In recent years, influential pastor Andy Stanley sparked considerable controversy by urging Christians to “unhitch” the New Testament from the Old. His rationale is that he believes the Old Testament can be a stumbling block to modern people, and therefore, it is better to focus on the resurrection and the teachings of Jesus. But this suggestion strikes at the very heart of the unity, authority, and integrity of God’s Word.
If we were to “unhitch” the New Testament from the Old, as Stanley suggests, we would be left with a mutilated message, stripped of its historical, theological, and redemptive foundation. Quite simply: we wouldn’t have much left.
The Apostles Didn’t Unhitch—They Preached the Old
The New Testament writers never distanced themselves from the Old Testament; they constantly drew upon it. In fact, 24 of the 27 New Testament books quote or directly allude to the Old Testament. The New Testament contains over 300 explicit quotations from the Old and thousands of allusions. Jesus Himself declared, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17, LSB). His apostles followed His lead, preaching Christ from the Scriptures—and for them, that meant the Old Testament (cf. Acts 17:2–3; Acts 28:23).
To discard the Old Testament would be to remove the very Scriptures Jesus used to explain Himself to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27).
The Old Testament is the Root of the New
The Old and New Testaments are not separate trees, but one tree with the Old as root and the New as fruit. The promises of the Old are fulfilled in the New. The types and shadows of the Mosaic economy are realized in Christ (Colossians 2:16–17; Hebrews 10:1). The Abrahamic covenant finds its ultimate seed in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). To unhitch the New from the Old is to tear out the roots of redemptive history.
The Cost of Unhitching
To “unhitch” the New Testament from the Old is to:
- Abandon the foundational promises of the Messiah (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53)
- Disconnect Jesus from His fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets
- Nullify the apostolic preaching that grounds the gospel in God’s covenantal faithfulness
- Undermine the authority and unity of God’s revelation
Most grievously, it is to treat the very Scriptures that Paul said were “God-breathed” and “profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16) as irrelevant or burdensome.
Christ: The Fulfillment of All Scripture
Jesus Christ is the substance of all Scriptures promises and the fulfillment of all its types and shadows. The Old Testament does not merely hint at Him—it reveals Him in shadow and prepares the way for His incarnation. As Paul wrote, “the law has become our tutor unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24, LSB), and our Lord Himself said, “these are the Scriptures that testify about Me” (John 5:39). From the seed promised in Eden (Genesis 3:15), to the lamb caught in the thicket (Genesis 22), to the Passover, the tabernacle, the sacrificial system, the Davidic king, and the suffering servant of Isaiah—every page of the Old Testament whispers His name. He is the second Adam, the true Israel, the greater Moses, the eternal priest, the Lamb of God, and the King of kings.Christ is not merely seen through a thread—He is the cornerstone upon which the entire structure of redemptive history is built (Ephesians 2:20). To “unhook” the New Testament from the Old is to dismantle the very scaffolding upon which the gospel stands.
To the one who is born of the Spirit, the Old Testament is not an obstacle. It is a treasure chest filled with the glories of Christ waiting to be revealed.
