The New Testament

Few people understand that The New Testament first appears in the Old Testament.  The reason believers have a New Testament (Matthew through Revelation) is because God promised it in the Old!  God promised the New Testament in Jeremiah 31:31.  This verse is the only verse in the Old Testament that uses the words ‘New Covenant.’  ‘New Testament’ and ‘New Covenant’ are the same.  The words ‘testament’ and ‘covenant’ mean an official, binding agreement.  The entire Bible is mainly the story of 2 covenants, the Old and the New.

Both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant were between God and the nation Israel.  The ‘Church’ is not mentioned in either.  God established the Old Covenant between Himself and the nation Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.  The conditions of the Old Covenant are clear in Leviticus 26:1-46 and Deuteronomy 28:1-68.  

God mentions the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and explains it clearly in Ezekiel 36:26-28 and other passages.  John the Baptist announced the coming of the New Covenant at the beginning of all 4 Gospels when he introduced Christ, Who would ‘baptize with The Holy Spirit.’  He also exhorted all Jews to give tangible manifestation of their genuine repentance in water baptism.

Christ started the New Covenant for believers when He died on the cross.  The night before He died, He gave a new observance that would accompany this New beginning called Communion.  At the first Communion, Christ commanded all believers to partake of the bread and the cup, which signified receiving the benefits of His death and resurrected life.  Christ said: “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood” Luke 22:20.  When Christ died, He also ended the Old Covenant for believers.  The most obvious sign that Christ’s death ended the Old Covenant was the ripping of the Temple curtain, which occurred right when Christ died (Matthew 27:51).

The Old and New Testaments go together.  The Old Covenant revealed sin (Romans 7:7) and the New Testament forgave it (Jeremiah 31:34).  The Old Covenant commanded obedience, and the New Testament provided for it (Jeremiah 31:33).  According to Paul, God designed the Old Covenant to crush individual pride (Galatians 3:24), so that the believer would gratefully enter into the New Covenant through faith.