We are going to 2 Corinthians on Sunday mornings soon, but I don’t want to go there until vacation season is over.
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This morning, we’re going to unpack (exegete and exposit) Jeremiah 31:31–34 for all its worth. Do you know what’s there without looking? There is a series of Scripture passages that are crazy important, beginning in Genesis 3:15 and moving forward; in a sense, they all look forward to a Person and a Promise. And Jeremiah 31:31–34 is the heart of all those incredible promises. Here are some simple ideas about this New Covenant (NC) that you will want to commit to memory.
1. This is all Yahweh. The NC is unconditional. Look how many “I will” statements are in this text.
2. The NC is new. The NC has that new car smell. There are no miles on the odometer. Despite what our Presbyterian brothers teach, it is not a continuation of a previous or existing covenant.
3. The NC is NOT like the covenant God made with Israel on Mt. Sinai. Think about how significant that language is. We all use the “no, it’s NOT like” language when describing something. Describing what something is NOT is often as helpful as describing what it is.
4. The NC is inward and individual. The language in v. 33 is “within them.” The New Covenant is made with a covenant people, but its blessings are individually experienced by every member of that people.
5. The change in covenants, Mosaic to New, brings a new Law. I am going to devote a sermon and a bulletin note to this point alone.
6. The NC is transformative. The New Covenant promises a “new heart.” The “new creation” in Christ Jesus comes directly out of the promise of a “new heart” in Ezekiel 11:19:
And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.
7. The NC promises the believer the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are the tabernacle of God.
8. But not just indwelling—it’s EMPOWERING. We see this in Ezekiel 36:27. Notice the words “I will cause you to walk.”
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
9. The NC is everlasting and exclusive. Jeremiah 32:40 makes it clear that the NC is everlasting. Only those who have been spiritually born again are part of this New Covenant community. These are people of God whose Lord and Savior is Jesus.
10. Yahweh promises amnesty (a pardon, forgiveness) to every member of this NC community. We see this in the last sentence of Jeremiah 31:34. Yahweh promises, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” And there is the promise of amnesia—I will remember their sin no more. This is why Paul can write, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Jesus’s bloody death on a cross 2000+ years ago ratified this eternal covenant.
Finally, I would be negligent if I did not remind you that the Person and Work of Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, Yahweh in the flesh, the one Mediator, makes all this possible.
