day no. 16,912: fulfilled, not faltered

"The Old Covenant is not the time in which God attempted to save His people through law, but, finding this to be a failure, decided to use grace and forgiveness in the New Covenant . . . the contrast in the New Testament is not between Old and New; the contrast is between Old distorted and Old fulfilled.” — Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” Is Not Enough, p. 65

Those who pit the two sides of the Bible against each other understand neither.  First of all, grace and law are not opposed to one another. Second of all, the Old Testament is not absent of grace nor the New Testament absent of law, which is to say that the Old Testament is not all law and the New Testament is not all grace. Those who insist on such either forget or intentionally overlook the wrath of the Lamb in Revelation and the grace of God in the Exodus.

Psalm 85:10-11

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Mercy and truth are different, but they are able to hold hands. In Christ the covenant contains mercy, justice, grace, and truth without compromise or confusion. If you imagine mercy and truth being different entities, well then, they hold hands as they walk together. If you imagine them being of the same source, then they are a left and right hand that work together.

The New Testament did not defeat the Old Testament. The Old Testament did not fail. The New Testament did not win. Christ completed the mission and commissioned the church. This is the Old fulfilled, not faltering.

There is no need to reconcile the Old and New Testaments. They are not fighting and no longer on speaking terms. They enjoy perfect commerce and consanguinity.

“C. H. Spurgeon was once asked if he could reconcile these two truths to each other. 'I wouldn't try,' he replied; 'I never reconcile friends.'" — J.I. Packer