Sometimes people are skeptical of new things—new cars are too complicated, the “new math” is too confusing for people taught “the old way.” For many, “there’s no school like the old school,” and they aren’t necessarily wrong.
But what about the new covenant? Is the new covenant better than the old one or just different? Why do we need a new one? These are essential questions for Christians to know the answers to.
To answer those questions, let’s establish some basic facts from Jeremiah 31.
1. The Time of the Covenant
“Look, the days are coming!”
Beginning with verse 27 and continuing to verse 40, this section is divided into three parts, each part starting with the words, “Look, the days are coming!” So it seems apparent that we are meant to read these verses thinking of the future. In other words, we’re encouraged not just to look back to the Jews but forward to Christ.
For example, in verses 27-30, we’re told that Israel and Judah will be reunited and restored, and God will restore even their crops and livestock. In verses 29-30, we’re told that in the future, people will no longer blame their ancestors for their present situation but will take personal responsibility and “never again” say it’s their ancestor’s fault for the mess they’re in. That time hasn’t fully come yet.
In verses 38-40, the focus is on the New Jerusalem. The places mentioned, like the tower of Hananel, the Corner Gate, the Hill of Gareb, etc., are all areas in and around Jerusalem that God promises will be holy and never again uprooted or demolished. That hasn’t been entirely fulfilled yet, either.
So the point is there is a time coming when God will dwell with his people in perfect holiness, in the permanent absence of sin for all eternity, in a city that will never be destroyed. When Jeremiah wrote about the new covenant with the words, “Look, the days are coming,” he was referring to a time in the future that would begin with Jesus Christ, be fulfilled in him, but not wholly consummated until his final return with all of the saints in glory.
2. The Maker of the Covenant
“This is the Lord’s declaration.”
In verse 31, it’s important to note that the Lord says he makes the New Covenant. “This is the Lord’s declaration” means that humanity didn’t think up the idea of a covenant; God did. This may seem like an obvious point, but some people act as if their covenant relationship with God is established on their terms—but that’s not the way it works. The terms of the new covenant are initiated and kept by God himself.
3. The Name of the Covenant
“A new covenant”
To better understand what’s new about the new covenant, we need to define the words carefully. Although the term “covenant” can be defined differently depending on who you talk to, I think this one covers it pretty well: “a binding relationship of eternal consequence in which God promises to bless, and his people promise to obey.”
A covenant is a binding relationship. The terms of obedience bind it, and God promises to bless while his people promise to obey.
Before the new covenant, there were old covenants with Adam (Gen 2:16-17), with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), with Abraham (Gen 17:4, 7), with Moses (Exodus 20:1-2), and with David. And when God established these covenants, there was always the expectation of obedience. Even with Abraham, faith and obedience go hand in hand. Abraham obeyed by leaving his country and drawing the knife to sacrifice his son, for example.
But it is primarily the covenant with Moses that Jeremiah refers to in verse 32. Jeremiah says that the new covenant…
…will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration.
Note that God promised to save his people from slavery under the old covenant with Moses. But once he saved them, they were supposed to keep the ten commandments. God did his part, but the covenant was broken when the Israelites failed to do theirs.
Before Moses could even get back down the mountain with the ten commandments, the people broke the covenant by worshiping a golden calf. Then, in anger, Moses threw the tablets on the ground, breaking the covenant into pieces. After that, of course, God mercifully renewed his covenant with them again, but every time, God’s people kept breaking it.
So the problem with the old covenant wasn’t the covenant itself but with the people and their inability to keep it. That’s what it says in Hebrews 8:7-8.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant...
So the new covenant is “new” primarily because of who keeps it. The old covenant is not abolished but fulfilled by Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 13:8 and Matthew 5:17). Being fulfilled by Jesus is what makes it a new covenant.
4. The Parties of the New Covenant
“I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
From verse 31, it’s evident that the parties of the new covenant are the house of Israel and the house of Judah. But remember, the time of the new covenant is in the future, and the primary fulfillment takes place through Jesus Christ. This has a bearing on who the parties of the new covenant are.
Paul in Romans 9:4-5 acknowledges that “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.” But he also says in Galatians 3:28 that there is a singular new covenant people of God, including the people of Israel but not limited to them.
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
The parties of the new covenant aren’t the physical people of Israel necessarily but all who are one in Christ Jesus. Therefore, if you belong to Christ, you are a part of the covenant promises no matter what your ethnic background is.
As it says in Romans 11, those belonging to the new covenant have been “grafted in,” which is cause for celebration, but not for arrogance. Paul goes on to say in Romans 11:21, “if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” So, while we are grafted in by faith, we must keep believing in Christ; otherwise, we too may be cut off.
5. The Nature of the New Covenant
“I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts…I will be their God, and they will be my people…they will all know me…I will forgive their iniquity.”
Briefly, there are five things about the nature of the new covenant starting in verse 33.
A) The new covenant is an internal, not an external covenant.
When God says he “will put his teaching within them,” he means that the new covenant won’t be dependent on external law. Instead, the law will be a fundamental, internal part of us under the new covenant.
B) The New Covenant teaching is written on the heart.
The main problem with humanity is that we have a heart problem. Humanity has hearts that are not inclined to obey God.
God solves our heart problem by giving his people new hearts and minds. Rather than the law being imposed upon people who don’t want to keep it, which is what an external law does, people under the new covenant have their disposition toward the law changed. Those that are under the new covenant want to obey God.
The Holy Spirit changes the heart as it says in Hebrews 10:15–16.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says: This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds.
In other words, under the new covenant, obedience is a fruit, not a condition. Bearing the good fruit of obedience to the law becomes a natural result for those who belong to the new covenant because the law is written in our hearts.
C) The new covenant gives people intimate knowledge of and fellowship with God.
“I will be their God, and they will be my people” (verse 33) means when God makes a covenant with his people, he makes a promise to give them himself. Through the new covenant, God gives us his friendship and fellowship. In other words, he gives us intimacy because Christ dwells within us through the Holy Spirit.
D) The new covenant means people will no longer say “know the Lord.”
Jeremiah 31:34 says,
No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
It’s exciting to know that when the final fulfillment of the new covenant occurs, there will no longer be a need for evangelism. We won’t need to share the gospel with anyone because everyone will know it. This prophecy is already being fulfilled in the church in a limited way, but obviously, there’s still so much to look forward to.
E) The new covenant means everlasting forgiveness of sins.
Jeremiah 31:34 says, “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.” Contrasted with the old, the New Covenant deals with sin not through dead animals but through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The old covenant relied on sacrifices, but the new covenant depends on Jesus, which is everlasting.
Hebrews 10:11–12 says,
Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. But this man [Jesus], after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
The old covenant dealt with sin temporarily. For example, after sacrificing an animal, a person was “clean,” but only until the next time they sinned, which wasn’t very long. But with the new covenant, our sins are permanently forgiven. From God’s point of view, it’s as if we never sinned at all.
6. The Duration of the Covenant
“If this fixed order departs from before me…only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever.”
The unchanging purpose of God is reflected in the fixed order of the universe. How long will the new covenant last? The answer is in verses 35-37.
“This is what the Lord says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar— the Lord of Armies is his name: If this fixed order departs from before me— this is the Lord’s declaration— only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever. “This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done— this is the Lord’s declaration.
The likelihood of God’s new covenant ending for his people is about as likely as the fundamental nature of the universe changing. We could say the new covenant is going to last “until pigs fly” or “until you can squeeze water from a stone.” In other words, it’s never going to end.
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7. The Guarantor of the Covenant
“This is the Lord’s declaration.”
A guarantor guarantees something, and the guarantor of the new covenant is God himself. Throughout Jeremiah 31:31–40, God says, “this is the Lord’s declaration.” He says it nine times to show that he is the one who guarantees the success of the New Covenant.
We see this also in Hebrews 6:17–18 which says,
Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.
One of the main differences between the new covenant and the old is that the new covenant is not a contract where we do our part, and God does his. The guarantor of the new covenant is God himself. This is the best news ever because if left up to us, we would break the covenant, again and again, leaving the “contract” null and void. That’s what happened in the past, and it’s why we need a new covenant.
The only way for the new covenant to be eternal is for Jesus Christ to keep it on our behalf. The new covenant is not an agreement between God and us but one between the Father and the Son—on our behalf.
Jesus Christ keeps the covenant for his people so that those who are in Christ receive all the benefits. So what is left for us to do? Only believe. Trust in Christ and his keeping of the new covenant.