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The New Testament interprets the Old Testament, not the other way around

by | Oct 11, 2018 | Annihilationism, Minor Groups & Issues

By far, the conditionalists that I have read are intelligent people. I do not believe they are insincere. But I do think they are mistaken in their conclusion on annihilationism. Nevertheless, when reading their material, I’ve noticed various mistakes in how they approach the word of God. One of them is to interpret the New Testament in light of the Old Testament. In other words, they turn to the Old Testament in order to interpret the New Testament.

Now, this is a somewhat tricky business because we know that the Old Testament can shed light on the New Testament. However, we must understand that God’s final revelation, the New Testament, is what sheds light on the meaning of the Old Testament. I’ll get to more on that in a bit.

But for now, let me provide an example of what many conditionalists do to support your conditionalism. One of the most commonly quoted verses from conditionalists in support of their soul sleep/nonexistence of the person after physical death is to quote Ecclesiastes 12:7 which says, “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

“The first man was created when the dust of the earth and the breath of God were brought together (Gen 2: 7), and just as surely as the man did not exist prior to creation, he does not exist when the spirit returns to God who gave it and the dust returns to the earth, (Eccl 12:7).”1

So, in the New Testament when we have verses that strongly suggest conscience existence after physical death and before our resurrection. Please consider the following.

  1. Matthew 17:2–3, “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.”
  2. Luke 16:22–24, “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’”
  3. 2 Corinthians 5:8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
  4. 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”

But if a conditionalist is working from the position that in the intermediate state (between a person’s physical death and physical resurrection) that such a person must be in a state of soul sleep (unconsciousness) or nonexistence, then conditionalists must interpret these four verses consistently with their presuppositions. Therefore many of them turn to Ecclesiastes 12:7 which says “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” They then use this verse to hold their position over New Testament revelation by interpreting the New Testament in light of the Old Testament. This is the wrong approach.  (See the article, Ecclesiastes 12:7, the soul returning to God)

The New Testament Interprets of the Old Testament

The New Testament interprets the Old Testament, not the other way around. But, of course, there is nothing wrong with looking at the Old Testament context of verses that the New Testament quotes in order to find out what the context originally was. Often times such contexts can illuminate a New Testament passage. Illumination is fine. However, it is always the New Testament that interprets the Old Testament, not the other way around. This is very important because many false doctrines are developed by submitting the New Testament to the Old Testament.

To show you that this principle is indeed biblical, let’s take a look at some of the following scriptures.

Old Testament New Testament
Isaiah 40:1–5, “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins. 3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”” Matthew 3:1–3, “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’ ””
Mal. 3:1, “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will cclear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the dmessenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 40:3, “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”

Mark 1:2-4, “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY; 3 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.’ ” 4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness apreaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Isaiah 29:13, “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.'” Mark 7:6-7, “And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’
Zechariah 13:7, “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.” Mark 14:27–28, “And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ 28 “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.””
Psalm 69:24–26, “Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them. 25 May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents. 26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, and they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.”

Psalm 109:6–9, “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. 7 When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be few; Let another take his office. 9 Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow.”

Acts 1:20, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’”

For more of such comparisons see Isaiah 40:4 with Luke 3:5, Malachi 3:1 with Luke 7:27, Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 with Luke 19:46; Isaiah 54:13 and Jeremiah 31:34 with John 6:44-45, Psalm 69:25 with Acts 1:20; Habakkuk 2:4 with Romans 1:17, Isaiah 29:14 with 1 Cor. 1:18-19, Habakkuk 2:4 with Galatians 3:11, etc.

Conclusion

Though it is acceptable to look at the Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament and look at their context in both places in order to better understand Scripture, we must be careful not to submit the New Testament revelation to the Old Testament declaration. Whenever the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, the New Testament must be preeminent. Unfortunately, too many annihilationists reverse this process and submit New Testament revelation to the Old Testament. They do this in order to support their preconceptions. Generally speaking, this is a bad way to interpret Scripture and often leads to error as is the case with annihilationism.

References

References
1 Peoples, Glen, A., Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 583-586). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, .

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