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The Daily Word of Righteousness
How the New Covenant Operates, #2
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: (Hebrews 8:8)
The new covenant can be made only with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The new covenant, the Christian covenant, cannot be made with a Gentile. Until we are willing to become part of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Israel in the purest sense, we cannot participate in the new covenant. We must become part of the holy olive tree of which Abraham and Sarah were the root.
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: (Hebrews 8:10)
The new covenant occurs as God writes His laws (the Torah ) in our mind and heart. The new covenant is not primarily forgiveness, as it is presented today, but moral change. The writing of God's laws in our mind and heart results in righteous behavior on our part. The Divine Law is always correctly expressed in behavior, not in knowledge.
It is not enough to know that the Word of God teaches we should behave justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. There is no benefit until we begin to practice upright behavior, delight in showing mercy, and humbly look to the Lord for every detail of life.
It is not enough to know that if any person is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. There is no salvation in knowing this fact. The covenant operates as our old fallen nature is actually crucified with Christ and the resurrection Life of Christ takes its place.
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. (Hebrews 8:11)
The new covenant will find fulfillment when every member of God's elect, God's Israel, needs no further teaching but knows God for himself.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12)
The new covenant includes forgiveness ("For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more"). The promise of forgiveness comes at the end of the passage. This is because in God's mind the goal of the new covenant is not forgiveness but the transformation of people into the righteous moral image of Christ.
When the Apostles preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, as in the Book of Acts, their primary emphasis was on repentance (turning away from sin) and forgiveness of sin, not just forgiveness of sin but repentance and forgiveness of sin. Initial repentance and forgiveness are necessary because there is no way in which the righteous Nature of Christ can be developed in a human being until first he has turned away from his worldly ways and then has been forgiven through the atonement made by the Lord on the cross.
To be continued.