“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
—JEREMIAH 31:31–34
A covenant is an agreement between two parties that defines their relationship. One way to view the Bible is as a series of covenants between God and men. God makes covenants with Noah (GENESIS 6:18; 9:9–17); Abraham/Abram) (GENESIS 15:18; 17:1–21); then Isaac and Jacob (as renewals of the Abrahamic covenant in GENESIS 26:2-5 and GENESIS 35:11-12); Moses (EXODUS 24:7–8); David (2 SAMUEL 7:8–17); then Solomon (as a renewal of the Davidic covenant in 1 KINGS 9:1-5). On some occasions, God’s people renewed the covenant when they realized they had broken it. For example, both Josiah (2 KINGS 23:1–3; 2 CHRONICLES 34:31–32) and Jehoiada (2 CHRONICLES 23:16) renewed the covenant between God and Israel.
The relationship between God and His people is very different in the Old Testament (under the Mosaic covenant) and the New Testament (under the new covenant). In the Old Testament, God’s name was considered too holy to even pronounce. There was a keen sense of separation between God and man. This idea was depicted in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, through the inaccessibility of the Holy of Holies, where the high priest was allowed to enter God’s presence only once a year (HEBREWS 9:6–7).
The Mosaic covenant was focused on the ethnic people of Israel. Under the Mosaic covenant, Israel received God’s covenant blessings only if they obeyed God. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God” (DEUTERONOMY 28:2). Conversely, if Israel disobeyed God, God promised curses. “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” (DEUTERONOMY 28:15).
Toward the end of the Old Testament period, the Lord, through His prophets, foreshadowed a new covenant. This new covenant would be different than God’s covenant with Moses. The new covenant is everlasting (ISAIAH 59:21; JEREMIAH 32:40; 50:5; EZEKIEL 16:60; 37:26). Under the new covenant, God promises to transform His people on the inside so that they that will draw near to Him.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (JEREMIAH 31:33)
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (EZEKIEL 36:26; SEE ALSO EZEKIEL 11:19)
“I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.” (JEREMIAH 32:40B)
And God promises to deal with sin Himself, once and for all time.
“’For they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more’” (JEREMIAH 31:34B).
Why would there be a need for a new covenant? In short, both the scope and the basis of the old covenant needed to be strengthened. The Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants are the two major covenants that shape the Old Testament (if we consider the Davidic covenant as a continuation of the Abrahamic covenant). The Mosaic covenant is focused on Israel. From God’s perspective, the Abrahamic covenant is still in effect (GALATIANS 3:16–18), with the entire world in view. God’s promise to Abraham in GENESIS 12:1–3 included the promise that through him “all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This is fully explained in GALATIANS 3:6–14. From a human perspective, however, the Abrahamic covenant was often limited to the physical descendants of Abraham (ROMANS 9:3–8). This limited understanding of the scope was problematic. This problem was rectified in the new covenant (ROMANS 4:1–25; GALATIANS 3:26–29), which is clearly universal.
The Mosaic covenant was insufficient because of its basis. It was based, in part, on the obedience of God’s people. Time after time, they demonstrated that they were incapable of fulfilling the requirements of God’s law. Provision was made to deal with this unfaithfulness through animal sacrifices. This solution, however, was temporary and ultimately ineffective (HEBREWS 9:6–14). The new covenant is based on the faithfulness and righteousness of Christ. It is sealed by His blood (MATTHEW 26:28; MARK 14:24; LUKE 22:20; 1 CORINTHIANS 11:25). Further, under the promised new covenant, God vows to change His people from the inside out, giving them new hearts.
Given the sinfulness of our nature, the old covenant could never be sufficient. External law, no matter how true and good, could never lead us to obedience. It could never transform our inner selves. God, of course, knew this. He did not establish the Mosaic covenant in vain hope that we, with proper guidance, might change ourselves. God’s purpose in establishing the Mosaic covenant was to make us see our need for grace, our need for a new covenant based on faith rather than earning salvation through our works (GALATIANS 3:19–29). “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (GALATIANS 3:24).
In the new covenant, God did what we could never do for ourselves:
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (ROMANS 8:3–4)
The Abrahamic covenant had a sign that accompanied it: circumcision. The new covenant analog is baptism (COLOSSIANS 2:9–12). Baptism is our formal acceptance of the promise and provision of God through Christ. Just as circumcision was a demonstration of Abraham’s obedience to God’s command (GENESIS 17:1–14, 23–27), so baptism is for us as well (MATTHEW 28:18–20).
The Mosaic covenant was characterized by repeated sacrifices. The new covenant is characterized by one sacrifice for all time, but one that we remember each time we observe the Lord’s Supper (LUKE 22:19–20; 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23–26). It serves as a reminder of the source of our life, individually and corporately.
