The New Testament is as much as to say a new covenant. The Old Testament is an old temporal covenant made between God and the carnal children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, otherwise called Israel, upon the deeds and the observing of a temporal law. Where the reward of the keeping is temporal life and prosperity in the land of Canaan, and the breaking is rewarded with temporal death and punishment. But the New Testament is an everlasting covenant made unto the children of God through faith in Christ, upon the deservings of Christ. Where eternal life is promised to all that believe, and death to all that are unbelieving.
1534 Prologue to his translation of the New Testament
After it had pleased God to put in my mind, and also to give me grace to translate this fore rehearsed new testament into our English tongue, howsoever we have done it. I supposed it very necessary to put you in remembrance of certain points, which are: that ye well understand what these words mean:
The old testament.
The new testament.
The law.
The gospell.
Moses.
Christ.
Nature.
Grace.
Worshipping and believing.
Deeds and faith;
Lest we ascribe, to the one that which belongeth to the other, and make of Christ Moses, of the gospell the Law, despise grace and rob faith: and fall from meek learning unto idle despicions, brawling and scolding about words…
This evangelion or gospell (that is to say, such joyful tidings) is called the new testament… God promised this his evaglion in the old testament by the prophets (as Paul sayth in the first chapter unto the romans). How that he was chosen out to preach God’s evangelion, which he before had promised by the prophets in the holy scriptures that treat of his son which was born of the seed of David. In the third chapter of Genesis, God saith to the serpent: I will put hatred between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, that self seed shall tread thy head under foot. Christ is this woman’s seed, he it is that hath trodden under foot the devil’s seed, that is to say sin, death, hell, and all his power. For with out this seed can no man avoid sin, death, hell and everlasting damnation.
Again Gen. xxij. God promised Abraham saying: by thy seed shall all the generations of the earth be blessed. Christ is that seed of Abraham sayth saint Paul in the third to the Galathyans: He hast blessed all the world through the gospell.
1525 Prologue