You’ve heard of it. What is it, this New Covenant mentioned in the book of Hebrews and other key Bible passages?
The explanation is mainly in Hebrews 1, Hebrews 8, Hebrews 10, and 2 Corinthians 3. For more references see:
What Does the Bible Say About New Covenant? – OpenBible.info
In a nutshell
Let’s look into Scripture to understand what it is. In a nutshell, this is the New Covenant: Jesus provided for our salvation by willingly hanging on a cross, dying, and rising from the dead 3 days later.
“…When He had made
purification of sins,
He sat down
at the right hand
of the Majesty on high….”
– In verse 3 of Hebrews 1:1-4
The New Covenant
This New Covenant comes to us from Heaven, established by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the three in One Trinity:
1) Jesus (the Son) “made purification of sins” for us through His death and resurrection on earth, then,
2) returned to His throne “at the right hand of The Majesty on High” (Father God).
3) And Jesus said He would send the Helper, the Spirit of truth – the Holy Spirit who would write on our heart (Hebrews 10:16), inside us – instead of on tablets of stone, like God did with Moses.
References About the New Covenant
* Read more about the Helper all in one link in NASB:
John 14:16, John 14:17, John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:7, Hebrews 13:6, Hebrews 10:14-17
and all in one link in NASB or per individual passages:
Hebrews 1:1-4, Hebrews 10:1-18, Hebrews 10:19-25, Hebrews 10:26-31, 2 Corinthians 3, Hebrews 8
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are [a being sanctified]sanctified.
16 “This is the covenant which I will make with them
After those days, declares the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their hearts,
And write them on their mind,”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will no longer remember.”
The Day of Darkness and Wrath, Randy Neddles at rev310.net
“Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.” – Hebrews 8: verse 6
“When God speaks of “A new covenant,” He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear.” – Hebrews 8:13 AMP
See: BibleGateway Footnote [end section of “a”]:
“…in some Jewish traditions angels were mediators of the old covenant (see Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19). Finally, Jesus’ superiority to the angels emphasizes the superiority of the new covenant to the old because of the heavenly priesthood of Jesus.
The Old Judaic Sacrificial System
What was the first covenant? It was the old Judaism – a practice of daily animal sacrifice for sins. God set that up in Old Testament days — looking forward to the day of the fulfillment of “the mystery of salvation”.
See: | The Mystery of the Gospel |
|The Mystery of the Gospel has been revealed |
THAT (the Judaic daily animal sacrifices; the old Levitical priestly ministry) is no longer necessary. It is “obsolete” in Jesus. We now have Jesus! The Mystery of the Gospel has been revealed – in Jesus.
Jesus fulfilled the Law
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
– Matthew 5:17
…deviating from the main topic
NAR foolishness
We must here deviate from the main topic to refute NAR foolishness. The New Covenant most certainly did not annul the Old Testament words from God.
Annulling the OT
That is what NAR theology claims, and others like Andy Stanley. But, to the contrary – the Old Testament is not abolished! NAR and Andy Stanley doctrines annulling the Old Testament – is totally bogus, a huge misinterpretation. Don’t believe them.
The Old Testament is still truth for today
The Old Testament (OT) is still true today. It is an integral part of our Christian faith. It still teaches us (2 Timothy 3:16; Titus 3:8). Three examples. The OT teaches us:
1. What is sin
The Old Testament (OT) Ten Commandments show us what sin is. They integrate directly into New Testament warnings of what is good and what is not.
See: Do “good and honorable things”
It teaches:
2. Prophets speak God’s Words
We are told in the OT that the prophet is to speak forth God’s Words, not their own words. And by it’s very definition, a “false prophet” is the one who says “these are words God gave me for you” — but then merely speaks his own words, which are lies. That is plain and simple: a lie. God’s standard for speaking for God is still:
“These are the true and exact words of God.”
– Revelation 19:9
It teaches:
3. Misrepresenting God is evil…an evil God condemns vehemently
God is still against false speakers. “I am against you….” – you who misrepresent Me (Ezekiel 13:8).
Now back to the topic at hand
Ministers of a New Covenant
In 2 Corinthians 3 AMP we also find an explanation of the New Covenant – where we are called “Ministers of a New Covenant” (v6).
