The New Covenant
“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Hebrews 8:8-9
That which is new had never been seen. The new is not like the old because if the new were like the old, the new would not be new, it would be old. Remodeling and repainting the old is not the new. Adding new elements to the old is not the new. Everything about the new covenant is new because the new is the new, and the old is the old. The old is in the past, and the new has arrived. The new is here because the old is nowhere to be seen, because on the cross, Jesus absorbed the old in His own body…the old is gone; vanished.
The first notable difference between the old and new covenants is that under the old, we were responsible for keeping our end of the bargain. If we obeyed the Law God would bless us, but if we broke it, we were cursed. The old covenant was a two-way street wherein God would give His blessings if we did the work. This was an exchange – our obedience in return for God’s favor. But the new covenant is a one-way street wherein God is the only worker and giver. The old covenant was faulty because we could never keep our end of the bargain. But the new covenant is perfect because Jesus fulfilled the old covenant for us.
The second noteworthy difference is that the very definition of repentance changes under the new covenant. Under the old, repentance meant keeping the Law of Moses and sinning no more. But under the new, repentance is simple faith in Jesus. Under the new, repentance is believing God and agreeing with Him when He says that our sin is exceedingly sinful, and that our only hope of salvation, sanctification and blessing is Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
The message of the gospel is – out with the old, and in with the new!