What is the New Covenant?

(Vv. 6-9). Not only does Christ exercise a more excellent ministry in heaven, but He is the Mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises. Of this new covenant the Apostle speaks in verses 6-13.

A covenant sets forth the terms on which two people can be in relation with each other. Scripture speaks of two great covenants between God and men, the old covenant and the new, the covenant of law and the covenant of grace. Both the old and the new covenants set forth the terms on which God can bless His earthly people. The great difference between the covenants is that under the terms of the first covenant the blessing depended upon man doing his part, whereas under the second covenant the blessing is secured by the unconditional promise of God. The mediatorial work of Christ lays a righteous basis for God to bless the believer in sovereign grace according to the terms of the new covenant.

Now it is very evident that in this passage we have the prophet who completely rejects such a thought and who shows that there is to be a vast change of covenant relationship. It will be no dishonour to the law of Moses that God will establish a new covenant under the Messiah; in fact Moses himself predicted it. He foretold that the Lord God was to raise up a prophet like to himself, but although like to him, superior to him (Deut. 18:15, 18). There would be no superiority in this prophet if he did not introduce a new state of things, that is, the new covenant. Moses brought in the old covenant. Christ will bring in the new covenant.

I do not say we, Christians, have got the new covenant itself, but we have got the blood of the new covenant. We have that on which the new covenant is founded. The new covenant itself supposes the land of Israel blessed and the house of Israel delivered, but neither the one nor the other has become true yet. The new covenant supposes certain spiritual blessings, namely, the law of God written in the heart and our sins forgiven. These spiritual parts of the new covenant we have received now, along with other blessings peculiar to Christianity, namely, the presence of the Holy Ghost and union with Christ in heaven which the Jews will not have.

Here you have the new covenant, and there are two characteristics. The old covenant was upon the condition of obedience. What is the new covenant upon condition of? No condition on their part whatever. Israel will have no glory in connection with the new covenant, but there are two features of it that go together. First, it is the writing of God's law in the heart, instead of writing it upon the tables of stone. That is new birth, as you have it in Ezekiel; as our Lord said to Nicodemus, "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" — the need of regeneration, of a new heart, which delights in the law of God, had been spoken of already.

It could hardly be said that the old covenant of law was established upon promises at all, though there were certain promises connected with it. It was established rather upon a bargain, in which Israel undertook in all things to obey, and God guaranteed certain blessings conditional upon their obedience. The bargain was hardly concluded before it was broken by Israel making the golden calf. The fact that the new covenant is established upon promises, that those promises are God's, and that they are better than anything proposed under the law, at once differentiates it sharply from the old. To gain some idea of these better promises you must read the latter part of our chapter, which is quoted from the passage in Jeremiah 31 — where the new covenant itself is promised — verses 31 to 34. God's "I will," is the characteristic feature of it. All is a question of what God is going to do, and of what consequently Israel is going to be and have.

Century after century passed, and no fresh word was dropped by any prophet or messenger about the new covenant. Had God forgotten it? Had Jeremiah held out delusive hopes? At length, in the upper room in Jerusalem, to just the Twelve the Lord referred to it, and in a way to show it had not been forgotten on high. He spoke of it as that which was to be expected, and which would be realised. But when, was still a matter undisclosed. "The days come," Jeremiah had said (Jer. 31:31). He spoke of the new covenant as certain; but the time for it was left purposely indefinite. The Lord, as we have said, also spoke of it, but gave no hint how near was the making of it. He added, however, to the revelation of Jeremiah two important particulars: one, that it would rest on the blood of a sacrifice; and the other, that that blood was to be His own (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). Years again rolled by, and not till the Epistle to the Hebrews was written do we learn who would be its Mediator. Of the surety of it, even the Lord Jesus, we have already learnt (Heb. 7:22). Of the Mediator, and that thrice over, are we now informed (Heb. 8:6, 9:15, 12:24). That covenant to be made, the blood on which it will rest, and the Mediator of it, these important facts revealed, the whole subject awaits its completion, when the time for it to be made is definitely known. It was not made before the cross, that is clear, for the blood on which it will rest was not shed till then. It has not been made since the cross, for God has not been dealing directly with Israel and Judah; nor will He whilst the Church, the Body of Christ, is on earth. Further, it will not be made with Christians, but with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, though Christians share, and that now, in blessings connected with it — viz. the knowledge of God and the forgiveness of sins.

The first covenant of law was not faultless as verse 7 indicates. There was no fault in the law, but the covenant was faulty inasmuch as all was conditioned upon faulty man. Hence it is set aside in favour of the second, which is based upon God's purpose and God's work. As the last verse of the chapter puts it, the very fact that He speaks of a new covenant shows that the first has grown old and is ready to disappear.

Jeremiah's prophecy, which is quoted here, shows us that the new covenant is to be formally established with the house of Israel and the house of Judah; that is, with restored and reunited Israel. Under it they will enter upon the blessings of the millennial reign. By the new birth the law will be written on their hearts, so that it will be as natural to them to fulfil it as now it is natural to them to infringe it. Moreover their sins will be forgiven; they will have the knowledge of God, and be His people. But the gospel today brings us just these blessings upon an exactly similar basis.