Absolute trust
With the advent of the Holy Spirit, God is now writing “on tablets of human hearts”, our hearts — instead of on the stone tablets the Israelites received from Moses. God uses the Spirit-filled lives we confidently live-out… to bring Him glory.
4 Such is the confidence and steadfast reliance and absolute trust that we have through Christ toward God.
5 Not that we are sufficiently qualified in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency and qualifications come from God.
– 2 Corinthians 3: verses 4-5
I live with confidence
I am not afraid of death
I cast aside fear. God is my refuge and strength
I do not allow sin to reign over me
I have exceedingly vibrant joy in my inner soul
Although I am not perfect, I have, growing in me…
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”
I converse with my Savior all throughout my day
I make it my aim to do everything I do – with all my might, and – for the glory of God
– Source: Never Again
An aside:
To claim any “new revelation” as coming from us (our own words) is to deny what Paul taught here. The words of a true prophet of God come from God, not from our own self.
All believers can say, “our sufficiency and qualifications come from God” (v5). However, we cannot say “our own words” are on the same level as words “from God”. But that is what is happening in NAR type churches. (See for example: Why God is against me….)
Jesus was the Covenant
The New Covenant is brought to us by Jesus Himself. Jesus was the predicted mystery of salvation, the fulfillment of the Old Testament animal sacrificial system.
That Judaic system of animal sacrifice for sins is now made obsolete because Jesus is our Perfect Lamb of God. He is the One who takes away our sin (John 1:29).
With His one sacrifice — He died once for all. Hallelujah!
Jesus is the New Covenant
We cannot say the Old Testament (OT) is obsolete (as NAR-type theology claims) merely because “salvation in Christ” has now been revealed in a New Covenant. The Judaic system of sacrifice of animals for forgiveness of sins – was symbolic of the future sacrifice Jesus was to make.
Jesus’ sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God is the New Covenant that changed everything about forgiveness of sin. It did not change the Old Testament nor make it obsolete. Jesus fulfilled the Judaic system — “once for all”.
– Source: Why God is against me IF I claim my words are God’s own
This is the new covenant
Jesus Himself said, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.”
A quick search at BibleGateway of “this is the new covenant” brings up 3 passages from the New American Standard Bible version: Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 9:15. Two are Jesus’ own words, and one is in the book of Hebrews.
The new covenant [ratified] in My blood
Luke 22:20 NASB records:
20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.
I like these versions too:
And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant [ratified] in My blood.
And in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.
Jesus came down from Heaven to die for a new covenant between God and us. This was so important to Him that He ratified it “in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.”
“God inserted Himself into our history. Jesus came to earth in order to satisfy the Courts of Heaven for our freedom.”
– Source: What God has going on with us here on this planet
This New Covenant of God will stand forever in The Courts of Heaven. How huge is that!? This is how we are saved. That’s how huge! In fact I’d say,
Salvation in Christ is beyond huge
FOR MORE:
What is it, this New Covenant in the New Testament? Where do we find it explained? Do you understand it’s impact?
Randy Nettles study on The New Covenant 1
The Mystery of Salvation has been revealed
Jesus said, ‘These Scriptures are all about me.’
Believe that Jesus is the Messiah – The Anointed One
What God has going on with us here on this planet
God forgives sins by His Holy Holy Justice
Salvation in Christ is beyond huge
Why God is against me IF I claim my words are God’s own
Being 100% given-over to Jesus
Apostate False Teacher Andy Stanley: 10 Commandments Don’t Apply To Christians – By Tim Brown | January 10, 2019 | from thewashingtonstandard.com
Excerpts: Tim Brown: “…this guy does not study God’s Word nor is he anything but a reprobate, apostate false teacher. In the latest evidence of his heresy, and yes, this is what the Church has declared the Bible teaches about heretics, Stanley claims that the Ten Commandments don’t apply to Christians.
“Stanley seems to have fallen for the antinomian doctrine of “New Covenant Theology,” which my own pastor has dismantled with the Scripture in his book “An Everlasting Covenant: A Biblical Critique of New Covenant Theology,” to which I wrote the foreward.”
