Drawn From the Old Testament
… the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures Romans 1:2
Although God revealed the gospel to the apostles, they drew their “outline” from the Old Testament scriptures, as confirmed through the events of Christ’s death, resurrection and exaltation.
Jesus Himself was quite clear that the Scriptures bore witness to Him, that He was the Son of Man of Daniel 7 and the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. As it had been written, He had to suffer to enter into His glory (John 5:39; Luke 24:25ff, 44f).
In the book of Acts Peter quotes the Old Testament to explain Jesus’ resurrection, exaltation and the outpouring of the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:14ff; cf. 1 Peter 1:10ff).
Paul reasoned from the Old Testament that the Christ must suffer and rise again, and that He was the historical figure, Jesus (Acts 17:2f; cf. 13:32ff). He insisted that it was ‘according to the Scriptures’ that Christ both died for our sins and was raised the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3f). Paul saw clearly that both the law and the prophets bore witness to the gospel (Romans 3:21; cf. 1:17).
So the gospel is doubly attested to, by the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New.
Do you see the essential continuity between the Old and New Testaments?
Expanding on Augustine’s original comment concerning the Old and New Testament, someone has written:
The New is in the Old contained
The Old is in the New explained
The New is in the Old enfolded
The Old is in the New unfolded
The New is in the Old concealed
The Old is in the New revealed