Proclaimer Blog
The New Testament use of the Old (5)
5. Example
It’s an undeniable fact that the NT uses the Old to reinforce moral teaching. It does this through using case law and example. We are, to be frank, a bit embarrassed about this. We are so anti-moralising, that we have thrown the baby out with the bath water. I am against moralising too. But there is a world of difference between “Samson grew his hair and so must you” to “These things were written for us.”
I like the way Ed Clowney writes about it in his excellent little book “Preaching and Biblical Theology.”
We do well then to avoid setting up a false antithesis between the redemptive-historical approach and what might be called an ethical approach to the Scriptures, particularly in the historical passages. The redemptive-historical approach necessarily yields ethical application, which is an essential part of the preaching of the Word.