2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Do you do this? Do you understand this? Perhaps you gave this verse a quick going over so that the word “Divide” played no part in your understanding of it. Maybe the translators left it out of the version you read? But that word is in the original Greek for a reason, a reason that will set you free!
“Orthotomeo” is Greek for ‘rightly divide’, or ‘making a precise, straight cut, to dissect.‘ We are told to precisely cut or dissect the Word of Truth. Are you doing this? I think we read the Bible too rapidly, to get our chapters in so we can feel holy. Why should we divide the scriptures? Why does Paul tell us to separate the scriptures from each other? And which ones should we separate? What is it about the scriptures that they need to be separated? Why did Jesus say to not put new wine in old skins? Why would that destroy the wine??? Did you think that Jesus was just waxing poetic when He said this? Was He wasting His breath with words that had no real meaning? Why is not dividing the Bible hurting you spiritually? I am not saying to throw out parts of the Bible. I am saying to keep parts of the Bible away from each other, to understand which part we are under and which part we are not under.
We can rightly divide the scriptures, wrongly divide them, or not divide them at all. Do the first one!! Too many people divide them into too many parts. This is wrongly dividing them. Jesus only mentioned two parts: the old and the new. What are they? The old cloth and new patch, the old wine skins and new wine, and the new covenant in His blood as opposed to the old covenant, or the law of Moses. These are the two dispensations of the Bible.
What did Paul say about this? Romans 7,6 says that we died to what once bound us, we have been released from THE LAW so that we serve in the NEW way of the Spirit, and not in the OLD way of the written code. Wow !!! When was the last time you were told to die to the law of Moses because it binds you? To serve in the new way of the Spirit means to have life from God. Believers exist as new creatures by faith in Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. To serve in the old way is to read laws from the outside, instead of being renewed from the inside by grace through faith.

The Old Testament was for Jesus. The New Testament is for us. Adam sinned, so God made a way back to Himself. He introduced the gospel in advance to Abraham. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. After this, God gave the law of Moses.
The law was a system of commandments and sacrifices. The commandments showed us what to do, and the sacrifices showed us we couldn’t do it. The law shows us that we are sinful and cannot obey the law.
Enter Jesus. Jesus came, not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He was the only person who ever lived who did not break the law, so he never needed to sacrifice for His own sins. In fact, the perfect Lamb of God became the sacrifice for all sin. After he did away with all sin by the sacrifice of Himself, He said, “It is finished.” That’s when God nailed the written code to the cross and ended the first dispensation of the old wine skin. But there are still many people who say “the old is better.” The old is not better, it’s hopeless. The new covenant is the only everlasting way to life. The New Covenant started when Jesus died, Hebrews 9:16 & 17. It was published through the preaching of the apostle Paul, Titus 1:3. Think of it this way. When Jesus died He left us an inheritance. Not money or material things, but His perfectly lived life and payment for our sins. This is what qualifies the believer to go to Heaven. If you still live for the old covenant, it’s like you are denying the inheritance of the new covenant.

Enter us. Now that the old is gone and the new is here, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. We do not need to be supervised. God is our Father, not our Boss. We obey as children, out of love. We do not earn God’s love by works. Christianity is not a religion derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. It’s the bringing back of fallen mankind through the actions of Jesus for those who believe. Christianity is not a list of do’s and don’ts. It is the new life given by grace through the actions of the only Savior, Jesus Christ.
Now then, can you see the folly of trying to abide in the two covenants at the same time? Can you see that living this way denies Jesus and His cross? Live for the new way, the way of grace through faith. Realize that in Christ there is a righteousness that is apart from the works of the law. This God given goodness is for those who just believe!!!