Understanding the New Covenant Part Two ~ By Eudora Nachand

Posted on February 20, 2012 by eudoranachand

Let’s review what the covenant say’s to refresh our minds.

Hebrews 10:16-18  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

He is our God, and we shall be His people.

Our lives are better lived through our attention being on what the Holy Spirit teaches us.  Not what man teaches because man has obviously gotten this all-wrong. Man is still bent to serve God the way that He wants to and not the way that is prescribed by the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, let us look at this scripture by scripture in order to gain the truth of what is written here.  It is imperative that we know what the covenant is that we have between us and the living God.

Jesus told His disciples that the Spirit of all Truth will guide them into all the truth and announce the events of the future.  He is pre-authenticating the New Testament scriptures that they will have written after His death, those we now hold in our hands.

John 16:13 Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.

Beginning in  Hebrews 8:6 ¶ But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Just so you know, the author of Hebrews did not make any of this up about the new Covenant.  This was first announced by God through the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah. You can read about it in Jeremiah 31:27-40.

To keep us on track, lets remind ourselves of who the ‘He’ is in this text of Hebrews 8:6. Who is ‘He’ that obtained a more excellent ministry?   Lord Yahushua, Christ Jesus is the One who mediates the New Covenant first mentioned by Jeremiah the Prophet of God.  Why?  The first reason I can think of is that Isaiah said that He would magnify the law and make it honorable.

Isaiah 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

God is speaking through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah that for Israel’s sake, He will magnify the law and make it honorable. This is exactly what He did.  When Jesus taught the law, He expounded it.

Here is an example: Matthew 5:21 ¶ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Jesus quoted the original law.  Now in the next five verses He is going to fill it up, magnify it, expand it and give it more meaning for our understanding.

Matthew 5:22-26 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

See how His ministry is excellent?  He does not just say, “thou shall not kill”. Christ Jesus goes into detail to tell how to rectify a situation before it gets out of hand and how to solve the issue before God first and then with the person.  If we have not yet repented before God for what we have done, anything we do after that will not be cleansed. If our heart is not right before God, we cannot expect anything else to be honored by Him. Remember… If we regard any iniquity in our heart, Yahwey will not hear our prayer. We can not consider, inspect or perceive any trouble, wickedness or idolatry in our heart. {Psalm 66:18}

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. ~ Romans 8:27

The “mind” of the Spirit means “from the point of view” of the Spirit – we must look at all things from His point of view, not ours. The fleshly point of view, or the MIND of the flesh, does not wish to be controlled by anything but its own rebellious nature:

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Paul is saying we are no longer under the harsh subjection of legalism but are now under a gracious subjection unto the same law, put into our heart and written into our minds.

What Paul is saying here is that we are not under legalism. How do I know this? The word law here is from a primary word of nemo (to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), genitive case (regulation), specially, (of Moses (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively (a principle): –law.

We need to know this because where there is no law, there is no violation. We know that the only reason we need salvation is that we have committed a violation. That is why the law is fed to all, so that all reach the same conclusion that we cannot obey God through legalism, our own self efforts. We NEED the mind of the Spirit to do this, to be observant to all of God’s Instructions in the Law.  Torah is God’s Instruction, His ways.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

When a person is trusting in God by the mind of the Spirit,  this is the evidence that God’s grace has in fact come to apply individually to the one who is trusting and activating their faith.  God can mold a willing heart, mind, body and soul so that we become of God’s making, able to carry out the good actions already prepared by God for us to do. If we ‘do not’ do these good actions,  it shows that we are not believers after all because there is no faith apart from works and we are not a channel for God’s grace upon the earth.

There is only one way that this can happen and it is because God decided long ago that He would use the Holy Spirit to write the law upon our hearts.

This was prophesied through the mouth of Jeremiah in the Old Testament, having been brought back into our memories in the New Testament, through the author of the book of Hebrews in this chapter.

God says here: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

This begs for our complete attention. Unless we have blinders on, we see that it must be the same law that God gave unto Moses that will be put into our hearts and minds where God will write the law. We know this because God gave no other law and He makes the declaration, that the law that will be written in our hearts is ‘His’ law.

Having the Torah, the law, the teachings of God written in one’s mind and put on one’s heart is scriptural language for being holy or righteous. The path to holiness is a life long process that first begins with trusting God that His Son Yahushua is indeed His Son.

