material world is originally and incurably evil. This, of course, made the creation of the world a theological problem for them: If the world is thus evil, how could the good God have made it? Their answer was that he did not do so.[1]

If Marcion subscribed to any part of this Gnostic teaching then it would seem convenient for him to have the OT done away with which proclaims God as the creator of this world. Bright goes on to say that, "This strange doctrine logically led, and in fact did lead, to a drastic devaluation of the Old Testament." Some may read this and say that they would never fall into the type of error that Marcion advocated. Yet, if you have relegated the Old Testament to a place inferior to the New Testament, then you have given yourself over to the same spirit of error as this man. If you believe that certain promises and moral teachings have no place with the New Testament believer then I am afraid that you have, without realizing it, embraced Marcionism:

... for there is - if I know the situation at all – not a little neo-Marcionism in our churches. It has no official standing – indeed, under that name it scarcely exists at all – but it is unofficially present nonetheless: call it a practical Marcionism, an implicit Marcionism, an inconsequent Marcionism, or what you will. That is to say, there are people who never heard of Marcion and who would be horrified to learn of the company they are in but who nevertheless use the Old Testament in a distinctly Marcionist manner. Formally, and no doubt sincerely, they hail it as canonical Scripture; but in practice they relegate it to a subordinate position, if they do not effectively exclude it from use altogether.[2]

Dr. Marvin R. Wilson, author of "Our Father Abraham" would also agree with Mr. Bright that neoMarcionism has crept into the present day church:

"Though often cunningly concealed, in today's Church rather strong vestiges of Marcionism have survived. But we are polite. Hardly aware of its subtle presence, we do not call it 'Neo-Marcionism," "heresy," or "anti-Judaism." Nevertheless, in our concerted effort to be 'New Testament' believers, we have too often unconsciously minimized the place and importance of the Old Testament and the Church's Hebraic roots. At worst, many so called Bible-believing Christians have become de facto 'quarter-of-the-Bible' adherents (the New Testament has 260 chapters compared to the Old Testament's 929 chapters); at best, they rely on a 'loose-leaf' edition of the Old Testament (i.e., they select only a few portions of the Old Testament), in addition to the New Testament. This selectivity has had the effect of neglecting the totality of written revelation, severing the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith, and thus eroding the full authority of the Holy Scriptures.[3]

Yet, if we are truly New Testament believers, we could honestly say that we find no trace of this heresy in it's pages. The New Testament writers seemed to have a strong reverence for the Old Testament. As we study the New Testament epistles, we find on several occasions that the writers are quoting promises from the Old Testament as though they stilled applied to us today. This is more assurance that we can appropriate for ourselves the promises of health, wealth, fruitfulness, victory, and other wonderful blessings mentioned in the Old Testament.

Paul continues to prove that God meant for us to appropriate promises in the Old Testament as well as the New because he reminds God's covenant people of them on certain occasions. One of those occasions is found in Ephesians six while giving practical advice on family matters:

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise: That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." (Eph. 6:1-3)

Paul is quoting from Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. Here, God was giving Israel the ten commandments through Moses. In Deuteronomy 5:16, God made reference to the land that they were about to inherit. But again, Paul only applies the part of the promise that applies to us universally as a Church.

Many teach that we are no longer under the law and this is true. Yet, they add that many of the promises of God were meant for those under the law. Here we have an example of a promise in the New Testament that was made under the law but still available to God’s children even today.

Paul tells us in Galatians that the law could not disannul God’s covenant to Abraham:

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, [that] the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.” (Gal. 3:16-17)

Christ fulfilled the law for us and now we have the Spirit of God living in us so that we don’t have to try to keep a set of rules to live right. The Holy Spirit gives us power and enables us to walk in a way that pleases God when we put our trust in Him (Gal. 5:16-26).

However, just because we are no longer under the law does not mean that God has done away with the promises for obedience. We may not be under the law but that does not mean that we are no longer to be blessed. Jesus kept the law perfectly and now He lives in us to enable us to keep the moral law of God. Therefore God’s blessings cannot be done away with.

The law had nothing to do with God’s promises to Israel. The promises to Israel were based on the Abrahamic covenant. The Bible says that the law was given as a schoolmaster (Gal. 3:23-25). God was using this law to show the Israelites (and us) that we could never measure up to His standards on our own. We need His help (Acts 15:1-10). We have no power to keep God’s standards. Jesus lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live holy.

