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The New Covenant

Today’s Scripture passage was written to God’s Jewish people many years after the Old Covenant was instituted. No one knew this prophecy would include the Gentiles—non-Jews. God tells us in verse 32 that the New Covenant would not be like the Old Covenant; it would be very different. The big takeaway from that is that the Old Covenant was temporary and external and didn’t work. The New Covenant is eternal and internal and does work.

Here are the three pillars of the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31:

1. Who we are in Christ. In the New Covenant, God writes his law on our hearts, meaning his character is placed in our hearts. This is why we are as righteous as Jesus. It’s why we don’t need the external law of the Old Covenant. It’s why we’re no longer dead but are alive in Christ!

2. Who Christ is in us. In the New Covenant, God spiritually united himself to us. This union means we are always close to God and can never get any closer. It also means we can enjoy intimacy with him 24/7.

3. Our eternal, complete forgiveness. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our sins are so forgiven that God doesn’t remember them—ever. This means he never holds them against us because we are forgiven for every sin—past, present, and future—from the moment of our salvation. 

Read today’s verses one more time while you ask yourself this question: What is God’s part in the New Covenant and what is your part?

You didn’t find your part because it’s not there. God does his part and he does your part! God made a covenant with himself and we are the beneficiaries. 

We are to “do” only one thing in the New Covenant: simply believe. Just as obedience was the condition in the Old Covenant, faith is the condition in the New Covenant. In other words, we are to believe for our salvation and we are to live by faith from then on, relying on Christ in us.

Obedience to God is still important. But as Christians living under the New Covenant, we obey God by faith because we are already blessed, not to get blessed.

Throughout the day today, prayerfully think about what it means for you to live by faith in all things—making decisions, relating to others, doing your work, and everything else