Another example is that the Old Testament requires man to honor his father and mother (Exo. 20:12), and the New Testament also requires man to honor his father and mother (Eph. 6:2-3). The Old Testament requires man to be holy (Lev. 19:2), and the New Testament also requires man to be holy (1 Pet. 1:16). It seems that the Old Testament and the New Testament are saying the same thing, and it is hard to tell the difference. It is true that the commandments of both the Old and the New Testament are words which proceed out of the mouth of God, but the holiness in the Old Testament is truly different from that in the New Testament. In brief, all the commandments of the Old Testament are to prove the inability and incapability of man. In the Old Testament time God gave the commandments and decreed the law for man to obey and follow, but in doing this He had only one purpose—to show that man is incapable and incompetent.
Have we ever considered why in the Old Testament God wanted man to honor his parents, to be holy, to love Him, and so forth? Did God give the law for man to violate or to keep? All those who know the Bible understand that there is no way for man to keep the law of God. If so, why did God still decree the law? We need to pay attention to this one thing. Because man did not know himself, God gave him a very strict demand so that he would know himself. God seemed to be saying, “You are seriously ill and need rest, but since you are not willing to do so, I have no choice but to send you to work in the vineyard so that you may know your true condition.”
The problem is that until now many of us still do not know ourselves. God, however, knows man completely and thoroughly. Man has no way to please God, and none of man’s good behavior can meet God’s requirements or be acceptable to God. Yet man still thinks that he is very capable and can do everything. It is in this situation that God gives man the law and demands that man be holy and love Him absolutely. Since man is unable to fulfill any of the law, eventually man’s inability is exposed.
When God gave man the law in the Old Testament, He never expected man to keep the law because He already knew that man would not be able to do so. The only purpose of the law is to prove man’s incapability. All the laws of the Old Testament are used to show man’s inability and incompetence. Hence, whenever we read a commandment or a law, we should prostrate ourselves before God and say, “O God, I cannot do it. You want me to love You from my whole heart, with my whole soul, my whole mind, and my whole strength, but I cannot even give you one, let alone four, of these ‘wholes.’” This kind of realization is exactly what God is after.
Luke 10:27 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength and with your whole mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” In the Bible the demand for love has two sides: four “wholes” toward God—whole heart, whole soul, whole strength, and whole mind—and one “as” toward man—love your neighbor as yourself. If we ask ourselves, do we have any of these “wholes?” Are we able to fulfill this “as”? We truly do not have even half of these “wholes.” When we are happy, we may love God a little, and when our neighbor pleases us, we may love him a little. We cannot even love our parents, let alone our neighbors. Hence, God gave the law of the Old Testament in order to show man’s inability, incompetence, and incapability.
This is the situation with the commandments of the Old Testament, but how about that of the New Testament? The commandments and laws of the New Testament are different from those of the Old Testament. The commandments and laws of the New Testament are to prove that God is able, to prove that with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The Lord said to the disciples in Matthew 19:24, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” It is hard for a big camel to pass through the eye of a needle. After the disciples heard this word, they asked, “Who then can be saved?” This was the conclusion of the disciples, but the Lord Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (v. 26).
With men this is impossible refers to the law; with God all things are possible refers to grace. It is impossible for man to take care of the vineyard, to plant the vine trees, and to bear fruit for man’s enjoyment, but it is possible for God to prepare a feast with a rich supply of wine for man to enjoy. We have to bear in mind that the commandments of the Old Testament are to show us that with men it is impossible, while the commandments of the New Testament are to show us that with God everything is possible and that everything hinges on God Himself.
The Old Testament is a matter of the law, and there is no way for man to fulfill the law by himself. The New Testament is not just a matter of the law; rather, it opens the way for man to receive the life of God, which is Christ Himself entering into man and supplying man to meet the requirement of God in man. In the New Testament, however much God demands of man, this much He will supply to man; however, in the Old Testament, whatever God demanded of man only indicated how incapable man was. In the New Testament age whenever we touch God and have fellowship with God, all our impossibilities become possibilities and all our inabilities become abilities.
There is a portion in the Bible that records the miracle of the Lord Jesus feeding five thousand (14:14-21). On that day, apart from the women and children, there were about five thousand men. The disciples told the Lord Jesus, “The hour is already late. Send the crowds away that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves” (v. 15). But the Lord Jesus said, “You give them something to eat” (v. 16). This was the Lord’s strict command, but the disciples replied that they did not know where to get them food. If the story ended here, then the Lord’s command would be the law—the Old Testament. However, the Lord’s word here is not the Old Testament but the New Testament, not the law but grace. To be more specific, the Lord’s word here was not a command but an indication, showing man the way to receive more of God’s abundant grace. When we ourselves do not have anything to eat, how can we feed others? The Lord then asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38). They said, “Five, and two fish.” Then the Lord took the five loaves and the two fish, blessed them, and gave them to the disciples, the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. This proves that behind the demand of the Lord Jesus, there is a great supply.
After a person is saved, he has to confess his sins, deal with his sins and conscience, and consecrate himself to the Lord. None of these things can be done by ourselves. However, should we stop here? If we stop here, all these matters will be laws to us. We should not stop here; rather, we should bring all our inability and incapability to the Lord and tell Him, “O Lord, You want me to deal with my sins and conscience, but I cannot do it.” By coming to the Lord in this way, we will see how much the power of God and the abundant grace of Christ can do in us.