Old Testament vs. New Testament – What are the differences?

Answer

While the Bible is a unified book, there are differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In many ways, they are complementary. The Old Testament is foundational; the New Testament builds on that foundation with further revelation from God. The Old Testament establishes principles that are illustrative of New Testament truths. It contains many prophecies that find fulfillment in the New Testament. The Old Testament provides the history of a people; the focus of the New Testament is on a Person. It reveals the wrath of God against sin (with glimpses of His grace); the New Testament displays the grace of God toward sinners (with glimpses of His wrath).

The Old Testament predicts a Messiah (see Isaiah 53), and the New Testament reveals who the Messiah is (John 4:25-26). It records the giving of God’s Law, and the New Testament shows how Jesus the Messiah fulfilled that Law (Matthew 5:17;Hebrews 10:9). In the Old Testament, God’s dealings are mainly with His chosen people, the Jews; in the New Testament, God’s dealings are mainly with His church «And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. », (Matthew 16:18). Physical blessings promised under the Old Covenant «Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that you do. », (Deuteronomy 29:9).

The Old Testament prophecies concerning the arrival of Christ, while remarkably detailed, contain some ambiguity that is clarified in the New Testament. For instance, the prophet Isaiah foretold the death of the Messiah (Isaiah 53) and the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom (Isaiah 26) without any indication of the timing of these two events—no clues that the suffering and the kingdom-building might be separated by millennia. In the New Testament, it becomes evident that the Messiah would have two comings: in the first, He suffered and died (and rose again), and in the second, He will establish His kingdom.

Because God’s revelation in Scripture is progressive, the New Testament brings into sharper focus principles that were introduced in the Old Testament. The book of Hebrews explains how Jesus is the true High Priest and how His one sacrifice supersedes all previous sacrifices, which were merely foreshadowings. The Passover lamb of the Old Testament «For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. », (Ezra 6:20) becomes the Lamb of God in the New Testament «The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. », (John 1:29). The Old Testament provides the Law. The New Testament clarifies that the Law was intended to reveal to people their need for salvation.

The law was never intended to be the means of salvation. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Romans 3:19).

The Old Testament witnessed paradise lost for Adam; the New Testament demonstrates how paradise is regained through the second Adam (Christ). The Old Testament states that man was separated from God by sin (Genesis 3), while the New Testament proclaims that man can be restored in his relationship to God (Romans 3-6). The Old Testament foretold the Messiah’s life. The Gospels document Jesus’ life, and the Epistles explain His life and how we should respond to all He has accomplished.

In essence, the Old Testament sets the groundwork for the arrival of the Messiah who would offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. “And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2). The New Testament chronicles Jesus Christ’s ministry and then reflects on His actions and how we should react. Both testaments unveil the same holy, merciful, and righteous God who condemns sin but seeks to save sinners through an atoning sacrifice. In both testaments, God reveals Himself to us and instructs us on how to approach Him through faith (Genesis 15:6; Ephesians 2:8).