HKB
a presentation of the unity of the New Testament as the very Word of God to us. Historical study should be made--and can be made--subservient to reverent and thankful obedience.
The English word "testament" comes from a Latin word. The equivalent Greek word is hard to translate. As used in the Greek Bible it may mean either "covenant" or "testament." Usually it should probably be translated "covenant."
The phrase "new covenant" occurs about five times in the New Testament. In none of these passages does the phrase refer to the "New Testament" in our sense. It designates a new relationship into which men have been received with God. The old covenant was made, through the mediatorship of Moses, with the Hebrew nation; the new covenant, hinted at in prophecy, Jer. 31:31, and instituted by the Lord Jesus, I Cor. 11:25, was made with all those, of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, who should through faith accept the salvation offered by Christ. Those who believe become, like Israel of old, God's chosen people, and enter into the warmth and joy of the divine communion. The names "old and new covenants," then, were applied first to these two special relationships into which God entered with men. Afterwards the names were applied to the books in which the conditions of those relationships were set forth. Perhaps it would have been better if we had started to say "New Covenant" where we now say "New Testament." At any rate the idea alluded to in the name is the inspiring idea, realized in Christ, of an alliance with God. The New Testament is the divine treaty by the terms of which God has received us rebels and enemies into peace with himself.
In the first place, the New Testament may be treated in every respect as a single book. That course is adopted by many of the most devoted lovers of the Bible. By them the Bible is treated simply as a textbook of religion. Passages are quoted indiscriminately from all parts of it, without much regard to the context. The wide differences of form and of spirit among the various books are ignored. The historical implications of the books are of course accepted as true, but practically they are left quite unassimilated.