As New Testament believers, our relationship with God is very different than was the case for God’s people in the Old Testament. We are called the Lord’s friends (JOHN 15:15), and we can familiarly call the Father “Daddy” (ROMANS 8:15; GALATIANS 4:6). Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters (HEBREWS 2:11). The veil excluding us from the Holy of Holies was literally torn apart when Jesus died (MATTHEW 27:51). The new covenant was not limited to ethnic Israel, but was aimed at “all the nations” (MATTHEW 28:19). And the blessings of the new covenant are not earned by obedience, but are freely given, despite our lack of merit, “by grace … through faith … not as a result of works” (EPHESIANS 2:8–9). The new covenant is based not on law but on the Spirit (2 CORINTHIANS 3:4–6). We are not bound by rules, but we are free to be transformed by the Spirit into the likeness of the Lord as we come to see Him clearly (2 CORINTHIANS 3:17–18). This is a wonderful description of the life of Theopraxy.
All the covenants were corporate in nature. They did not define the relationship between God and an individual, but between God and His people. The new covenant is also corporate in nature (EPHESIANS 2:11–22). We are “no longer strangers and aliens, but … fellow citizens with the saints” and members of “God’s household” (EPHESIANS 2:19). Disciples from every tribe, language, and nation are now joining the Jewish people in forming a living temple for the Lord. “For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God” (1 PETER 2:10). All earthly distinctions are erased as we find our common identity and value in Christ (GALATIANS 3:26–29). His identity and value are central. Corporately we express His glory.
The book of Hebrews contrasts the old and new covenants. The author describes that contrast and tells us how we should live as a result. In HEBREWS 8:1–10:18, this contrast reaches its crescendo. The new covenant is personal rather than mediated, spiritual rather than external, and fixed (based on Jesus’ performance) rather than changeable (based on our performance).
The author then summarizes what our appropriate response should be: to hold firmly to our faith in purity and encourage one another in that faith (HEBREWS 10:19–25). We should also endure through suffering (10:32–39).
In Chapter 11, the author then gives us Old Testament examples of this life of faith. He then presents Jesus as the ultimate example in HEBREWS 12:1–3:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
The rest of the chapter expands on the theme of persevering through difficulties. It speaks of our response to discipline (HEBREWS 12:4–11), supporting and strengthening the weak (12:12–13), and responding to challenges in peace rather than bitterness or immorality (12:14–17). Finally, the chapter closes with an encouragement to persevere in obedience in even the most turbulent circumstances (12:18–29).
Chapter 13 focuses on relationships and character that are appropriate given the nature of our new covenant relationship with the Lord. We are to love our fellow believers (HEBREWS 13:1), show hospitality to strangers (13:2), support prisoners and those who are suffering (13:3), be faithful to and honor our spouses (13:4), and be free from the love of money (13:5–6). We are to imitate godly leaders (13:7), suffer for the Lord, and live for our future with Him (13:12–14). We are to be grateful (13:15) and share sacrificially with others (13:16). All this sounds very similar to the descriptions of abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, or equivalent terms.
The difference between the new and old covenants is not the desired lifestyle or character of God’s people, but the source and motivation for that life. The new covenant is maintained not by our performance, but by Jesus’ performance. It is not lived by our power and ability, but by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is not motivated by fear of losing our relationship with God, but by our gratitude for the grace He has given us. It is not something we are trying to avoid losing, but something we are eagerly growing into as the Lord draws us ever closer to His heart.
Ezekiel described the coming new covenant as the difference between having a heart of stone and a heart of flesh (EZEKIEL 11:19; 36:26). God’s gift of this new heart is at the core of the new covenant. Both of these covenants are given in a corporate context. This relationship we hold in common is a key part of our corporate life in Christ. If God is our Father, then our fellow disciples are our brothers and sisters. This family relationship defines our interactions. Our family heritage defines us.
Father in heaven. Let me say that again—my Father in heaven. Thank You for the new covenant. You have dealt with our sin, once and for all. I need not fear. You have sent Your Spirit to live in us and make us new. We are freed from the law of sin and death and free to follow You by Your Spirit. You have made us Your people forever. We weren’t a people; now we are. We are Your people. You are our Father, and we are brothers and sisters in You. Help us to step into what You have done.
Read the following questions, then pray and ask God what He wants you to learn and do. Listen quietly.
Review your journal. Are there any past commitments you have not completed? If needed, schedule revised completion dates.
1. Am I living and thinking as if I am still living in the old covenant? If so, in what respect?
2. How can I help others to better understand the wonderful realities of the new covenant?
3. How consistently is the source of my power for living rooted in God’s grace rather than my own performance?
4. How consistently is the motivation for my spiritual life based in gratitude rather than in fear of not measuring up?
5. What specific actions does God want me to take in response to this chapter? (Note them in your journal and schedule them in your calendar.)
6. With whom (at least one name) does God want me to share what I have learned?
Ask the Lord to enable you to follow through on these commitments and to prepare the hearts of those with whom you intend to share insights.