Rightly Dividing the Word of God #3

One essential point that every serious Bible student must understand is the two main divisions of the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Many people with whom I have talked do not understand what the word “testament” means. A few hundred years ago, this word was used more, but today the noun “will” conveys the same meaning.

Probably, you have all heard the term “last will and testament.” Well, that is what the Scripture is—God’s last will and testament. Therefore, when we talk about the Old Testament, we are talking about God’s old will, and when we talk about the New Testament, we are talking about the new will of God.

To make it even clearer, if you had a will drawn up and some years later wanted to change something, you would have another will drawn up. What would that do to the first will? Of course, it would make the first will void and of no effect. This is why we do not offer animal sacrifices today. We are not under the Old Testament or the old will of God, which required the offering of animal sacrifices. Rather, we are under the new will of God, the New Testament, which does not instruct anyone today to offer animal sacrifices.