7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Commentary
Vs. 7 "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second."
The very fact that the first covenant failed to keep the Israelite's in a right relationship with God is the reason for God's Promises of bringing in a second. Now the "fault" with the first covenant is that it could do nothing about changing what was fundamentally wrong with the Old Covenant Israelite's, and all of us today, and that is our sin nature (and thus our Spiritually dead state because of it) that we have all inherited from Adam, and thus our separation from God because of it. For though the Law made temporary provisions for their sins, it did not provide a permanent solution for them (or us) to be reconciled back to God, and thus the Law did not resolve that fundamental problem of what was wrong with them and is wrong with us all and that is our sin nature and our inabilities to keep it.
Vs. 8 "Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—"
Therefore under the Old Covenant God could only find fault with them, because the Law required not just their obedience, but their ongoing blameless adherence to all of it's statutes, regulations, and commandments (consider Gal. 3:10-14; James 2:10), grace then is not something that comes to us through the Old Covenant, but only through the New Covenant do we find the grace of God (Rom 3:19-26; 4:4-8, 4:16; 5:1-2, 20-21; 6:14; 7:1-6; 11:5-6; Eph. 2:8-9 etc.).
It is clear then by the example of the Old Covenant Israelite's failures to keep His Covenant that God never intended for either them, or us, to be reconciled to Him by it, "but it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come", that is the Promised Seed first spoken of in Genesis 3:15, prophesied in greater detail in Isaiah 7:14, and then fulfilled with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:31-35; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:4-5). Who has by His own Sinless Life, Crucifixion death, and Resurrection from the dead not only made the everlasting atonement for all of our sins who believe in Him, but the Lord Jesus Christ has also paved the way for humanity to be reconciled back to God through Himself via the New Covenant by which God not only extends His grace to us, but He also by the regenerating work of His Holy Spirit gives us a new heart and mind, and thus sin and all of it's corrupting influence and power which has corrupted all of creation is no longer the dominating force in us who believe, but rather it is God's Spirit who not only sanctifies us, but He is the One who is also changing us from one glory to another, that is changing us from bearing the image of Adam to the image of Christ. Therefore the Law or Old Covenant by it's very nature does two very important things: First it shows us all our own sinful condition (Rom 7:7-12). And second it shows us all that there is absolutely nothing that we ourselves can do about it, to either change what is fundamentally wrong with ourselves and thus bring ourselves back into a reconciled relationship with God Himself. Something which every religion in the world seeks to do, and will always fail to do, because the only way to be reconciled to God and healed from the ravages of sin is through the work of God Himself through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what God in the Lord Jesus Christ through New Covenant promises to do, to first reconcile us to Himself by His grace alone, given to us all through His Son alone, the moment we believe in Him (Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:4-5). Then by His Spirit He regenerates us, bringing us to Spirit life and uniting us all who believe with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving us a new heart and new mind, and thus a new nature we are transformed from what we once were into a new creation, with new desires and new appetites (2 Cor 5:17). The Law then good in that it reveals to us God's Righteousness is often the means by which God brings us to Christ when we see ourselves as we really are, sinful and separated from God, and thus we see that there is nothing that we can do that would reconcile us back to God other then to repent and believe in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, who has already done everything that is necessary for us to be reconciled back to God the Father by faith in Himself. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
It is clear then by the example of the Old Covenant Israelite's failures to keep His Covenant that God never intended for either them, or us, to be reconciled to Him by it, "but it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come", that is the Promised Seed first spoken of in Genesis 3:15, prophesied in greater detail in Isaiah 7:14, and then fulfilled with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:31-35; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:4-5). Who has by His own Sinless Life, Crucifixion death, and Resurrection from the dead not only made the everlasting atonement for all of our sins who believe in Him, but the Lord Jesus Christ has also paved the way for humanity to be reconciled back to God through Himself via the New Covenant by which God not only extends His grace to us, but He also by the regenerating work of His Holy Spirit gives us a new heart and mind, and thus sin and all of it's corrupting influence and power which has corrupted all of creation is no longer the dominating force in us who believe, but rather it is God's Spirit who not only sanctifies us, but He is the One who is also changing us from one glory to another, that is changing us from bearing the image of Adam to the image of Christ. Therefore the Law or Old Covenant by it's very nature does two very important things: