Because of its divine authorship, the Old Testament is viewed as a Christian book. The apostles used the Old Testament as the basis for their teaching concerning Jesus Christ. Christ did things “that Scripture might be fulfilled.” That formula was characteristic of Jesus’ teaching. The gospel writers and the apostolic letter writers followed the same approach. Many prophecies in the Old Testament were direct, such as that concerning the death of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53. But such clear predictive prophecy and fulfillment is seldom found in the New Testament; it is the exception rather than the rule. Instead, . . . the New Testament writers looked for the meaning of the Old Testament as contained in its sensus plenior (full meaning). In so doing, they found varied correspondences, analogies, and suggestive similarities—some more substantial, some less substantial—but all based on the underlying presuppositions of the sovereignty of God in the affairs of history; the unique character of the Scriptures as divinely inspired; and the identity of Jesus as the telos, or goal, of the history of salvation.
Understanding and Applying the Bible
© 1983, 1992, 2009 by
ROBERTSON MCQUILKIN
Cross Mission Media 