Why Do We Have the Old and New Testament?

How the Bible Was Compiled

We have to understand first that although the Bible says all scripture was inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16–17), that does not mean God was the one who chose which books would be called Old Testament and which would be called New Testament. The inspiration of Scripture and the arrangement of the canon are two different things.

Many books were already considered scripture during the time of the disciples and even after their deaths. When those who compiled the Bible arranged it, they separated the books into two groups: the Old Testament — events that took place before the birth of Christ — and the New Testament — events that took place from the birth of Christ onward.

The Criteria: What Made It into Scripture

How did they know which books to include? The process of deciding was called Bible canon, and the compilers applied three criteria:

• Apostolicity: Does it come from an apostle, or from someone who knew an apostle?
• Orthodoxy: Does it represent right teaching? Is there embellishment or distortion of doctrine?
• Catholicity: Is it accepted in the universal church?

The Apocrypha and the Catholic Canon

There were also books known as the Apocrypha — non-canonical writings, meaning they are not among the official list of books considered sacred and authoritative. These books were accepted by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church as deuterocanonical (a “second canon”) — which is why the Catholic Bible contains 73 books instead of the 66 books found in Protestant Bibles.

This is not necessarily a problem. These books are not considered authoritative in the same way as the 66 canonical books, and the Protestant churches do not treat them as scripture — though they may be read for historical value. The difference lies in authority, not in the intention to deceive.

The Purpose of Scripture

With that said, the purpose of the Scriptures is to point us to Christ — and also for teaching, correction, and instruction:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” — 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NKJV)

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” — Romans 15:4 (NKJV)

Christ Concealed and Christ Revealed

I like to use the phrase: the Old Testament is Christ concealed, and the New Testament is Christ revealed.

Littered all over the Old Testament scriptures are prophecies and signs pointing to Jesus. And Jesus Himself would confirm this. In Luke 24:27, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to His disciples what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. And in Luke 24:44: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

The New Testament writers did not come with a separate or special revelation. What they said, they said after reading the Old Testament and concluding: Christ. That is why New Testament writers constantly refer back to the Old Testament — not as a different book, but as the same story reaching its fulfilment.

Christ in Genesis

Genesis 1 — Creation and the Light: We see God creating and causing light to shine in darkness. John re-echoes this in John 1:1–5. The light is Christ; the darkness is the heart of men (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Genesis 1:26 — The Image of God: “Let Us make man in Our image.” The image of God is Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4, Hebrews 1:1, Colossians 1:15). And when God told humanity to have dominion, that dominion is to be found in Christ — not in mere reproduction or earthly authority alone.

Genesis 2:24 — Marriage: Moses wrote about a man leaving his father and mother and being joined to his wife, the two becoming one flesh. Paul would reveal in Ephesians 5:31–32 that Moses was speaking not only of human marriage but of Christ and the church: “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Genesis 3:24 — The Flaming Sword: After the fall, God placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword turning every way to guard the way to the tree of life. That flaming sword was the cross. Christ had to go through the cross in order for people to have eternal life again. How do we know? Because Zechariah spoke of the sword:

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.” — Zechariah 13:7 (NKJV)

And Jesus re-echoed it Himself in Matthew 26:31–32: “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Melchizedek: Made to Resemble the Son of God

The story of Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18–20 was written by Moses with the intentional purpose of Melchizedek serving as a sign — a token pointing to Jesus. The writer of Hebrews makes this explicit in Hebrews 7: Melchizedek was made like the Son of God — meaning Moses wrote of him in a way that intentionally resembled the Son of God. Melchizedek brought Abraham bread and wine — which would become the symbol of salvation itself in Matthew 26:26–28.

The Manna and the Bread of Life

Even when Moses wrote of the manna in Exodus 16:31–35, he was writing of Jesus. Jesus would say in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger.” And earlier in John 6:32 He clarified that Moses did not give the true bread from heaven — meaning that when Moses wrote about the manna in Exodus, it was a sign pointing forward to Christ, the true bread that came down from heaven.

How the New Testament Reads the Old

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:4 says that the rock that followed the children of Israel in the wilderness was Christ — even though the word “Christ” does not appear in that Old Testament passage. Paul was reading the Old Testament and seeing what was already there, concealed in the type.

When David spoke by the Spirit in Psalm 2, he was referring to Christ. Peter re-echoes this in Acts 4:25–28.

In Acts 2:16–18, Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost and declares:

“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams…’”

What happened on the day of Pentecost was the fulfilment of something prophesied long before. The New Testament is not a departure from the Old. It is the Old made plain.

Christ Did Not Begin in Bethlehem

In summary, both the Old and New Testaments point to Jesus, the Christ. When we read the Bible, we should not think that if we want to find Jesus, we should only look at the New Testament. The partition was made by those who compiled the Bible for organisational purposes. The Old Testament records the law, history, and prophecies anticipating a Saviour. The New Testament records the arrival of Jesus Christ, fulfilling those promises and establishing a new covenant (Hebrews 12:24).

And it is important for us to understand that Christ did not begin to exist in the New Testament. Because He is God, He has existed from all eternity. We only began to see Him physically because He came in the form of a human. But as John would write in the book of Revelation — the revelation of Christ:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” — Revelation 1:8 (NKJV)

The Incarnation was not the beginning of Christ. It was the entry of the eternal Son of God into human history, so that the humanity He made could be brought back into relationship with the God who made them.