Doug says Paul was referring to the Hebrew Scriptures when he spoke, because the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) had not been written yet. But then he turns around and says Paul teaches that we are to keep everything Scripture says in both the Old and New Testaments.
Which is it?
The fact of the matter is that LCG, like every other Church of God group, picks and chooses what it wants to keep and what it doesn’t. We’ve heard COG leaders and writers accuse mainstream Christians of doing exactly that for decades, yet not a single COG actually does everything Scripture commands. They claim the law is binding and must be kept, yet they selectively obey only the parts they want, while making convenient excuses for the commandments they choose not to follow.
Is the Old Testament Obsolete?
Many Christians today believe that the Old Testament was for the Jews and the New Testament is for Christians. However, Jesus taught that we are to live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). The Apostle Paul wrote that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Paul was primarily referring to the Old Testament when he wrote these words—because the New Testament did not yet exist. When Jesus and the Apostles quoted scriptures, they quoted from the Old Testament. Paul also told Christians in Corinth that the Old Testament examples were “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:1–11). He was clearly stating that we need to learn from the instructions and the examples in both the Old and New Testaments—which is why Jesus emphasized that we must live by “every word of God.”
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
