I'm afraid we disagree there. Protestants who argue amongst themselves do nothing but quote bible verses back and forth. Who wins that fight? If a Campbellite and a Calvinist quote bible verses back and forth, how do you tell who is right and who is wrong? And of course the ancient liturgical churches who point this out have the identical problem, only with contradictory traditions and claims of authority.
The Law and the Prophets point to the coming Messiah, they give us the criteria by which one can recognize Him.
Metmom . . . you and I agree about a lot of stuff, but we also disagree about a lot of stuff. Your assertion above is a claim of chrstianity. It is a claim--that's all. It is not self-evidently true, nor does asserting the claim prove it.
If you were to read the "old testament" without chrstian presuppositions (not easy to do, I know), you would find a very different religion. And of all the mitzvot in the Torah, there isn't a single one saying to "accept the Messiah" (just like there isn't a negative commandment against "deicide," which doesn't exist). The notion that the Torah is very primitive and the Prophets and Writings higher (culminating in the "new testament") is also a chrstian assumption.
Much of your position here is based on a reaction against Roman Catholicism. The Protestant/Catholic argument simply doesn't apply to this issue.
The Law and the Prophets contain prophecies specific to the Messiah.
What other purpose would there be except to point to Him and help people recognize Him when He comes and fulfills the prophecies?
As I understand it, the NT needs to be read in light of the OT. Most of the authors of the NT were Jewish. The Gospels are mostly historical accounts of the life of Jesus and until He died, the Law was still under effect. Matter of fact, the Law still IS in effect. Sin in the OT is still sin in the NT.
The OT is invaluable in understanding the new.
The main difference is in how God deals with, or relates to, mankind and their sin problem.
As for labels,......
pfffttt.......
I hate labels and too many Protestants make too much of what Paul in the NT calls *disputable matters*. There is much room for latitude in many things churches and denominations have (wrongly) split over.
No one church has perfect or perfectly correct doctrine. We can’t because a perfect God is not able to be perfectly known by imperfect creatures.
As David tells us in Psalm 103..... He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust.