New Testament

I was thinking about language, as I am wont to do, and the word “testament” occurred to me. The Latin word testis means “a witness,” and testari means “to testify” or “to bear witness.” That’s why testament can also carry the idea of proof—something that shows a thing is true. We still use it that way: “His actions are a testament to his character.”

Over time, “testament” also came to mean a will—or, in the Bible’s framing, a covenant: something formally declared, confirmed, and binding. In that sense, a testament is a witnessed covenant. That gives us the Old Testament: God’s covenant with human beings, recorded in the Law and the Prophets, and confirmed by what He did and what He promised. And it gives us the New Testament: a new covenant from God to us—declared by Christ Himself: “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20).

That idea isn’t just theological to me—it’s personal. Here’s my question: Is my life a witness to His goodness, His grace, His power? Can people look at my life and say, “There—God at work, right there”? Maybe I show patience where I used to be angry. Maybe a situation turns so clearly that anyone watching can say, “Only God could have done that.” Maybe I learn, little by little, to die to myself for the sake of others, the way He calls me to. If so, my life becomes a sort of “new testament”—a fresh testimony to God’s promises and power. I want my life to point to the goodness of God.