Some Differences Between The Old And New Testaments

Part 1
Direction: Look at the below 20 verses and determine if the “how much more” is for positive or
negative purposes.

Old Testament--
1. (Deuteronomy 31:27) “For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive
with you this day, you have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my
death?”
2. (1 Samuel 14:30) “How much more, if the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their
enemies which they found? For had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the
Philistines?”
3. (1 Samuel 23:3) “And David's men said unto him, ‘Behold, we be afraid here in Judah; how much
more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?’”
4. (2 Samuel 4:11) “’How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own
house upon his bed? Shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away
from the Earth?’”
5. (2 Samuel 16:11) “And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, ‘Behold, my son, which came
forth of my bowels, seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjamite do it? Let him alone,
and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him.’”
6. (Job 15:16) “’How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinks iniquity like water?’”
7. (Proverbs 15:11) “Hell and destruction are before the LORD; how much more then the hearts of
the children of men?”
8. (Proverbs 19:7) “All the brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more do his friends go far
from him? He pursues them with words, yet they are wanting to him.”
9. (Proverbs 21:27) “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more, when he brings it
with a wicked mind?”
10. (Ezekiel 14:21) “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘How much more when I send my four sore
judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to
cut off from it man and beast?’”

New Testament--
1. (Matthew 7:11) “‘If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Father Who is in Heaven give good things to them who ask Him?’” (Also in
Luke 11:13.)
2. (Matthew 10:25) “‘It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his
household?’”
3. (Luke 12:24) “‘Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse
nor barn; and God feeds them; how much more are you better than the fowls?’”
4. (Luke 12:28) “‘If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field and to morrow is cast
into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?’”
5. (Romans 11:12) “Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them
the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?”
6. (Romans 11:24) “For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted
contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, who be the natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree?”
7. (1 Corinthians 6:3) “Know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain
to this life?”
8. (Philemon 1:16) “Not now as a servant, but above a servant: a brother beloved, specially to me, but
how much more unto you, both in the flesh and in the Lord?”

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 9. (Hebrews 8:6) “But now has He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
10. (Hebrews 9:14) “How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Results: 1-9 and 9-1. Isn’t much of the Old Testament about negative subjects and aren’t there many
verses that include the word “not”? Isn’t much of the New Testament about God’s wonderful
grace and love, and aren’t there many verses about positive happenings and having hope based
on God’s wonderful promises?

Part 2
Direction: Determine Why the New Covenant is better than the way of the Old Tetament

