IS THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE NEW COVENANT THE SAME?
I contend that there is a difference in the new testament and the new covenant.
First, let us examine the new covenant:
[Jer 31:31 KJV] 31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
To be noted is that the new covenant was made with Israel. Paul says that the Gentiles were estranged from the covenants in Ephesians 2:12; Any covenant made with Israel could not be ascribed to Gentiles.
[Heb 8:10-12 KJV] 10 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews speaks of the new covenant by which God will put his laws in their minds and write them in their hearts, not on tables of stone. God will forgive their sins.
[Heb 8:7-9 KJV] 7 For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Israel being at fault by not continuing in the first covenant necessitated a new covenant.
[Heb 9:11-14 KJV] 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins, God accepted them to sanctify their flesh.
[Heb 9:15-17 KJV] 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Christ Jesus is the mediator (go between) of the new testament. Jesus had to die to put in force the new testament. Christ redeemed the transgressions Israel committed under the first testament.
[Heb 9:18-22 KJV] 18 Whereupon neither the first [testament] was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This [is] the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
The blood of bulls and goats had to be shed under the first testament; Christ had to shed his blood to redeem Israel as without the shedding of blood there can be no remission (forgiveness) of sin.
Jesus as testator before his death stated his will as being that his death and shed blood would be for the remission of sins for Israel:
[Mat 26:28 KJV] 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
The shed blood of Christ under the new testament is the basis for the new covenant. God could not fulfill the forgiveness of sin for Israel without the new testament blood and death of Christ. The new testament is not the same as the new covenant; the new testament demanded the blood and death of the testator (Christ) whereas a covenant did not always require it. The new testament and the new covenant have a interdependent relationship in that Christ as testator had to die to put in force the new testament to accomplish the new covenant.
[Heb 9:15 KJV] 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
[Heb 12:24 KJV] 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.
The above verses say Jesus is the mediator of the new testament and the new covenant, so a testament and a covenant must be the same. Jesus can be the go between God and man for both the new testament and the new covenant, His death put in force the new testament and his shed blood the new covenant.
Jesus revealed thru Paul that his death and shed blood was applied to us by grace.
I contend that there is a difference in the new testament and the new covenant.
First, let us examine the new covenant:
[Jer 31:31 KJV] 31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
To be noted is that the new covenant was made with Israel. Paul says that the Gentiles were estranged from the covenants in Ephesians 2:12; Any covenant made with Israel could not be ascribed to Gentiles.
[Heb 8:10-12 KJV] 10 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews speaks of the new covenant by which God will put his laws in their minds and write them in their hearts, not on tables of stone. God will forgive their sins.
[Heb 8:7-9 KJV] 7 For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Israel being at fault by not continuing in the first covenant necessitated a new covenant.
[Heb 9:11-14 KJV] 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins, God accepted them to sanctify their flesh.
[Heb 9:15-17 KJV] 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Christ Jesus is the mediator (go between) of the new testament. Jesus had to die to put in force the new testament. Christ redeemed the transgressions Israel committed under the first testament.
[Heb 9:18-22 KJV] 18 Whereupon neither the first [testament] was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This [is] the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
The blood of bulls and goats had to be shed under the first testament; Christ had to shed his blood to redeem Israel as without the shedding of blood there can be no remission (forgiveness) of sin.
Jesus as testator before his death stated his will as being that his death and shed blood would be for the remission of sins for Israel:
[Mat 26:28 KJV] 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
The shed blood of Christ under the new testament is the basis for the new covenant. God could not fulfill the forgiveness of sin for Israel without the new testament blood and death of Christ. The new testament is not the same as the new covenant; the new testament demanded the blood and death of the testator (Christ) whereas a covenant did not always require it. The new testament and the new covenant have a interdependent relationship in that Christ as testator had to die to put in force the new testament to accomplish the new covenant.
[Heb 9:15 KJV] 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
[Heb 12:24 KJV] 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.
The above verses say Jesus is the mediator of the new testament and the new covenant, so a testament and a covenant must be the same. Jesus can be the go between God and man for both the new testament and the new covenant, His death put in force the new testament and his shed blood the new covenant.
Jesus revealed thru Paul that his death and shed blood was applied to us by grace.
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