A Sure Witness. — Sanctified by the will of God, perfected for ever by the one sacrifice, we are next reminded of God's provision for us to know it. All doubt about it is to be for ever removed from the heart by the witness of the Holy Ghost. Where shall we find this? Did it come by any fresh revelation, to which the Jew was necessarily a stranger? It comes to us from the Old Testament, that armoury from which weapons have been already drawn to establish point after point as to the surpassing excellency of the Lord over Moses and over Aaron, and by consequence also of Christianity over Judaism. The passage already quoted in full in chap. 8 with reference to the new covenant is now but partially requoted and commented upon by the Apostle: "For after that He has said, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws into their hearts, and on their minds will I write them." Then follows the important result: "And their sins and iniquities [rather, 'lawlessnesses'] will I remember no more" (10:16-17). This blessing for Israel is associated with the making of the new covenant. Now on what will that covenant rest? It will rest wholly, as we have learnt, on the blood of Christ (9:15-22). That blood we know has already been shed. In that covenant, however, we have not, nor were the Hebrews to have, any part. So these Hebrews to whom the Epistle was addressed were not directly concerned with it. Something better, even heavenly blessing, and, we may add, Church association with Christ, was for them. Why then is that covenant referred to here? The answer is simple. Since forgiveness of sins for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah will rest on the efficacy of the blood of Christ, which has been already shed on Calvary, forgiveness of sins could then be known and enjoyed by believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, and will throughout the Christian dispensation, by virtue of that precious blood. That which will flow from it by-and-by can and does flow from it now. So the promise of sins and iniquities being remembered by God no more we can take up who believe on the Lord, assured that it is for us as much as it will be for Israel in the future.

"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." His ministry is superior because He is the Mediator of a superior covenant, which is founded upon superior promises. Indeed, the promise to Abraham was long before the law. Moreover, it was an unconditional promise as to Abraham and his seed, while the promise given to Moses was conditional upon the obedience of the people. How vastly inferior this was, for it could introduce no blessing at all. But the new covenant is the actual fulfilment of the magnificent promise to Abraham, which really manifests the heart of God, and the sufficiency of God, - He Himself accomplishing all blessing, with nothing dependent upon the energy or virtue of man. How much sweeter therefore, how much stronger, how much more full of blessing is the ministry of our Lord, the great Mediator of the new covenant.

Not that the new covenant is addressed to Christians, no more than was the Old. Both are definitely Jewish. This is seen clearly in verses 7 to 10. Nevertheless, though we are not therefore under a covenant in any respect, yet the blessings of the new covenant are ministered to Christians by pure grace, through Him Who is Mediator of the new covenant. This is grace, the branches of blessing spreading out over the wall of Jewish separation, and reaching Gentiles, who were not the subjects of promise, nor ever in any covenant relationship with God.

And the Greek word for “New” here is not that which signifies repaired, or even renovated, as it may be possible to renew an article that has run out of repair, but it signifies what is absolutely and radically new, something which had not existed before. It is the same word as we find in Colossians 3:10, the “new man.”

Now this attaches great importance to the character of the “New Covenant.” It is one of a distinctly different kind and order from the old. An amalgamation or infusion of the two is not allowed. They are essentially distinct. The old may have furnished types and shadows of the new, but in nature they stand apart. The old was legal, and dealt with man on the ground of responsibility; the new is of grace, and takes up the cause of man as he is—guilty, and without strength. It is therefore a better covenant, and is established on better promises. As to its letter, it is to be made with Israel and Judah after those days—that is, with the nation when Christianity as such, and the Church, have run the course of their testimony here; but as to the spirit of it Paul could write—“Has made us able ministers of the new covenant” (2 Cor. 3), “not of the letter, but of the spirit.” And, seeing that the blood of Christ is called “the blood of the new covenant” we (Christians) have thereby the remission of our sins. Hence we read, in Hebrews 10, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” That is, although the new covenant is not de facto made with Christians, yet the old covenant—as a covenant or compact—has passed away, and we stand before God on the ground of the new—that is, on the ground of grace.

But there is one thing said of the blood which is common to the Gospels and to the Epistle; the blood is that of the new covenant. Since the new covenant is with Israel we may inquire why it is mentioned here where the church alone is contemplated. The answer is, first, that the blood of the new covenant ensures every blessing to Israel, not on the ground of obedience but by sovereign grace, and therefore Israel and the church are so far on the same ground. Israel's covenanted blessings rest upon the blood, and the people, now down-trodden, scattered and peeled by the judgment of God, will be brought back to their own land with clean water sprinkled upon them and be made the head of the nations under the rule of their own Messiah whose blood has secured both their blessing and ours. Secondly, it is the blood of the new covenant to us because we with whom no such covenant is made, yet enter into the enjoyment of all they will have, and that long before their time of blessing comes, possessed and known in a much higher way and more blessed too. All their earthly blessings are recast for us in a heavenly mould. The Lord will create new heavens and a new earth, and Israel restored will be a part of the new creation then. Now we as being in Christ are individually a new creation; a part of the new creation before the earth feels its power. It will be said to Israel "Ye are the sons of the living God" (Hosea i). We are now sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26). So also Rom. 9:24–26 where the words of Hosea for Israel are applied to the church "even us whom He hath called, not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles." So we have all and more than all the blessing given to them by the new covenant. But it is through the same blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many, which has provided for us some better thing.