“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 in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, 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. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
–Jeremiah 31:31-34
When God established the Hebrews as His people, he made a covenant (agreement) with them concerning how to behave as His covenant people.
This covenant was originally based on God’s promises to ABRAHAM (with whom God made the original agreement), who was the anscestor of the Hebrews. (Abraham was originally known as ABRAM, before his name changed to ABRAHAM as part of the covenant agreement.)
This agreement was explained in Genesis 17.
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. (Abraham means “father of a great multitude.”)
“And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
“And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. (Sarah means “princess.”) And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: (Isaac means “one who laughs.”) and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”
–Genesis 17:1-21
AND, this agreement was with the Hebrews EXCLUSIVELY: no other tribes or nations were involved.
God’s covenant with the descendants of Abraham (the Hebrews) involved CIRCUMCISION as a sign of obedience to the covenant agreement. And God had MOSES deliver the Ten Commandments to the Hebrews as a guide (law) to behavior which was good and acceptable to God.
In return, God watched over and protected the Hebrews.
All in all, a good arrangement.
Except for ONE thing.
The Hebrews kept breaking their end of the bargain. Try as they might, they could not keep those Ten Commandments.
But God–inhabiting all points in time, past, present and future–KNEW beforehand that the Ten Commandments could not be kept by the Hebrews–or any other man.
God–who created man–made man from the dust (dirt) of the earth. So, man is inherently wicked.
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
–Romans 3:10-12
BUT, besides being a guide for how to live a righteous life, the Ten Commandments were ALSO a teaching TOOL of God’s. Over the centuries, they taught the Hebrews that NO MAN can keep the Ten Commandments; that NO MAN is good enough to warrant eternal salvation; that EVERY MAN needs God’s mercy/grace and EVERY MAN needs a savior.
AND SO, God promised the Hebrews that He would update their agreement: that He would bring about a NEW COVENANT; a BETTER COVENANT.
This declaration by God was recorded in Jeremiah 31.
“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 in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, 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. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
–Jeremiah 31:31-34
To seal this new covenant, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice ACCEPTABLE TO GOD for man’s wicked behavior–FOR ALL TIME.
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
–Matthew 20:28
The new covenant was a BETTER one for several reasons. A few of these reason are:
1- God sent His Holy Spirit to reside within the believer’s body.
This did not automatically give the believer a total victory over sin, but it gave the believer a COMPASS which unerringly provided him with INNER INFORMATION about which behaviors were sinful. With God’s Holy Spirit as a guide, the believer KNEW when he was sinning and could immediately confess his sin to God–who would then dispense mercy for that sinful behavior.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. “
–1JOHN 1:7-10
Previously, certain folks received the Holy Spirit temporarily (such as Sampson), but NOW, all believers received the Spirit of God as part of the NEW COVENANT.
2- Man NOW explicitly depended WHOLELY upon the mercy and grace of God. NO LONGER did man have to spend time, effort and concern over trying to be “good enough.” Those of the NEW COVENANT knew they were not good and ONLY were acceptable to God because of God’s great mercy.
Eternal salvation was ALWAYS a matter of God extending mercy to sinful man. The new covenant made this mercy VERY clear.
“For by grace (mercy) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
–Ephesians 2:8-9
3- Jesus was not only a sacrifice of the new covenant, He also afterwards became an intercessor for ALL who put their faith in Him. After He ascended to heaven, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for all those who are His.
“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
–Romans 8:34
4- The new covenant was made with ALL men, not just the Hebrews. Therefore, ALL men were now eligible to receive God’s great mercy and be eternally saved from torment.
There are other additional reasons the new covenant is a BETTER covenant.
As Hebrews 8 explains:
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when 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 in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
–Hebrews 8:7-13
And now, ALL men can take advantage of God’s GREAT mercy by putting their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
HAS the reader taken advantage of the upgrades in the better covenant?
WHY or WHY NOT?
It is not YET too late: there is still time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.
DOES the reader believe he is saved?
Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival
DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: January 19, 2021.]
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
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