The New Covenant - Life in the Spirit

Hebrews 8:10 -This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The writer in Chapters 7-9 compares the Old covenant and the new. In particular he highlights the work of our Lord on the cross and how He established the New Covenant.

Hebrews 9:12 -....but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. Jesus by His sacrifice on the cross established the new covenant. 

The writer tells us that the old covenant was found wanting.  I see three issues that was difficult in the old covenant.

1.   The continuous offering of sacrifices. Hebrews 7:27 tells us that the sacrifices were to be offered daily, not only for the people but also for the priest who is making the offering on behalf of the people. And the procedure was so elaborate as we see in the Torah. The tabernacle, the ordinances of washing and the procedures for the offering were essential but cumbersome.

2.   It was self-centric. The Ten Commandments were a good example. It's all about "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not". It's what I have to do and not to do. I have to bring the sacrifices, I have to obey the laws, I have to live in accordance with the commandments. It was all "self". 

3.   It was impossible to fulfil.  We all know it's impossible to keep all the law.The Apostle Paul described it best in Romans 7:14-17 - So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.  But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

The Old Covenant was to make it absolutely clear that no man is righteous before God and that no one can save himself. But  what the Old Covenant did was to point us for the need of a saviour, the messiah Jesus Christ Himself.

But with the New Covenant, every thing changed. Its no more I but God. See what the writer tell us:

  • I will make a new covenant
  • I will put my laws in their minds
  • I will write them on their hearts
  • I will be their God
Because we couldn't keep the law on our own, now through the finished work of our Lord on the cross and by His resurrection, the New Covenant comes into effect where it is God who enables us through His Holy Spirit to fulfil the law. For now I live by the Spirit that dwells in me to bear the fruit of the Spirit. It changes my character from the inside. The Old Covenant was all about the outward ordnances but the New Covenant does the transformation  from the inside. And if we really understand this truth, our lives will never be the same again. 

Galatians 3:20 -It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

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