Thus far the old dispensation; the new succeeds, the administration of the covenant without the law and ceremonies after the appearance of Christ. It is called “new” not as to the substance of the covenant (which is the same in both) but: (1) as to the circumstances and mode, being manifested without a veil and the law (in which way that covenant appeared as if new or renewed), also because it sets forth Christ not to be exhibited but as exhibited, in which way it can be called new both intensively as to degree of light and extensively as to amplitude, extending itself indiscriminately to all nations; (2) as to the excellence and glory of this dispensation which far surpasses the old (2 Cor. 3:9, 10), as new is elsewhere taken for what is remarkable and superior (Rev. 5:9; Ps. 33:3); (3) as to perpetual duration, by which it happens that it is as it were always new, while those things which ought to cease are called old.
Francis Turretin | Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 12.7.46, ed. James T. Dennison Jr., trans. George Musgrave Giger, vol. 2 (P&R Publishing, 1992–97), 232.
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