Is the New Testament Complete in and of Itself?

(Exodus 20:13 KJV) Thou shalt not kill.

The question is can you give someone a New Testament and expect them to know everything that they need to know to be a complete Christian? Did God intend the New Testament to contain all wisdom for the Christian?

In order to show whether this is or is not true let us use the repeat of the sixth commandment in Romans 13:9 as an example. It says the same as Exodus above.

Romans 13:9 (KJV)
"... Thou shalt not kill..."

What does this mean?

G5407. phoneuo, fon-yoo'-o; from G5406; to be a murderer (of).

Most of us have been taught that the word kill should have been translated murder. We know that much, but is there any more? Just what does murder mean? What is the difference between killing and murder? Would defending myself from an attacker be murder? Is stepping on a bug murder? That is silly I know, but I hope that you catch the point. There is no definition for murder in the New Testament. There is no listing for the penalties for murder.

Some might say that our government has defined and determined penalties for murder. However many governments have set different definitions and penalties for murder. There are some that even determine no penalty in some instances. Even our government has changed the rules some over time. A quick example would be that until 30 years ago abortion was treated as murder in this country. Today it is a medical procedure. Consider what some have suggested with euthanasia. Obviously one can not depend on the whims of a government for righteous rules and judgment.

So someone reading the New Testament alone will have difficulty determining just what is murder and what are it's penalties. The same goes for most of the other commandments. Have you ever considered just what "Honour thy father and thy mother" really means? Did you know that "Thou shalt not commit adultery" has more meaning than just marital adultery?

So is this a cruel joke by our creator to not provide us with the necessary information needed to become a complete Christian? Not at all. The only joke is to believe and teach that one can be complete with only the New Testament as one's guide. Our God has preserved more than just the New Testament as our guide to all truth.

Every law must have statutes to explain the law and judgments to provide a punishment for disobedience. The statutes and judgments for every law are found in the Old Testament. For one to be complete and fully understand the New Testament and the New Covenant one must know and use the Old Testament. Think about it. Even the word food (meat in KJV) in the New Testament has it's proper definition in the Old Testament.

(Psa 19:7 NKJV) "The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple".



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