Continuity and Discontinuity

New Covenant believers face a challenge. With the coming of the Messiah we have undergone a transformation. The distance between humans and their Creator has been bridged through the death and resurrection of Yeshua. Through him we have received the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), and eternal life – all of which were anticipated in the Tenach (Hebrew Scriptures). What we anticipated has now been realized.

The challenge believers have faced is how much of what God revealed prior to Yeshua's coming is still in effect today. This subject deserves much more attention than I can give it now, but there is a basic issue that I would like to address briefly.

The Scriptures are clear that God's dealings with us have elements that are not time-limited. God himself does not change. His attributes and purposes are eternal. At the same time there are other things that have changed. The Messiah has come, the Gospel has been preached all over the world, resulting in people of almost every nation professing allegiance to the God of Israel. The effects of receiving forgiveness and the Holy Spirit has equipped us to serve God in ways not fully experienced prior to Yeshua's coming.

In order to fully embrace all God's wants for us in our day, it is necessary to ascertain what of God has continued till now, what things no longer apply, and what new things have been introduced.

Those who emphasize continuity tend to play down the new things, while those who emphasize the new, play down that which has continued.

For example some who emphasize God's eternal holiness tend to misunderstand the vastness of God's forgiveness. While those who emphasize God's forgiveness at times become lax in the area of holiness. What we need to do instead is learn how the Scriptures instruct us on how God's holiness is expressed in the context of forgiveness.

This is another example of how our inability to effectively integrate the complexity of God's reality. Our tendency to think in absolute categories leads us to focus on one aspect of a thing to the neglect of relevant aspects.

The solution to this problem is gaining a better understand of what the Scriptures – the entire Scriptures – actually teach. As we allow our preconceived notions be confronted by the Bible even our tendency to think in exclusive categories will be transformed.