Blessed is the Man: A Study of the Believer Under the Old Covenant. This article attempts to deal with two streams of biblical teaching that seem to be at odds with one another. On the one hand, there are all sorts of Old Testament statements, especially in the Psalms, of people who live under the Law of Moses and are very happy and joyful in their relationship with God—they even delight in the Law itself. But on the other hand, in the New Testament there are many negative statements about the Law of Moses. The Apostle Paul even calls it a "ministry of death." The dilemma is, "If the Apostle Paul is right, then how could Old Testament believer's have joy while being under the Law of Moses?"
This article attempts to solve the dilemma. In that pursuit the author deals with the relationship of the Old Covenant with the New Covenant, the nature of faith and works, and the relationship of the Law of Moses with the believer's life. We have other articles that deal with these issues in more detail, but this one is unique in that it works through those issues with an eye to answering the specific problem stated above. It explores the implications of those issues for the question at hand. The article is not techinical in any way, and any Christian who has asked these questions, or who has wondered about the experience of Old Testament believers, should read the article with profit.