Theologians Warn Andy Stanley’s Message to ‘Unhitch’ Old Testament Is Heresy
– from May 15, 2018. By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter
Excerpts: “…it cuts out “a God full of wrath and justice” and leaves “a God of goodness and nothing else.” – Kevin DeYoung of Christ Covenant Church
“…the old Christian heresy of Marcionism—the belief that the Old Testament is not authoritative in matters of Christian doctrine and morals” – Kevin DeYoung of Christ Covenant Church and Wesley Hill of Trinity School for Ministry
“…(Stanley) the Old Testament …that is not the basis of Christianity. And just as “Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures, … we must as well” – Andy Stanley, who leads North Point Community Church in Georgia, in a sermon series called “Aftermath”
Jeremiah 31:31-34
This passage most likely refers to the restoration of Israel in the Millennium. We interpret it this way because it says “for they will all know Me“. “All” does not happen until after Jesus’ Second Coming, when we all are immortal.
NOTE from Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation:
Only after Jesus rose from the dead and left earth – did the Holy Spirit come to earth to reside in the heart of every born again believer. In Old Testament times, prior to Jesus physical death on the cross for us, the Holy Spirit was given for special periods, and then would leave.
Thus the request in the Psalm, “11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” That cannot happen now. Jesus promised a new covenant where the Holy Spirit would empower us and actually be inside us – never to leave us, ever.
List of references concerning The New Covenant: What Does the Bible Say About New Covenant? – OpenBible.info
Out with the Old and in with the New | by Richard Pratt Jr. | ligonier.org |
Ligonier – Who We Are: A Teaching Fellowship for Reformed theology |Since its founding in 1971 by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Ligonier has been a fellowship of teachers dedicated to making the deep truths of the Christian faith accessible to growing believers. For more than fifty years, God has raised up many gifted pastors and theologians to apply the teachings of the Bible and Reformed theology to generations of Ligonier students.
Deuteronomy 4:24
For the Lord your God
is a consuming fire;
He is a jealous God
(impassioned)
[a intolerant of unfaithfulness]
[demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].
BibleGateway Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 4:24 I.e.
[a] intolerant of unfaithfulness.
Footnotes
- The Day of Darkness and Wrath | Randy Nettles | From rev310.net | Jun 19, 2024
In Chapter 31, Jeremiah writes about a new covenant that God will make with Israel in the future.“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 a husband unto them, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:31-32).
The permanent remission of sin from the shed blood of Jesus Christ is at the heart of the new covenant. The sign of the new covenant is the cross on which Jesus’ Holy blood was shed. In 33 AD (IMO), during the last Passover Jesus attended, Jesus and the 12 apostles ate the Passover supper as recorded in Matthew 26 (and Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20). Jesus described the new covenant in these passages of Scripture:
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:26-27). Communion is the Christian practice or ritual of taking bread and wine (or grape juice) to memorialize what Jesus did for us on the cross.
The new covenant is made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all humanity. After the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah and his new covenant, it was given to the Gentiles. Jesus’ first advent began the new covenant, which allowed for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and allowed for the remission of sins permanently.
The Holy Spirit would indwell all believers in Jesus as Messiah. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon the faithful Church (both Gentiles and Jews) began the spiritual Kingdom of God on the earth. However, the physical Kingdom of God/Jesus will not be realized until Jesus returns the second time as LORD of LORDS, KING of KINGS, and reigns for a thousand years (and then eternity).
Jeremiah 31:31-34 is a dual reference prophecy. I mentioned the first part of Jeremiah’s new covenant prophecy (verses 31-32) above, which refers to Jesus’ first advent. The following two verses refer to Jesus’ second advent,
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
This was not accomplished during Jesus’ first advent. It will only be realized during the millennium. The six tasks of Daniel 9:24 for the children of Israel will have finally been accomplished at this time.
Hey Keith. Long time no see. How are you doing now. And yes I know him personally. My best friend. Loves me so much I can’t imagine. And I’m thankful for his love and mercy. Amen. Bless you for reaching out to me. Please keep in touch and please keep me in your prayers. David.
Hi David. Glad to hear you are doing well. Keep looking to Jesus – the Author and the Finisher (“completer”) of our faith. He brings us through to the end 🙂