The preachers quoted here describe the new covenant as inward where the old was outward: a ministry of the Spirit that rests on God's faithfulness and not on ours. They say it was established to deliver from sin's power and not only to forgive it, and that it is what Christians live under.
A covenant in Scripture is a solemn, binding arrangement that God makes with people.12 The phrase "new covenant" comes from Jeremiah: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers" (Jeremiah 31:31-32).
Jeremiah names what is new. The law is written within: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." All who belong to it know God: "they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest." And sin is finally dealt with: "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (31:33-34). Ezekiel adds the gift of the Spirit: "A new heart also will I give you ... And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes" (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Jesus said his death would establish it. "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). Hebrews quotes Jeremiah in full and calls Christ "the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Hebrews 8:6). His one offering does what the old sacrifices could not: "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (10:14).
Paul contrasts the two ministries. God "hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6). The old was written on stone; the new is written "in fleshy tables of the heart" (3:3). The difference is not that the old covenant had law and the new has none, but that the new supplies the heart and power to obey.
Theologians relate the covenants in different ways. Covenant theology sees one covenant of grace running through the Bible, administered differently before and after Christ. Dispensational writers stress that Jeremiah's promise was made to Israel and Judah and expect a future fulfilment for the nation, with the church sharing its spiritual blessings now. Andrew Murray wrote on the practical side: "the whole of our spiritual life, the whole of the health and growth and strength of the Church, has been laid down and provided for, and secured in the New Covenant."3
The new covenant is called everlasting (Hebrews 13:20). It is God's own undertaking to forgive his people, to live in them by his Spirit, and to be their God.
- Strong's Hebrew 1285, bᵉrîyth: "a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh)".
- Strong's Greek 1242, diathḗkē: "properly, a disposition, i.e. (specially) a contract (especially a devisory will)".
- Andrew Murray, The Two Covenants, "Chapter I. A Covenant God".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
The New Covenant is not an external covenant like the old one, but an internal and therefore an entirely new one.
G.W. North
in Atonement Illustrated
Read in context
And the New Covenant is a ministry of the Spirit.
Zac Poonen
in Three Marks of New Convenant Life
Listen at 1:41
The new covenant is effective on the basis of God's grace, it does not depend on man's faithfulness to God, but on God's faithfulness to man.
Carl Carmody
in Hebrews 8:1-13 a Better Covenant
Read in context
The new covenant is all about our Lord's commitment to keep His children from falling, and to console, comfort and assure us that the power and dominion of sin can and will be broken by the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
David Wilkerson
in Get Ready to Die
Read in context
The new covenant is established to deliver us from sin, not just cover up our sin, forgive it.
But the new covenant is not attempting to control the flesh.
Al Whittinghill
in (Covenant Series) 4. Experiencing the Power & Liberty of the New Covenant
Listen at 53:35
The New Covenant is what Christians live under.
Bob Hoekstra
in Growing in the Grace of God #03 - the Old Covenant of Law
Listen at 0:17
Where they differ
Jeremiah's promise is addressed to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and preachers explain the church's relation to it differently. One states plainly that the new covenant is made with believers.
The new covenant is not with Israel, but the new covenant is with the church, if you will, with believers.
Anton Bosch
in A Superior Covenant
Listen at 24:40
What Scripture says
- Jeremiah 31:31-34 I will put my law in their inward parts, and remember their sin no more
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 a new heart, and my spirit within you
- Luke 22:20 this cup is the new testament in my blood
- Hebrews 8:6 the mediator of a better covenant, on better promises
- 2 Corinthians 3:6 not of the letter, but of the spirit
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