The relationship of the Gentile Christians to the Old Testament Law was the first controversy that threatened to split the infant Church.
The Book of Acts records that the controversy because so heated that the Apostles had to hold an emergency meeting to debate the issue and give their ruling.
The Epistle to the Galatians reveals that the issues were not a mere "storm in a teapot" but actually involved the nature of the Gospel itself.
It soon became clear to the Apostles that there was a deeper issue that had to be answered: the relationship between the between the Old and New Covenants.
Thus the relationship between the Testaments and the Covenants is central to Christian Theology
