The New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah prophesied that with the coming of Christ will come a new covenant.  The old covenant will no longer exist.  Unlike the old covenant which was written on stone, the new covenant will be written on the hearts of all who believe.  

And when they believe, all their sins will be forgiven.  God will dwell in them.

The lives of believers will be different than those who remain under the law.  Within the new covenant, believers live by faith. It is through this faith that we know Christ.  It is through this faith that we know God.  It is through this faith that we know God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s forgiveness.

It is not the law that saves us.

It is our faith.

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.” (Galatians 5:18)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)