First it shows us all our own sinful condition (Rom 7:7-12). And second it shows us all that there is absolutely nothing that we ourselves can do about it, to either change what is fundamentally wrong with ourselves and thus bring ourselves back into a reconciled relationship with God Himself. Something which every religion in the world seeks to do, and will always fail to do, because the only way to be reconciled to God and healed from the ravages of sin is through the work of God Himself through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what God in the Lord Jesus Christ through New Covenant promises to do, to first reconcile us to Himself by His grace alone, given to us all through His Son alone, the moment we believe in Him (Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:4-5). Then by His Spirit He regenerates us, bringing us to Spirit life and uniting us all who believe with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving us a new heart and new mind, and thus a new nature we are transformed from what we once were into a new creation, with new desires and new appetites (2 Cor 5:17). The Law then good in that it reveals to us God's Righteousness is often the means by which God brings us to Christ when we see ourselves as we really are, sinful and separated from God, and thus we see that there is nothing that we can do that would reconcile us back to God other then to repent and believe in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, who has already done everything that is necessary for us to be reconciled back to God the Father by faith in Himself. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Vs. 9 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord."
Therefore when God made His promises of a New Covenant by which He would bring the houses of Judah and Israel back to Himself, (a reference to the divided nation of Israel that had separated itself into two factions during King Solomon's reign), He did so not according to the Old Covenant that He made with their fathers when He took them by the hand and brought out of Egypt; because they did not continue in it, that is the very things God commanded them to do they did not keep doing and the very things He commanded them not to do those they did! Therefore God disregarded them according to it (Lev 18:1-5), for the Israelite's in breaking the Covenant God made with them when He brought them out of Egypt left Him with no other recourse other then to bring in a New Covenant through which He could restore not only the Israelite's to Himself (Jeremiah 31:31-34 Ezekiel 16:60-63), but also all of believing humanity back to Himself (Isaiah 42:6-9; 49:6), which He has done through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ who is now the Covenant Bearer or Surety for us, and because He is the Covenant Bearer for us God has commanded our obedience to Him and Him alone (See Acts 3:11-26, vs. 23).
Vs. 10 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Whereas the Old Covenant (i.e. the Law) was righteous and holy and good, it gives us no inherent desires to want to keep it, but rather it only arouses and awakens the sin nature, and thus rather then defeating sin within us, sin is only made very real to us all through it (Rom 7:4-12). Therefore in the New Covenant God does something fundamentally different with us, and that is God puts His Laws in our minds and our hearts of us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this He does by His Holy Spirit who again is the One who both seals us for all eternity, but also He is the One who is sanctifying us by God's Word, and thus is transforming us into Christ likeness through the same (John 17:17, 19). Therefore no one who claims to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet is hostile to God's Unchanging and Everlasting moral decrees has been born of God, for God's Spirit always works in accord with His Word to make us His sanctified people.
Vs. 11 "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them."
In the Old Covenant economy people would like to say to each other, "Know the Lord" as an exhortation and appeal for people to keep God's commandments. However with the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the Old Covenant and ushering in the New, and thus with His Holy Spirit being poured out and into us all who believe in Him, there is no need for such exhortations amongst us who believe in Him. For we all Know Him, from the least of us to the greatest of us, for He by His Spirit indwells us all who believe in Him. And thus we all have a God given hunger for His Word, desiring to both here it, but also declare it, so that it might be obeyed by us, and by all. That is the state of every born again Christian. There is then only one kind of believing Christian and that is the one who knows God by God's grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and thus having all our sins washed away by the blood of Lamb of God through faith in His death on the Cross we have the washing and renewing by the Holy Spirit by which we are given new hearts and new minds, and thus we can now see things not from the fleshes, or this world's unregenerate perspectives, but from God's (1 Cor 2:13-16).
Vs. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
The superiority then of the New Covenant to the Old is self evident, for God never said to the Israelite's through the Old Covenant that He would be merciful to their unrighteousness, and all their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more, rather these promises now come to us all through the New Covenant which the Lord Jesus Christ ushered in. And so the New Covenant is not based on being maintained by the works of man, as was the nature of the Old Covenant, but rather the Work of God.