Believers do not suddenly become perfect.  A genuine follower of Yahushua will have an inner desire to please God; so that he or she can begin to comprehend more and more of what God wants and expects of him or her.  We will be increasingly prepared and empowered by the Holy Spirit who has taken up residence inside of us.  On the other hand, a professed follower of Yahushua still has his rightful freedom to do as he or she will and can resist the finger of God, writing on his heart.  Unfortunately, many will.

“I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them,”

We find that we are not under a legal obligation to keep the law for salvations sake because we know that the law cannot save us. It never could. It is and will always remain to be, that we are saved through the blood of Jesus that became a covering for our sin, our transgression against the known will of Yahwey.

REMEMBER:   Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. ~ Romans 8:27

Not only is our High Priest praying for the saints, the mind of the Spirit helps us be obedient to the will of God even when we consciously do not know how to do it.

This bears repeating: The “mind” of the Spirit means “from the point of view” of the Spirit – we must look at all things from His point of view, not ours. The fleshly point of view, or the MIND of the flesh, does not wish to be controlled by anything but its own rebellious nature:

We find that we are not under a legal obligation to keep the law for salvations sake because we know that the law cannot save us. It never could. It is and will always remain to be, that we are saved through the blood of Jesus that became a covering for our sin.

Moving on:  Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

I think I have actually covered this, but I really want to point this out so that it is not forgotten. It was ‘not’ God that broke the first covenant, nor did He or Jesus do away with it.   It was the PEOPLE.  It was God who found fault with the people, not with His law.

This can only make sense here in this passage because if Jesus came and did away with the law, why would God have used a prophet to tell mankind that the day would come when He would put ‘the law’ into the hearts and minds of the people, if the law was done away with?

We have to think logically.  This is why there is this warning here to not let man teach us what the Holy Spirit will reveal because the Holy Spirit reveals what is truth.

Man does not accept truth when it does not suit his own interest.

REMEMBER what John the revelator told us?  “Blessed are they that ‘do’ His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”  He did not even say keep, John the revelator said,  “blessed are that that ‘do’ His commandments”.

It was the unfaithful conduct of the people that robbed the law of its significance and it is still going on to this day.

People don’t want to be under what they perceive to be bondage because they like the freedom to do what ever they please.  But I gotta ask here,  why would God take folks out of the bondage in Egypt just to put them into bondage again to His laws that they ended up breaking anyway?

Therefore, God made a New Covenant, through the blood of His Son, Jesus.  This is why it is so crucial for us to understand this because we too are in jeopardy of breaking covenant with God, if we do away with His law, statutes and commandments.

The same could happen to us, just like what was happening to the folks who were the recipients of this letter.  (Hebrews) They were being tempted to break covenant with God, to do away with everything that they were taught.

By placing His Torah, His law, His teachings in the heart of man and writing the Law in people’s minds, Yahwey is accomplishing precisely what the Sh’ma requires.

What is the Sh’ma you may be asking?   Sh’ma is the passage  that begins with the words,  “Hear O Israel“ because this is what Sh‘ma means. To listen and give heed.   When we read these words, the people are to awaken, tip their ear and hear what follows because the words that follow are specifically to be heard, to keep and to do them and be taught from generation to generation.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9  ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Did we notice what this Sh’ma said that pertains to what we are reading in this letter to the Hebrews?

And ‘these words’, which I command thee this day, shall be ‘in thine heart’:

So you see, God’s covenant people have always been expected to know God and to carry forward His purposes from their heart.

Yahwey has made this knowledge available in lots of ways and it will eventually be complete, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Even though it is not yet, some of us know partly. It is in my opinion that either when the Two Witness mentioned in Revelation come and make this knowledge known to everyone or when Yahushua returns, then we will know fully, just as Yahwey has fully known us.

Under the renewed and better Covenant, God forgives and forgets people’s sins.  According to the scriptures, the need of forgiveness of sin is the main issue that has plagued human history.  It arises at the beginning in the book of Genesis 2:17 and is not fully resolved until Revelation 20:15.

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

WHY?

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

So, what the author is telling us in this present letter, is that the Old Covenant provided a way of having sins forgiven, in connection with the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system, but the renewed covenant is a better covenant because it provides a way that is better through the heavenly priesthood and sacrificial system in that Elohim will remember our sins no more because Yahushua has become the perfect Lamb of God.

Elohim treats humanity with the same kindness, and regards them with sincere affection, but in the renewed covenant, it is as if our sins ceased to be remembered, or, which is the same thing, as if we had never sinned.

