Covenant, In the New Testament

The NT's use of the covenant concept (diatheke) integrates the OT covenantal framework with the decisive fulfillment achieved in Jesus Christ. The Greek diatheke can mean either covenant (agreement) or testament (will), and Hebrews exploits the ambiguity: Christ's death activates the "testament" as a will takes effect at death (Heb. 9:15–17), while simultaneously establishing the new covenant. Paul's contrast of the covenants in Galatians 3–4 and 2 Corinthians 3 presents the Mosaic covenant as a temporary custodian arrangement (the "old covenant" of Sinai) that served until Christ came to fulfill the Abrahamic promise. The Spirit's ministry under the new covenant surpasses the written code of Sinai: "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6). Jesus's invocation of "the blood of the covenant" at the Last Supper (Matt. 26:28; cf. Ex. 24:8; Zech. 9:11) identifies his death as the covenant-ratifying sacrifice. The NT presents all previous covenants — Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic — as converging toward and fulfilled in the new covenant in Christ, which is the ultimate realization of God's covenant promise: "I will be your God and you will be my people" (Heb. 8:10; cf. Lev. 26:12; Jer. 31:33; Rev. 21:3).