I am grateful for the response that the first edition of this book received. This new edition expands the subject matter covered previously and adds some new material. The only major change concerns the identification of the Old Covenant as exactly correlative to the Ten Commandments. I made that assessment in the first edition but subsequently changed my view. Although some individual passages of Scripture state that the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments, there are also passages that clearly show that the entire Mosaic economy, including the ceremonial feasts, became part of “the Old Covenant.” My reasons for changing my view are set forth in chapter two.

I am sure that the following question is going to be on the mind of many readers before they get very far in this book. “If what you are saying is so clearly presented in the Scriptures, why have so many theologians missed it?” The answer is really quite simple. The Jewish teachers and leaders of Christ’s day had the accumulated teaching of all the Old Testament Scriptures that clearly told of a coming Messiah, as well as the traditional wisdom of those who had preceded them for hundreds of years. How was it that they missed the Messiah when he came? Catholic scholars study the Bible all their lives: why do they miss the fact of justification by faith alone? Why does one group of Christians see the truth of the Doctrines of Grace and another see only man’s free will? Why do Presbyterians insist that the Bible teaches infant baptism while Baptists are convinced the same Bible teaches a believers-only baptism by immersion? Why do great scientists spend a lifetime investigating evidence that leads to God the Creator, but find only support for evolution? The explanation in every one of the above cases is the same. 

The answer is that each person finds only that for which he looks! When we adopt a comprehensive ‘system’ of beliefs and are convinced that our system is correct, we automatically close our minds to any enlightenment or change. From that point forward, all of our study will consist of looking for further proof of what we already believe. The Word of God alone will no longer be either our sole guide or our final authority. This is one of the dangers of any theological system, especially in a confessional church. I often have seen sincere believers urge discussion of a biblical doctrine with an open Bible, only to have other sincere believers say, “There is nothing to discuss, the creeds have said it all.”

I hope that the sub-title of this book will not scare any reader. The phrase, ‘History of Redemption’, means almost the same thing as ‘Story of the Bible’. This title indicates that I am going to study the part the Ten Commandments play in God’s plan of salvation by grace through faith as that plan unfolds in the Old Testament Scriptures, moves into the New Testament Scriptures, and finally reaches into the life of the church today. The material will be of special interest to those concerned about the biblical relationship between law and grace. I hope to give clear biblical answers that will help God’s people to obey the command ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy’ (1 Pet. 1:15, 16). If this book helps any of God’s people to better understand his Word and thereby love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ more fervently, my efforts shall be well rewarded.

I have deliberately avoided the use of theological terms that are not found in the Bible. This book is neither a theological treatise nor even a biblical-theological study. Such studies take up where this will leave off. As we begin to study any scriptural subject, our concern should always be with the Word of God itself. We must first understand what the prophets and apostles actually said before we start discussing what they meant. It amazes me when I see how far theological writers have often removed themselves in their writings from the actual words that the Holy Spirit himself inspired. In this book, I will start with what the Scriptures themselves say before I examine how those various verses fit into a particular system of theology. 

In no sense am I saying that we should never use any theological terms unless the Bible uses those specific terms.^[1] Terms are helpful as long as they express biblical truth. I am maintaining that all of the terms we use must first be established with clear truth drawn from specific texts of Scripture. We should not start the study of any biblical subject by using the non-biblical terms of men as our basic building blocks. Our understanding of all biblical subjects should grow out of a study of the Bible itself. We should always start by carefully defining key terms with clear biblical facts and texts of Scripture. The ‘good and necessary consequences deduced’ from a clear Bible text and the ‘good and necessary consequences deduced’ from a theological system are often two entirely different things. I will start this study with the words used by the Holy Spirit himself. I will first ask what the Lord himself says in his own Word, before I inquire as to what the creeds and the fathers state.

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