However, the intent has not changed, in that Elohim uses the law to carry out faithfully His original covenantal purposes, the promise that He made earlier to the Jewish people. The only difference is that the body of Christ enjoys the blessings now because we are led by the Spirit of God, who works with in our hearts and minds, reminding us to cleave only unto the Lord and to do His good will and not be a people who practice lawlessness.

Of course, we can only practice the doing of law by the power of the Holy Spirit who leads us unto everlasting life.  The first covenant did not contain the power of the Holy Spirit to keep the people faithful.

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Even though the conduct of the folks who traveled in the wilderness were the unfaithful people who robbed the law of its significance and did brake covenant with God, they had neither the authority nor the capacity to abolish the law, since it was God Himself who established it forever.

Something I would like to bring to your attention is that this world and its leaders and teachers are still to this day trying to ‘vanish away’ God teaching and His law.  No matter how hard folks try, it remains. No Supreme Court could ever change the Law of God, even if they “THINK” it does.  Yahushua will return to set up His Kingdom.  After that, we will all be ruled by the One Law, the Law of Elohim that has never changed.

Man, can ‘THINK’ to change times and laws, but because they are now being placed in the heart and mind of humanity, as long as we have breath, the law remains.  Not to mention but I will, God’s word is eternal.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

What actually did vanish away from the earth shortly after this author’s writing was the priesthood, at least for a while.  Nevertheless, in a sense it really didn’t because Yahushua became the High Priest in the sanctuary on high { The Heavenly Sanctuary } and stands in the gap for all who dwell upon the earth.

God’s unchangeable nature stands behind the Old Covenant in that the promise of the New Covenant provides something new:  ‘For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more’.

Because the Old Covenant contained the penalty that required death should anyone break covenant with God, the New Covenant is better because our High Priest Yahushua saved us from the law of sin and death.

Sin and death are no longer that standard because God is merciful to our unrighteousness and our sin and iniquity, He will no longer remember.  Yahushua paid our sin debt.

What better promise can there be?

I want to clear up one of the biggest misunderstandings regarding verse 13. Because Yahwey is using the term ‘New’, He has automatically made the first covenant ‘Old’.  Yes, it really is that simple. He never wrote a different law or a new one.  It is called the New Covenant using the same laws originally written. It is not called the New Law.

What are the main benefits of the New Covenant?

#1.  This covenant between man and God are now inward, written in our heart and not on tablets of stone.  It is God, through the power of the Holy Spirit who delivers His teachings into our mind for understanding and inscribes them into our heart for observance and doing. We do not have to ‘keep’ anything.  Elohim’s word is not going anywhere. His word endures forever.

#2.  In this covenant, He becomes our God and we become His people with a close relationship brought about by the intimacy of the Spirit of God.  All Israel shall be saved.

#3.  Back in the day, parents taught their children the law. That is no longer necessary in order to know the LORD.  The Holy Spirit teaches us everything we need to know. All will know the Lord from the least to the greatest and we do not need man to teach us. The Holy Spirit is more than capable. The mind of the Spirit will teach us to do God’s will; His Spirit is good and will lead us into the land of uprightness because we are God’s children and He is our Father.  He is our God and we shall be His people. He is placing His Law in our inward parts.

#4.  I already mentioned this but it bares repeating. The first covenant held a penalty for not observing it. In this covenant, God does not remember our sins.  Once the Holy Spirit brings a sin to our attention, we repent, we are forgiven.  It need not arise again if we have truly repented.  If it does come up again,  either we have not truly repented or the enemy is trying to bring it up but therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We repent and keep moving forward.

Finally, I want to share an ephiany.  Back in the day on the Day of Atonement that occurred once a year, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and make atonement first for himself and then for all of Israel, for the debt of sin.  Everyone in the camp would stand on the outside of the tabernacle waiting for the priest to come out of the sanctuary to see if he remained alive and if he did, that meant that their sin and his was forgiven for that year.

We who have our High Priest in heavens sanctuary, who made atonement for our sin, ‘once for all’, is the same High Priest that we are awaiting to come out of heavens sanctuary to bring our reward for remission (forgiveness) of sin.  He said that when He comes, He is bringing with Him the reward that He will give.  (Revelation 22:12-13)

And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. ~ Yahushua HaMachiac

I hope this has blessed you and given you the freedom that we were always meant to live and walk in.

Related articles

https://eudoranachand.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/all-israel-shall-be-saved/

About eudoranachand

A Spirit filled disciple who continually seeks His kingdom and His righteousness.
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