Vs. 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Therefore with the New Covenant being ushered in God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete. Thus the Old Covenant is no longer valid as a means for being in a Covenant relationship with God. We must all come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by "faith" in keeping or having kept some of the Old Covenant commandments, statutes, and or stipulations (Gal. 2:21). Therefore since God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete, it is growing old and is ready to vanish away. Believers then must resist and reject every inclination or word of man which would seek to put them back under the Law, as the Apostle did for the Gentile believers and the early church in Acts 15.
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Therefore when God made His promises of a New Covenant by which He would bring the houses of Judah and Israel back to Himself, (a reference to the divided nation of Israel that had separated itself into two factions during King Solomon's reign), He did so not according to the Old Covenant that He made with their fathers when He took them by the hand and brought out of Egypt; because they did not continue in it, that is the very things God commanded them to do they did not keep doing and the very things He commanded them not to do those they did! Therefore God disregarded them according to it (Lev 18:1-5), for the Israelite's in breaking the Covenant God made with them when He brought them out of Egypt left Him with no other recourse other then to bring in a New Covenant through which He could restore not only the Israelite's to Himself (Jeremiah 31:31-34 Ezekiel 16:60-63), but also all of believing humanity back to Himself (Isaiah 42:6-9; 49:6), which He has done through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ who is now the Covenant Bearer or Surety for us, and because He is the Covenant Bearer for us God has commanded our obedience to Him and Him alone (See Acts 3:11-26, vs. 23).
Vs. 10 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Whereas the Old Covenant (i.e. the Law) was righteous and holy and good, it gives us no inherent desires to want to keep it, but rather it only arouses and awakens the sin nature, and thus rather then defeating sin within us, sin is only made very real to us all through it (Rom 7:4-12). Therefore in the New Covenant God does something fundamentally different with us, and that is God puts His Laws in our minds and our hearts of us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this He does by His Holy Spirit who again is the One who both seals us for all eternity, but also He is the One who is sanctifying us by God's Word, and thus is transforming us into Christ likeness through the same (John 17:17, 19). Therefore no one who claims to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet is hostile to God's Unchanging and Everlasting moral decrees has been born of God, for God's Spirit always works in accord with His Word to make us His sanctified people.
Vs. 11 "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them."
In the Old Covenant economy people would like to say to each other, "Know the Lord" as an exhortation and appeal for people to keep God's commandments. However with the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the Old Covenant and ushering in the New, and thus with His Holy Spirit being poured out and into us all who believe in Him, there is no need for such exhortations amongst us who believe in Him. For we all Know Him, from the least of us to the greatest of us, for He by His Spirit indwells us all who believe in Him. And thus we all have a God given hunger for His Word, desiring to both here it, but also declare it, so that it might be obeyed by us, and by all. That is the state of every born again Christian. There is then only one kind of believing Christian and that is the one who knows God by God's grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and thus having all our sins washed away by the blood of Lamb of God through faith in His death on the Cross we have the washing and renewing by the Holy Spirit by which we are given new hearts and new minds, and thus we can now see things not from the fleshes, or this world's unregenerate perspectives, but from God's (1 Cor 2:13-16).
Vs. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
The superiority then of the New Covenant to the Old is self evident, for God never said to the Israelite's through the Old Covenant that He would be merciful to their unrighteousness, and all their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more, rather these promises now come to us all through the New Covenant which the Lord Jesus Christ ushered in. And so the New Covenant is not based on being maintained by the works of man, as was the nature of the Old Covenant, but rather the Work of God.
Vs. 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Therefore with the New Covenant being ushered in God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete. Thus the Old Covenant is no longer valid as a means for being in a Covenant relationship with God. We must all come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by "faith" in keeping or having kept some of the Old Covenant commandments, statutes, and or stipulations (Gal. 2:21). Therefore since God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete, it is growing old and is ready to vanish away. Believers then must resist and reject every inclination or word of man which would seek to put them back under the Law, as the Apostle did for the Gentile believers and the early church in Acts 15.
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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