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The Daily Word of Righteousness
How the New Covenant Operates
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 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. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:7-12)
Every Divine covenant from the time of Adam has had precisely the same goal—that people be in the image of God, that they act justly, love mercy, and then that they walk humbly with God.
The new covenant is no exception. However, the new covenant has been grievously misunderstood.
Two aspects change from covenant to covenant. The demands on the human personality to behave righteously are increased and the availability of God's Glory and assistance are increased. The goal, however, never changes for it is the likeness of the unchanging God.
The new covenant has the same goal as the old; but the demands on the human personality have been vastly increased and the availability of God's Glory and assistance (grace) have been vastly increased.
The Jews, in some instances, have changed the goal of the old covenant from justice, mercy, and faith to blind adherence to the letter of human interpretations of the Law of Moses. They strain out the gnats of minuscule ceremonial observances and swallow camels of unrighteousness. When they do this God does not regard them favorably.
The Christians have changed the goal of the new covenant from justice, mercy, and faith to eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven. They too swallow camels of unrighteousness while proclaiming that their pass out of Hell into Heaven depends on "faith alone." When they do this God does not regard the Christians favorably either!
Let us examine carefully the above passage for it is the definitive statement concerning what the new covenant is. There are several facts we can consider.
If the first covenant had been successful there would have been no need for the new covenant. Success in any given enterprise can be measured only in terms of the goal of the activity. The goal of the first covenant (as is true of all Divine covenants) was people who love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves.
The goal of all of God's covenants is righteous behavior—righteous behavior as defined by the words of the covenant.
The first covenant was unsuccessful because God found fault with "them"; not with the covenant but with the people.
"Because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not." Since the first covenant depended on the fallen nature of man to obey the commandments given by the Lord, there had to be a new covenant.
To be continued.