As you are supervising new mentors, you will find them quoting Old Testament passages, yet not within the context of 1) the cross or 2) the benefits we receive from it. They will quote it merely as it stands, simply as any Jewish rabbi would use it. This needs to be gently corrected, for we are not Jewish rabbis but rather Christian believers. The cross changes everything, including how we read the Old Testament.
I want to give you an example of this, and then let you practice again in gently correcting a new Mentor-In-Training.
Mentor-In-Training Jim says, “Steve, I really appreciate how you said you need to spend more time in the Word, we really do, for the Word of God is where all the power is. Psalm 1 tells us there is a blessing for those who “delight in the Law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night.”
The above response, while quoting the Old Testament, does not bring in the cross, nor any benefits that believers receive from it. It simply interprets the Old Testament as any Jew would do today, as they read through Psalm chapter 1. It’s as if the cross of Christ has changed nothing for this new Mentor-In-Training, or maybe they simply do not understand yet that the Old Testament always points to 1) the cross and 2) the benefits believers receive from it.
So we might say, “Jim, your response to your Mentor-In-Training was instructive in the Word, thank you for including Scripture in your response. However, your response lacks the power of the cross and is not how we, as Christian believers, interpret the Old Testament. See how you can re-write your response to your mentor to include the message of the cross, the message of love and power.
“For example, looking at Psalm 1 that you quoted, we see that the blessing comes to one who delights in and meditates on the Law day and night, that is, continually. If we do so and are careful to obey it, we will be “fruitful in season” (Psalm 1:3), we will not be blown away with the wicked like “chaff in the wind” (Psalm 1:4), and we will “stand in the judgment” (Psalm 1:5).
Yet, as much as want to, we cannot be in the Word day and night, cannot perfectly obey it or dwell on it constantly. If we could, Jesus did not need to die (Galatians 2:21). Therefore, we really have no hope in the judgment, if we simply look to how much we delighted in and obeyed God’s Word to keep ourselves standing.
But Jesus fulfilled Psalm 1 for us in its entirety. He is the Word who meditated on the Law and lived perfectly, day and night. By His perfect living and sacrificial dying, He purchased the blessings for us that are listed in Psalm 1. Because He lived in perfect obedience to His Father, we who believe are counted righteous and made fruitful. Because Jesus “fell” in the judgment and was hung on a cross, all believers will “stand” in the judgment. Because Jesus was treated like a wicked person and was “blown away like chaff” on the cross, so now all believers are saved eternally, and lovingly watched over by the Lord.
“Yes, we want to encourage our students to be in the Word, to be seeking the Lord, and to find great joy in doing so. But we must use the Old Testament for the purpose it was designed, to point to 1) the cross and 2) the benefits believers derive from Jesus’ death and resurrection.”
Dear supervisor applicant, we do not use the Old Testament as a Jew would. We do not teach it as a Jewish Rabbi. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus has changed everything, including the way we see God’s Word in the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament in His living and dying and rising again. And now, we are to use the Old Testament as Jesus did in John 3:14-15, and Peter did in 1 Peter 2:4-10 (and as all the New Testament writers did) in 1) pointing forward to the cross of Jesus, and 2) showing the benefits believers receive from it.
Mentor-In-Training Jim (male)/Susan (female) writes, “I understand you’ve been turning to food (porn, alcohol, etc.) because you’ve felt so rejected by your spouse. That does hurt, for sure, and I’m sorry that is happening to you. Psalm 118:22 says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”, so I encourage you to take the rejection from your spouse, knowing that you will be helped by God and put in a prominent place of usefulness in your marriage.”
This is a wrong use of the Old Testament, as it contains nothing of Jesus’ death and resurrection, no benefits that Christian believers derive from it.
Question 5. How would you gently correct your Mentor-In-Training, showing that this passage points to Jesus in His death and resurrection and the benefits believers receive from the cross?
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Brothers and sisters, the cross of Jesus Christ changes everything, including how we understand the Old Testament. We should now be reading with eyes of seeing our precious Savior and Redeemer, how He died and rose again, and how we benefit from His finished work on the cross.
This is a learned method, it doesn’t come naturally to us, and this is why we have supervisors with Setting Captives Free, so as to help new Mentors-In-Training to learn how to speak gospel language in every thought, every sentence if possible.
Question 6. What is one truth that you want to remember from this lesson today?
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