When Cross to Crown Ministries speaks of New Covenant Theology, this is what we mean…1
First, we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.
- The Scripture (OT, NT) is the God-breathed revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
- Jesus is fully man and fully God, born of the virgin Mary, sinless, the atonement for believers, the risen and ascended Lord who sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, the King who rules the nations.
- Humans who have failed to worship Jesus as Lord are subjects of His just wrath. Their only hope of forgiveness is to believe that Jesus was condemned in their place on the cross, and that He rose from the dead.
- The Spirit of God grants new birth to, and sanctifies, believers.
- All men and women will be judged after death. Believers will receive eternal life, unbelievers receive eternal, conscious punishment.
- All who genuinely believe the gospel of Jesus Christ are united as His one body, bride, temple, and family.
Second, we believe that Jesus came to fulfill everything in the Old Testament Scriptures, and that He inaugurated an entirely new, superior, and everlasting covenant with all who believe the gospel. (This is what distinguishes New Covenant Theology from other Evangelical tribes.)
- God’s plan for the universe, established before the foundation of the world, is entirely preoccupied with revealing His glory, mercy, and justice in Jesus Christ. This was the motivation behind creation, Eden, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and everything else in the Old Testament Scriptures. Everything and everyone prior to Jesus pictured, predicted, pointed to, and prepared for Him.
- The Old Covenant was unique to Israel. It began at Sinai and ended at Calvary/Fall of Jerusalem (AD 70). Its promises and curses were fully and finally fulfilled in Christ. It foreshadowed the New Covenant by establishing the priesthood, the sacrifices, the temple, the people, the kingdom, the prophecies, and the atonement that would eventually be consummated by the Messiah Jesus.
- The Law of Moses in its entirety, including the Ten Commandments, was specific to Israel. It was fulfilled by Christ and abrogated. Gentiles were never under the Mosaic Law; now no one is.
- Jesus is the ultimate prophet, priest, king, sacrifice, temple, Israel, and Son of God. All who are joined to Him through faith receive the ultimate fulfillment of all of God’s promises. Thus, the Church of Jesus Christ is the new Israel of God, the true circumcision, and the final manifestation of God’s holy nation, royal priesthood, and prized possession. The Church alone is the Bride of Christ (i.e., God’s wife by covenant).
- The relationship between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is neither linear (like an acorn growing into an oak tree) nor suspended (like a parenthesis in God’s plan), it is transformational (like a caterpillar to a butterfly). They are not unified by one underlying covenant, nor are they separate and unrelated. They are connected by and through God’s eternal plan to graciously redeem a people who would honor and obey His Son Jesus. God gave the Old Covenant as a shadowy, symbolic outline of what was coming. In the New Covenant, the full story is revealed in living color and three dimensions.
- The Mosaic commandments were given to provoke and punish the sins of Israel, and to prophesy of the ultimate Moses (Jesus) who would instruct God’s ultimate people. Thus, Christians are not under the Law of Moses but under the Law of Christ.
- The storyline of human history is no more about the Jews than about the Americans or the Australians or the Vietnamese. Israel, like all other nations, must believe the gospel and bow the knee to Jesus or face His just retribution.
Affirmations and Denials
To help clarify our understanding of the Bible’s teaching and God’s purposes in history for Jesus Christ, we will articulate our positions through a series of affirmations and denials. These are directed toward believers who hold to other positions. Note: we consider them to be brothers in Christ. While we seek to establish who is inside our camp, we do not believe that a person must agree with us to be inside His camp. Ultimate unity is by the one faith in the one gospel through the one Spirit. So even though we regard these differences to be important for Christian understanding and practice, we do not see them as prerequisites for being a Christian.
Article 1
We affirm that God’s eternal purpose and plan, revealed progressively through the Bible, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the making of His New Covenant, and the establishment of His kingdom.
We deny that God changed His plan after previous dispensations failed. We deny that His kingdom is or ever was primarily for ethnic Israel. We deny that His redemptive plan is the outworking of a Covenant of Grace made with Adam.
Article 2
We affirm that Adam’s sin brought death to all mankind. We affirm that God’s promise to send a Redeemer was first made in Genesis 3:15.
We deny that God made a Covenant of Works or a Covenant of Grace with Adam as described in the Westminster Confession of Faith or any other Christian confession.
Article 3
We affirm that the Old Testament Scriptures were God-breathed, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are profitable for believers in the New Covenant.
We deny that the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was ever binding on Gentiles. We deny that Christians are required to keep it.
Article 4
We affirm that the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, is profitable for Christians as Christ-prophesying Scripture and as a testimony to the gospel.
We deny that the Bible allows the Old Covenant Law to be divided into the categories of civil, ceremonial, and moral with the moral law continuing into the New Covenant. We deny that the Ten Commandments are the eternal, universal Law of God.
Article 5
We affirm that the commands of Christ, delivered through His apostles, are expectations, not suggestions. We affirm that Christians are not without Law.
We deny that the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, is intended to be the foundation for civil laws or Christian obligations for sanctification.
Article 6
We affirm that God made great promises of prosperity, power, and blessing to physical Jews in the Old Testament. We affirm that those promises were either temporally fulfilled in Israel before Christ, or are fulfilled in Christ and the Church, or both.
We deny that God has failed to keep His promises to Israel. We deny that any promises remain to be fulfilled to geopolitical/national Israel.
Article 7
We affirm that Israel was chosen and redeemed by God temporally and nationally through Moses. We affirm that many chosen and redeemed Jews perished for their sin because of unbelief.
We deny that Old Covenant election and redemption were eternally salvific. We deny that any Jew received forgiveness of sin apart from faith in the coming Messiah.
Article 8
We affirm that the Old Covenant served as a typological pattern for Christ and the New Covenant, especially the priesthood, sacrifices, circumcision, Day of Atonement, Temple, prophetic ministry, feasts, Passover, Sabbath, and commandments.
We deny that any of these types are instituted as part of the New Covenant.
Article 9
We affirm that Jesus, the Son of Man, has come into His Kingdom and reigns as the Kings of kings and Lord of lords.
We deny that He will rapture the Church from the earth and inaugurate a 7-year tribulation period for the Jews. We deny that geopolitical/national Israel has a unique focus in the present/future of His Kingdom.
1 This document was modified in March, 2026.