For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said, “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Hebrews 8:7-8, 10)
The “first covenant” that the writer of Hebrews speaks about is the Mosaic Covenant, the Law of the OT, the Ten Commandments and the other moral and ceremonial laws of the Torah. This law was written on stone but it was not written in the people’s hearts. The people knew right and wrong but they had no inner motivation or ability to consistently do what was right. They kept drifting away, forsaking God, committing immorality, telling lies, and mistreating others. Thus the first covenant provided a diagnosis of the condition of the human heart but it did not provide a cure. That’s why God, in the OT (in Jeremiah, by the way), pointed to a “new covenant.”
How would the new covenant be different? Hebrews 8:8-12 tells us.
1. God’s law would be written on a person’s mind and heart, not just on stone or in a book.
2. God would enter into a personal relationship with people. They would know Him in their hearts not just in their minds.
3. The sins of each person would be completely forgiven.
Jesus Christ is the “mediator” of this new covenant. He is the one who brought it into effect, the one who stood in the gap between God and man. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people (1 Timothy 2:5-6a). Christ instituted the new covenant by shedding His blood for you and me.
This morning I reflected on the fact that I am a part of the “new covenant.” Through Christ, I have been grafted into the promises of Israel, into this new covenant. What does that mean? It means that, in Christ, the law of God is written on my heart and in my mind. I am no longer “under the law.” Why? Because the law of God, the Holy Spirit, is in me. When I walk in fellowship with the Spirit, I fulfill the law. The ability and motivation to do right is in me as I yield to the Spirit.
That is why legalism never works. “Don’t do this!” “Don’t do that!” Legalism is an attempt to live under the first covenant, the covenant that failed. And it either leads to heavy guilt (I am not doing enough) or to self-righteousness (wow, look how good I am doing). Instead I am under the new covenant. I do what is right, not because I have to or because I am supposed to. I do what is right because I love God, I know Him, I am in relationship with Him, and I want to please Him.
It is like the marriage relationship (or at least the good marriage relationship). I do not do things for my wife just to mark things off the list or keep her off my back or soothe my conscience. I do things for her because I love her. And in loving her and enjoying her I find my greatest joy and satisfaction. God invites us into the same kind of relationship. He invites us to love Him and be loved by Him, to enjoy Him and be enjoyed by Him. That is the promise, the beauty, and the hope of the new covenant.
So don’t focus on all you have to do this morning. Instead focus on loving God and finding your joy in Him, knowing that all your sins are forgiven in Christ and that the Holy Spirit of God abides within you.
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me and for grafting me into the new covenant of grace!