Furthermore, God promised Abraham those blessings 430 years before the law so therefore the law has nothing to do with God’s provision to us due to His covenant with Abraham. The Old Testament promises are based on the covenant that God made with Abraham. We are claiming the Abrahamic covenant and not a covenant of law and works.

So Ephesians 6:1-3 is an example of an Old Testament promise being made available to those under the New Covenant, as long as the condition is fulfilled. The law could not disannull this promise of long life on the earth and make this promise of no effect.

Paul also shows how promises of financial blessings are for God’s people today by applying and Old Testament Scripture:

“But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for [your] food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:6-11)

The Scripture Paul is quoting here comes from Psalm 112:9. The laws of sowing and reaping are still available today. Furthermore it is not waiting until we get to heaven to reap our harvest. We can reap right here on earth because it is God who disperses abroad.

Notice the word bountiful. God does not want His people to only have a little. God wants us to abound. many are telling us that we have no guarantee of prosperity under the new covenant. Yet here is a promise that is plain and clear before us.

Paul himself was not a poor man. Paul knew how to be abased and how to be abound (Phil. 4:12). Because the devil wants to keep Christians in a poverty mentality, he likes to use Theologians to focus on Paul being abased. Yet, Paul says he knew how to be both and how to handle each when they came his way.

He knew how to abound and he gave us principles on how we can do it. I personally believe that aside from Jesus Christ our Lord, Paul was probably the greatest man of faith who ever lived. I am sure that he would not give us principles that he himself did not live by. Paul knew God and he knew God’s Word. He knew how to apply the whole of the Word.

The writer of Hebrews (who I personally believe was Paul also) shows us another Old Testament promise being made available to new covenant people:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly SAY, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Heb. 13:5-6)

These promises were taken from Joshua 1:5, Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8, Psalm 27:1 and 118:6. I have heard people say that the promises in Joshua chapter one were for Joshua ONLY. I cannot agree in light of the fact that the writer of Hebrews is quoting from this very chapter and telling us that it still applies. The promises in Joshua still belong to us but we must use wisdom and receive insight from the Holy Spirit so that He can show us HOW they apply.

One thing is for sure. We must speak God's promises (Mark 11:23). The writer here says "that we may boldly SAY..." We must learn to line our confession up with God's Word if we want the results of His Word in our lives. Most Christians are defeated in life because of the words of their own mouth.

Do you want God as your helper? I guarantee you that you could not get better help for the circumstances and situations that confront us in life. Yet, we must confess that God is our helper and God will act on His Word on our behalf. Do you want to lose your fear of man? Speak the promise of God boldly and it will happen for you.

God uses the Apostle Peter also to show us that we can claim Old Testament promises:

“Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord [are] over the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord [is] against them that do evil.” (1 Pet. 3:8-12)

Peter is quoting from Psalm 34:12-16. There is a reference made to inheriting the land in this Psalm but Peter only makes mention of that which applies to the universal church. Nevertheless, the promises mentioned in the Psalms as well as other parts of the Old Testament are not just for the Jews but for us also and we have every right to claim them.

James uses an example from the Old Testament to show us that God's power and promises are still available to us today:

"Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not in the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." (James 5:16-18)

James used an example from the Old Testament to teach the truth of prayer. He shows us that Elijah, whom we all consider to be a great prophet of God, was a man subject to the same passions that you and I have. He was no different from us. Therefore, God would do the same for us as He did for Elijah.

Notice that both James and Peter refers to the righteousness of the Believer in relation to prayer. Peter relates answered prayer in connection with our right living while James relates it to our imputed righteousness. Christ has become righteousness for us (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21), yet this righteousness must show itself in the way that we live.

God does not answer prayers based on self righteousness but on the righteopusness of His only begotten Son. When we go before God in prayer as Elijah did, God does not see our past sins, He sees the shed blood of Jesus which cleanses us and puts us in right standing with the Father. Therefore we are enetitled to have our prayers answered.

When we pray in faith as Elijah did then we can get the same results that he received. Here is an Old Testament truth being made available to New Testament people.

