Reasons We Shouldn’t Neglect Study of

the New Testament

Pat Donahue

I’ve heard many sermons on how we ought to study the Old Testament (in particular), but I have never heard one (not a single sermon) do the same for the New Testament.  Doesn’t that seem strange to you, especially considering the fact the New Testament is our law for Christians today?  To rectify/balance the situation somewhat,  I thought I would write an article to that end.

First, let me state I am in 100% agreement that we should study the Old Testament (Rom 15:4).  We study the Old Testament, not because it is our law for today, but because it will help us understand the New Testament which is our law for today.  After all, the New Testament quotes or refers to the Old Testament quite frequently.

We need to realize that every hour we spend studying the Old Covenant is one less hour spent studying the law we are governed by, the New Covenant.  And if we over-emphasize study of the Old Testament because we want to avoid controversy, that is a very bad reason (Jude 3).  Just because we know it doesn’t matter if we disagree on Old Testament details, that’s no reason to shy away from studying the New Testament.  It is very important that we delve into our differences on the New Testament and try to resolve them (I Cor 1:10, Eph 4:3) instead of avoiding and ignoring them.

Having said all that, here are some reasons we ought to study the New Testament.

  1. It is the “law of Christ” (Gal 6:2) as opposed to the “law of Moses” – and Christ is our leader today, not Moses.
  2. We are going to be judged by this “law of liberty” (James 2:12), not the law of Moses.
  3. We are going to be judged by the words of Christ (John 12:48), not the words of Moses.
  4. Christ’s teaching decides our doctrine (II John 9), not Moses’ teaching.
  5. Loving our master demands we keep His commandments (John 14:15), not Moses’ commandments.
  6. We can spend all day arguing about the details of how they were to do animal sacrifices, or the details of how the temple was built, but what good will that do us?  But to figure out exactly how to obey Jesus’ law faithfully is of eternal importance (Heb 5:9).
  7. If we really believe we have a “better testament” (Heb 7:22), why would we want to neglect the study of it?
  8. Wouldn’t respect for God mean we would want to be thoroughly familiar with the requirements stated in our agreement (covenant) with Him (Heb 8:8-11)?
  9. We learn how to be saved, how to worship God, and how to live our everyday life today from the New Testament, not the Old (Heb 7:12).  If we bind any part of the Old (law, statute, rule, or principle), we lose our salvation (Gal 5:3-4).

Conclusion:  We should most certainly study the Old Testament regularly (I Cor 10:11), but if we under study the New Testament, we will miss the boat (II Tim 2:15).