2 Corinthians 3:7-4:7 (from the Lockman Foundation’s Amplified Bible)

“7 Now if the dispensation of death engraved in letters on stone
[the ministration of the Law],
was inaugurated with such glory {and} splendor
that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses
because of its brilliance, [a glory] that was to fade {and} pass away,
8 why should not the dispensation of the Spirit
[this spiritual ministry whose task it is to cause men
to obtain and be governed by the Holy Spirit]
be attended with much greater {and} more splendid glory?
9 For if the service that condemns [the ministration of doom] had glory,
how infinitely more abounding in splendor {and} glory must be the service
that makes righteous
[the ministry that produces and fosters
righteous living and right standing with God]!
10 Indeed, in view of this fact, what once had splendor
[the glory of the Law in the face of Moses]
has come to have no splendor at all,
because of the overwhelming glory that exceeds {and} excels it
[the glory of the Gospel in the face of Jesus Christ].
11 For if that which was but passing {and} fading away came with splendor,
how much more must that which remains {and} is permanent
abide in glory {and} splendor!
12 Since we have such [glorious] hope
(such joyful and confident expectation),
we speak very freely {and} openly {and} fearlessly.
13 Nor [do we act] like Moses,
who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon
the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it].
14 In fact, their minds were grown hard {and} calloused
[they had become dull
and had lost the power of understanding];
for until this present day, when the Old Testament is being read,
that same veil still lies [on their hearts],
not being lifted [to reveal] that
in Christ it is made void {and} done away.
15 Yes, down to this [very] day whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies upon their minds {and} hearts.
16 But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord,
the veil is stripped off {and} taken away.
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 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).
18 And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God]
as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are constantly being transfigured into His {very own} image
in ever increasing splendor {and} from one degree of glory to another,
[for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
1 Therefore, since we do hold {and} engage in this ministry by the mercy of God
[granting us favor, benefits, opportunities, and especially salvation],
we do not get discouraged (spiritless and despondent with fear)
{or} become faint with weariness and exhaustion.
2 We have renounced disgraceful ways (secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness,
the methods and arts that men hide through shame);
we refuse to deal craftily (to practice trickery and cunning)
or to adulterate {or} handle dishonestly the Word of God,
but we state the truth openly (clearly and candidly).
And so we commend ourselves in the sight {and} presence of God
to every man's conscience.
3 But even if our Gospel (the glad tidings) also be hidden
(obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God),
it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing
{and} obscured [only] to those who are spiritually dying
{and} veiled [only] to those who are lost.
4 For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers' minds
[that they should not discern the truth],
preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel
of the glory of Christ (the Messiah),
Who is the image {and} likeness of God.
5 For what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,
and ourselves [merely] as your servants (slaves) for Jesus' sake.
6 For God Who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, has shone in our hearts
so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge
of the majesty {and} glory of God in the face of {Jesus} Christ (the Messiah).
7 However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel]
in [frail, human] vessels of earth,
that the grandeur {and} exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God
and not from ourselves.”

Hebrews 8
1 Now the main point of what we have to say is this:
We have such a High Priest,
One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic [God] in Heaven,
2 as officiating Priest, a Minister in the holy places {and} in the true tabernacle
which is erected not by man but by the Lord.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices;
so it is essential for this [High Priest] to have some offering to make also.
4 If then He were still living on Earth, He would not be a priest at all,
for there are [already priests] who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law.
5 [But these offer] service [merely] as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of
[what has its true existence and reality in] the Heavenly sanctuary.

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 For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying,
‘See to it that you make it all [exactly] according to the copy (the model)
which was shown to you on the mountain.’
6 But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry
which is as much superior {and} more excellent [than the old]
as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent)
is superior {and} more excellent,
[because] it is enacted {and} rests upon more important promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been without defect,
there would have been no room for another one
{or} an attempt to institute another one.
8 However, He finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says,
‘Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, when I will make {and} ratify
a new covenant {or} agreement with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day
when I grasped them by the hand to help {and} relieve them
{and} to lead them out from the land of Egypt,
for they did not abide in My agreement with them,
and so I withdrew My favor {and} disregarded them, says the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their minds,
even upon their innermost thoughts {and} understanding,
and engrave them upon their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
11 And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach
his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying,
“Know (perceive, have knowledge of and experience with) the Lord”,
for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful {and} gracious toward their sins
and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more.’
13 When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement],
He makes the first one obsolete (out of use).
And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age)
is ripe for disappearance {and} to be dispensed with altogether.”

Hebrews 9:9-28
9 Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable
(a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age).
In it gifts and sacrifices are offered,
and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience {or} of cleansing {and} renewing
the inner man of the worshiper.
10 For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats
and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules {and} regulations
for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until
the time of setting things straight
[of reformation, of the complete new order
when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of
what these things foreshadow-- a better covenant].

