The New Covenant

(Hebrews 10:15-18 – The New Covenant)

In these words we see the promise of the New Covenant. The Lord promised to establish a New Covenant in the prophecies of old. It is a completely different covenant to the Old Covenant, because it it offers freedom. The Old Covenant brought bondage to the people and the children of Israel. But the New Covenant promise freedom from sin, forgiveness, removal of sin, and the promise of transformation of the human nature to overcome the passions of the flesh.

God did not and does not want people to be sinners. He hates sin. His desire is for all people to turn away from sin and turn to God. His plan for man, going all the way back to Adam and Eve, was for us to live n harmony with Him. But to do that we have to accept God and do what is pleasing to Him.

But that was not and is not possible under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was necessary, but it cannot perfect a person. No-one has ever been able to keep the fullness of the Old Covenant law (with the exception of Jesus). And if we cannot keep the law, then something had to change. That is why God introduced the New Covenant. So, let us look at what this means for us today.

The essence of the New Covenant

This is what these words today say:

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:15-18)

The essence of the New Covenant could make a person think it is just more laws and commandments. Or, as was once said to me, it is just an extension of the Old Covenant.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

While it may appear on the surface that the words above are pointing to law, that is a misconception. When God gave the law to Moses, the laws were initially written on tablets of stone. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, and subsequent laws were added that were written on scrolls and paper documents. These were given to check the indulgence of the flesh because people were sinning more and more. The aim of the law was to teach people right and wrong so they would know what please God.

But the New Covenant is not an extension of the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is not about extending or keeping us bound by the law.

What is the New Covenant about?

What God says in the words above is that He will write His laws on the hearts and minds of His people. This is not about keeping us under law. This is about change and transformation. By writing His laws on our hearts and minds, God is re-writing our nature to align with all that is good.

God defined for us what is right and wrong, good and evil, in the law. But we had to be trained in it. When God gave the laws to the Israelites, the Levitical priests were to read out the law every week in the synagogues and teach the law to the people. The people needed to know right from wrong, and the penalties for doing wrong, as well as how to atone for their sins through blood sacrifices. This was all a precursor to how God would set us free from sin and remove our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

But the purpose of the New Covenant was transformation. Rather than having the laws written down and taught by the priests, God Himself would write His laws on the hearts and minds of those who come to Him in Jesus Christ. By writing the laws into our hearts and minds, He is transforming the way we think and act. Our behaviour is always determined by how we think. So, if God changes the way we think based upon what is good and right and true, then it changes our behaviour too. We will follow our thoughts and do according to how we think. In the past we would follow the paths of sin, because that is how we thought. But when we are transformed by the Holy Spirit, having God’s law written on our hearts and minds, then our thinking leads us to do what is right.

Why did God give the New Covenant?

God does not want His people living in sin. He wants people to choose His ways and no longer walk in sin. Sin leads to death. And God wants people to live as He is the Author of life.

God is willing to set us free from our past sins through the sacrifice of His Son. But He also had to deal with future sins because people would continue to do the wrong things. Even though we are set free from sin, when we do the wrong things we would continue to rack up a debt of sins. But God has provided the answer to that issue as well.

To be truly free from sin, the bond that convicts us as sinners had to be removed as well. That bond is the Old Covenant law. It is the law that convicts us of sin, and John described sin in this way:

Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4)

Furthermore, Paul said this of the law:

55 “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

The power of sin is the law because it is the law that convicts us as sinners. Therefore, if God was to remove all sin, including the possibility of being convicted and condemned as sinners, He had to also remove the law. And He did that in the death of Jesus Christ.

So, why the New Covenant? It was to remove sin, remove the law that condemns us as sinners, and it was to enable us to be transformed into the image of Christ. And there is still more…

What else does the New Covenant offer?

We hear people talk about victory over the flesh. The law may convict people as sinners when they break it, but it is the passions of the flesh that rise up in us that drive people to sinfulness.

But the New Covenant is all about transformation. If we are to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, then we need to have control over these passions, lusts, and desires of human flesh. When this takes place the transformation is complete.

When God said in the promise of the New Covenant that He would write His laws on our hearts and minds, He was re-wiring us to change how we think and act. And by so doing He is dealing with our human passions.

We cannot overcome our passions without the help of God. He helps us by giving us the Holy Spirit whose job it is to transform us. We receive the power to overcome the weaknesses of our fleshly nature through the power of the Holy Spirit in us. When we are weak we can turn to the Holy Spirit for the power to overcome the weaknesses of our flesh. And as we do so more and more, we grow one of the most important fruits of the Spirit as defined in Galatians 5:22-23. We grow the fruit of self-control so that we do by nature what is right. Initially we may need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our weaknesses. But in due time as we exercise the power of the Spirit in our lives, the weaknesses are taken away so that we have control and we do what is right. It becomes part of our nature to reject the weaknesses and do the right thing. And this is the work of transformation that is offered in the promise of the New Covenant.

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