Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 18:3 (Fall 2014)
Article: From Condemnation To Righteousness: A Christian Reading Of Deuteronomy
Author: Jason S. DeRouchie

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SBTJ 18:3 (Fall 2014) p. 87

From Condemnation To Righteousness: A Christian Reading Of Deuteronomy

Jason S. DeRouchie

Jason S. DeRouchie is the Associate Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary, Minneapolis, MN. Dr. DeRouchie earned his Ph.D. in Old Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has written numerous articles and is the author of A Call to Covenant Love: Text Grammar and Literary Structure in Deuteronomy 5-11 (Gorgias, 2007) and a contributing editor of two works: What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible (Kregel, 2013) and For Our Good Always: Studies on the Message and Influence of Deuteronomy in Honor of Daniel I. Block (Eisenbrauns, 2013). Some of Dr. DeRouchie’s downloadable Old Testament survey materials may be accessed at www.derouchie-meyer.org.

The apostle Paul asserted that the Mosaic or old covenant bore “a ministry of condemnation,” whereas the new covenant in Christ bears “a ministry of righteousness” (2 Cor 3:9).1 The author of Hebrews added that Jesus’ new covenant mediation “makes the first one [i.e., the old covenant] obsolete” and “does away with the first in order to establish the second” (Heb 8:13; 10:9). The new covenant supersedes the old, yet in a way that the old retains and in fact increases its use as a prophetic witness to Christ (Rom 1:1-3; 3:21; 16:25-26; 2 Cor 3:14; cf. Luke 1:70; 24:26-27, 44-47; John 5:39, 46; Acts 26:22-23).2 Furthermore, when appropriated in light of Christ’s fulfillment, the old serves as a lasting indirect ethical guide for Christians (Matt 5:17-19; 2 Tim 3:16; cf. e.g., 1 Cor 9:8-12; Eph 6:2-3; 1 Tim 5:18; 1 Pet 1:14-16). Thus Paul says that the old covenant prop...

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