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11 But [at that appointed time] Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest
of the better things that have come {and} are to come,
with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands,
that is, not a part of this material creation,
12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of Heaven],
not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves
[by which to make reconciliation between God and man],
but His own blood,
having found {and} secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy {and} defiled persons
with blood of goats and bulls
and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
14 how much more surely shall the blood of Christ,
Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality]
has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God,
purify our consciences from dead works {and} lifeless observances
to serve the [ever] living God?
15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament),
so that those who are called {and} offered it may receive the fulfillment
of the promised everlasting inheritance--
since a death has taken place which rescues {and} delivers {and} redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.
16 For where there is a [last] will {and} testament involved,
the death of the one who made it must be established,
17 For a will {and} testament is valid and takes effect only at death,
since it has no force {or} legal power as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 So even the [old] first covenant (God's will) was not inaugurated {and} ratified
{and} put in force without the shedding of blood.
19 For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people,
he took the blood of slain calves and goats,
together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop,
and sprinkled both
the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself
and all the people,
20 saying these words: ‘This is the blood that seals {and} ratifies
the agreement (the testament, the covenant)
which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood
both the tabernacle
and all the [sacred] vessels {and} appliances used in worship.
22 [In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood,
and without the shedding of blood
there is neither release from sin {and} its guilt
{nor} the remission of the due {and} merited punishment for sins.
23 By such means, therefore, it was necessary
for the [Earthly] copies of the Heavenly things to be purified,
but the actual Heavenly things themselves [required far]
better {and} nobler sacrifices than these.

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 24 For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands,
only a copy {and} pattern {and} type of the true one,
but [He has entered] into Heaven itself,
now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor did He [enter into the Heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again,
as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again]
since the foundation of the world.
But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation {and} close of the ages
appeared to put away {and} abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].
27 And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die,
and after that the [certain] judgment,
28 even so it is that Christ,
having been offered to take upon Himself
{and} bear as a burden the sins of many once {and} once for all,
will appear a second time,
not to carry any burden of sin {nor} to deal with sin,
but to bring to full salvation those
who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for Him.”

Personal concerns of the formatter of last three Scripture passages:

I have had several personal revivals in private study and group discussion about 2 Corinthians 3-4. Those
chapters along with Galatians clearly indicate the main differences between Old Testament and New
Testament living. And Romans 14:17 says that the Kingdom of God for today “is righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit.” As the moon reflects the sunlight, Christians should be reflecting Christ-
likeness. That is why I have encouraged hundreds via e-mails and blog site communications, Proverbs
3:5-6, Philippians 2:1-5, and Jude 20-23 living.

I am tired of so many preachers emphasizing and misusing the Old Testament stories and Proverbs. The
latter are easy to manipulate or twist for teaching psychological changes of thinking and doing. I think
that such preachers are afraid of discouraging their followers with the exhortations and commandments of
Jesus Christ and in the Epistles. The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians indicates why we should
want to be New Testament Christians instead of Old Testament Christians. I did not say not to read or
learn from the Old Testament, because the whole Bible is for our learning and improvement. The Ten
Commandments are still for today and Proverbs 3:5-6 is the best way to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Then there are those preachers who focus on denominational distinctives and prophecy theories. The
former is wrong because of what Ephesians 4:1-16 indicates about proper unity. And emphasizing End
Times prophecy theories goes against a major theme (emphasis) of the Bible which indicates that our
focus should be on using the time that God allows us to have for repenting from bad habits and sins
towards doing what the Bible and Holy Spirit urge in becoming more Christ-like. The main lesson I
learned from the C. S. Lewis book “Screwtape Letters” was that the spiritual enemy wants Christians to
dwell on the past (because of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness) or dwell on the hopes for the
future instead of focusing on doing the best with the current day's what should be precious time. So I
hope that this paper has encouraged you to daily want to be a better enthusiastic and diligent New
Testament Christian. Then friendship evangelism will increase. Jesus Christ is coming back for a
purified Bride. The spiritual enemy (Satan, the demons, and human volunteers) are doing all they can to
delay that by tempting Christians to live as if they are still under the Old Testament legalism which the
Pharisees promoted and required of the Jews. Believing in Jesus Christ sets us free from such. The Bible
and the Holy Spirit are the best guides and counselors for whoever trusts God and wants to do the
predestined unselfish good works He has planned for each of His adopted children to live.