Old Testament to New

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” --- Matthew 5:17

The relationship between the Old and New Testaments is one of promise and fulfillment, shadow and substance, preparation and arrival. The New Testament does not discard the Old but brings it to its intended completion in Christ.

Promise and Fulfillment

The Old Testament is a book of promises --- promises of a seed who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), of a great nation through Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3), of an eternal kingdom through David (2 Samuel 7:12–16), and of a new covenant written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31–34).

Pleroma (πλήρωμα) --- fullness, fulfillment, completion. Christ came in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) to bring all God’s promises to their pleroma
Plēroō (πληρόω) --- to fulfill, to fill up, to bring to completion. This is the verb behind Matthew’s recurring fulfillment formula: “This took place to fulfill (plēroō) what was spoken by the prophet” (e.g., Matthew 1:22; 2:15; 4:14)
Graphē (γραφή) --- Scripture, writing. The term used by Jesus and the apostles to refer to the Old Testament as authoritative divine revelation (John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul says Christ died and rose “according to the Scriptures” (graphai, 1 Corinthians 15:3—4), he grounds the gospel in the Old Testament witness
Torah (תּוֹרָה) / Nomos (νόμος) --- instruction, law. Torah in Hebrew carries the sense of instruction and guidance, broader than legal code. The Greek nomos often narrows the meaning toward “law.” Jesus’ declaration that He came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17) uses plēroō --- He brings the Torah to its intended goal and fullness

The New Testament opens with the declaration that what God promised has now arrived:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15)
Matthew’s Gospel alone contains dozens of Old Testament quotations and allusions, including a distinctive fulfillment formula (“this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet”) that appears roughly a dozen times
The early Church proclaimed that Jesus’ death and resurrection happened “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3—4)

How the New Testament Uses the Old

The New Testament authors read the Old Testament in at least four distinct but overlapping ways:

Direct Prophecy

Specific predictions that find their fulfillment in a specific New Testament event
The virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22—23)
The birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:5—6)
The suffering servant (Isaiah 53; Acts 8:32—35)

Typology

Historical persons, events, or institutions designed by God to prefigure a greater reality
The Passover lamb and Christ’s sacrifice (Exodus 12; 1 Corinthians 5:7)
The bronze serpent and the cross (Numbers 21:8—9; John 3:14)
Jonah’s three days and Christ’s resurrection (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40)

Analogy

Broader patterns or situations in the Old Testament that illuminate New Testament realities
Israel’s wilderness testing and the believer’s trials (Deuteronomy 8:2; 1 Corinthians 10:6—13)
The creation narrative and new creation in Christ (Genesis 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6)

Principle

Moral and theological principles from the Old Testament applied to new situations
“You shall not muzzle an ox” applied to supporting ministers (Deuteronomy 25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9)
The call to holiness grounded in God’s unchanging character (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16)

Jesus: The One to Whom All Scripture Testifies

Jesus Himself taught that the entire Old Testament bears witness to Him:

He opened the Scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, showing them that all of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms spoke of Him (Luke 24:27, 44)
He told the religious leaders, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39)
He is the prophet greater than Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22), the priest greater than Aaron (Hebrews 7:11—28), and the king greater than David (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34—36)

Reading the Old Testament Christologically

To read the Old Testament Christologically is to recognize that Christ is the goal and culmination of the entire Old Testament narrative. This approach carries both great benefits and real pitfalls.

Benefits

It honors the unity of the canon under one divine Author
It follows the example of Jesus and the apostles in their reading of Scripture
It reveals the depth and coherence of God’s redemptive plan
It keeps Christ at the center of all biblical interpretation

Pitfalls to Avoid

Ignoring the original historical context and meaning of Old Testament passages
Finding Christ in every verse through forced or fanciful connections
Treating the Old Testament as merely a puzzle to decode rather than God’s living Word to Israel and to us
Neglecting the Old Testament’s own theological contributions on its own terms

The goal is not to read Christ into every text but to read every text in light of the larger story that finds its climax in Christ.

The Unity of the Biblical Narrative

Despite being composed by dozens of authors over more than a millennium, the Bible tells one story:

One God --- YHWH, the Creator and Redeemer, is the main character from first to last
One Problem --- Sin has broken the relationship between God and humanity and fractured the whole creation
One Plan --- From the first promise in Eden to the final vision of the New Jerusalem, God is working a single plan of redemption
One Savior --- Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman, the son of Abraham, the son of David, the suffering servant, the Son of God

The Old Testament sets the stage, raises the questions, and makes the promises. The New Testament reveals the answer, fulfills the promises, and brings the story to its climax --- though not yet to its conclusion. The people of God still await the final consummation, when Christ will return and God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). For how the Old Testament patterns reach their culmination, see the companion articles on types and shadows, fulfillment patterns, and the temple-exile-kingdom narrative.

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” --- 2 Corinthians 1:20