This passage has been a great source of inspiration to me on many occasions. On one occasion a friend was helping me to move to a new house. He had a pickup truck and I had a van and we did all of the moving with these two vehicles.

It was a nice sunny day outside and we forsaw no problems moving the furniture with his pickup. So we loaded some wooden furniture in the truck and some stuff in my van and we went to unload it at my new quarters. While I was driving behind him, it began to rain. I became very concerned about the water soaking through the furniture and ruining it. I then began to command the rain to cease.

It did not stop right away and the devil said to me, “see, that stuff doesn’t work.” I then began to sing praises to God. When I began to praise God the rain ceased. When we got to the house I told my friend what had happened. He told me, “Troy I did the same thing and I began to sing the same praise song to God. “ God moved on both of our hearts to do the same thing. God is still hearing the prayers of His people for the weather just as He heard Elijah’s.

If God did such great and wonderful things for people like Elijah under the Old Covenant then we should expect just as much, if not more under the New Covenant because ours is better:

"But now he [Jesus] hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a BETTER covenant, which was established upon BETTER promises." (Rom. 8:6)

The promises of healing, prosperity, and long life in the Old Testament can apply to those of us in the New Testament because our covenant and our promises are BETTER. We should be able to have just as much (if not more than) as the children of Israel. If this is not true than they had a better covenant under the law of works than we do under grace.

I do not see the logic in that. God is not stingy. Satan has simply deceived ministers into bringing unscriptural teaching into the church. It seems that some men have made efforts to come up with doctrines that will deny God's people any of the blessings God has made available for us today.

Now many teachers say that our covenant is better in a spiritual sense. They say that in the Old Testament the people had no new birth. They had to confess their sins to a priest who offered sacrifices for them. They had to offer animal sacrifices for sin every year and this only covered their sin, it did not take it away. Only certain people were anointed with the Holy Spirit. Now, in our day, Jesus has made one sacrifice for us by His blood. We can go directly to God ourselves without a priest. We can receive a new birth. Every Christian has an anointing abiding in him or her.

All of these things are true and we should praise God for them. These things are very important. However, we still live in a physical world. We still have physical bodies. Therefore we still have physical needs and desires. If all of the physical blessings of the old covenant has been done away with then in a sense, the old covenant is still better than the new one that you and I have. This cannot be true. Such teachings originate with the traditions of men and not the Word of God.

However, if you and I will look to the Word of God and not the traditions of men, we will be free to appropriate all that has been made available to us.

Some years ago I was at work when I sensed an urgency in my spirit to call my wife’s office. When I called, a coworker answered the phone. I asked her if I could speak with my wife. She said, “Troy, you didn’t know?”

“Know what?” I asked.

“Tricia (my daughter) got sick and they called an ambulance to come get her. Takako is at the hospital with her right now.”

After I hung up the phone I was all alone in the computer room wher I worked. I began to pray in other tongues and interceded for my daughter. As I was praying, two Scriptures rose up from my spirit. The first one was Psalm 91:10: “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” and also Exodus 23:25: “And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.”

The Lord reminded me that Tricia as my daughter was a part of my household and therefore these promises applied to her. Yet these were Old Testament promises. I was not indoctrinated with dispensational theology so no doubts came to mind that these were for me. I began to thank God for His promises and I commanded the devil to take his hands off of my child.

After spending some time in prayer I closed up and went home. Some time later my wife, daughter, and mother in law came home and were full of joy. My wife told me, “Honey, Tricia was sick and we had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. When she got there they stuck an IV in her arm. But sudenly she began to feel better and asked for something to eat. So the doctor release her and we went to get something to eat.”

However, the devil did not give up so easy. He attacked her again that same night. While she was trying to sleep she had a terrible time trying to breathe. However, I stood by her bedside with my Bible in my hand quoting Psalm 91:10 to God and the devil. I reminded God of His promise and thanked Him for it. I reminded the devil that he did not belong in my dwelling and commanded him to leave. He most certainly left that night.

These were Old Testament promises that God gave me and God honored them. God honors His Word, both Old and New Testament. We do not need to be afraid to claim the blessings of God found in the Old Testament because we think that they were for the Jews only. These promises still belong to God’s children today and we have just as much of a right to enjoy them as all of the Old Testament saints did.

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(c) Copyright 2001 by Troy J. Edwards and Victory through the Word Ministries