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“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” - Jeremiah 31:31a

In the Old Testament, God made a covenant with Israel. This covenant is known as the Ten Commandments. It was given to Israel on Mount Sinai.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel…and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”
- Exodus 34:27-28

“And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.”
- Deuteronomy 4:12-13

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.”
- Exodus 20:1-22

The problem was that this covenant demanded perfect obedience to God’s law and anything short of it would mean eternal damnation.

“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant.” - Jeremiah 11:3

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” - Ezekiel 18:20

“And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” - Joshua 24:19

Because man is a sinner, it is not possible for anyone to perfectly obey God’s law. The law demanded perfect obedience else it would demand damnation for the soul who did not perfectly keep it. What many in Israel did not realize was that the law was not given so that the people would try to keep it on their own, but it was given to show the people their sin before a Holy God; their inability to perfectly keep it and to cause them to look to God for salvation.

"Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." - Galatians 3:9

God did bring salvation to Israel, and not only to Israel but to every nation of the World. He told Abraham “...in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). This is a reference to the promised Messiah who would come from the lineage of Abraham and He would bless all of the families of the earth. The name of that Messiah is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Savior that came into the World to save sinners. He was sent by God to fulfill His law. He took upon himself a human body, born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Ghost. He perfectly obeyed God’s law and by doing so earned, the perfect righteousness needed to satisfy the law for His people. He suffered the death of the cross, bearing the sins of His people as their substitute. Both the Old and The New Testaments tell us about this:

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” - Isaiah 53:4-10

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” - Matthew 5:17

“Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” - Romans 4:25

God stated in Jeremiah that the days would come when He would make a new covenant with Israel. Not according to the one He made with them on Mount Sinai, which they broke, but a better covenant:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” - Jeremiah 31:31-34

This new covenant was confirmed in Jesus Christ. Unlike the old covenant, this covenant is not based on one’s personal obedience to God’s law. Instead it is based on the Person and the work of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Through His death, Jesus Christ made atonement for the sins of His people and justified them from the penalty of breaking God’s law. God raised Him from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures, accepting His sacrifice for the justification of His people:

“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” - Matthew 26:28

“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” - Hebrews 9:15

In the new covenant, those who cease from trying to earn God’s favor by their own efforts, and rely solely upon God’s Son for salvation are saved. They will have Jesus Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law credited to their account and they receive God’s justification for their sins by faith:

“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” - Romans 4:4-5

“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.” - Ephesians 2:8-9

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” - Galatians 2:16

“And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” - Acts 13:39

Do you want to be right with God? Do you want to know a conscience clear from guilt and the penalty of sin? Then trust in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and be saved today.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” - John 8:12

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” - John 5:24

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” - Acts 16:31

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