SERMON
The Promise of the New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31-34
"The New Covenant" – A 2-Part Series
February 8, 2026
Pastor Sunil
What is this “new covenant” that the prophets spoke about? Was it any different from the “old covenant”? Why does Jesus use that phrase when he gave us the practice of Holy Communion (also known as “The Lord’s Supper) – “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you…” (Luke 22:20 & 1 Corinthians 11:25)?
The “old covenant” was the basis of the relationship that God had with his people, the Israelites. It was based on the Mosaic Law, given by God, and depended on human obedience and perseverance to sustain and grow a relationship with him. It was realistic about human disobedience and sinfulness and therefore required a sacrificial system that, in turn, required adherence to that system for it to have any meaning or effect. But much about the Law had to do with the external, with the aim that the doer would internalize it. Yet Israel’s history (and ours as well) showed that humans are pretty bad at obedience and perseverance (just as “New Year’s resolutions” rarely last past a limited time!). However, we discover that the “old covenant” was just a prelude to what God had planned – the “New Covenant.” This would be something internal. And prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke about it. [I must confess that I have relied heavily for my study on my professor Dr Chris Wright’s excellent book The Message of Jeremiah: Grace in the End].
Lent prepares us for the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross and his resurrection. It was his death and resurrection that ushered in this “new covenant.” But before we begin Lent, let us discover why these “old covenant” prophets spoke about a “new covenant” long before it ever came to pass. Maybe we’ll be surprised by the discovery that that was God’s intention all along, and respond to him!
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts" (v.33)
In Hebrew thinking, the heart is not so much where we have our emotions; instead, it is where we do our thinking, choosing, and deciding. It is the seat of our will. Deuteronomy 6:6 already states, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts” (a requirement of the Old Covenant given at Sinai). What seems new in Jeremiah 31:33a is that God not only asks for obedience from the heart (as in Deut. 6:6), but also promises to implant it there. Chris Wright writes, “It seems that a genuine internalizing of the law is envisaged. It is no longer merely that Israel should wholeheartedly obey the law when they read or hear it (Deuteronomy clearly called for that), but that they should live by an inner impulse coming from within, from God’s law written on their own hearts. In other words, their whole inclination and habitual action would be to live according to God's standards and ways.”
Jeremiah had already written in 17:1, “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts…” God’s promise through Jeremiah now reverses and transforms that! Just as they had sinned because of the unrepentant and habitual inclinations of their hearts, now they would be obedient because God would have transformed their hearts. They would be acting from a new script, one written within them by God himself. It is significant that God does not promise to give a new law. Rather, what is promised is a new ability, from within, to live in accordance with the essence of the law God has given.
Paul explains that in Christ, God has not given us a new law (a whole new set of requirements) but, through the indwelling Spirit, has given us the power to live in a way that pleases God. Because of Christ's sacrifice, we no longer stand under condemnation but have been set free so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (see Romans 8:1-4). The rest of Romans 8 explains how this would be made possible through the Holy Spirit
This was really not new! This is what God intended all along for all of his created humanity, and especially for his Covenant people, Israel. He always desired that we would belong to him, as he would be an integral part of our lives (See Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3.
This new covenant promise includes a reversal of that lamentable living ignorance of God. Israel (and consequently us) - repentant, restored, and returned - would know God. Now, because God’s transformation of us would be internalized, our intimacy with God would be personal and inclusive. What began with the Jewish people would spread out to all peoples, breaking every stereotypical boundary. Knowing God with such intimacy would have that love and obedience be translated into our human relationships as well as in faith and worship.
Jeremiah's vision of the new covenant is not merely of a collection of individuals who all have personal access to God in worship. Rather, he envisages a whole community that is collectively committed to knowing God through the practice of the covenant values that God delights in - social compassion and justice. It is a vision not merely of a new spirituality, but of a new society.
Isn’t that what should be the mark of the Church?
All the newness that was previously impossible to even imagine is now possible because YHWH has forgiven – God has broken the vicious cycle of sin and punishment; it is this broken cycle that permits Israel to begin again at a different place with new possibilities. It is the broken cycle that grace makes possible. The new covenant offers unqualified forgiveness to broken people who can no longer bear the burden of their guilt. Interestingly, the absolution of sins comes without strings attached, without reference to the temple or sacrifice. YHWH just declares it! Forgiveness is more than a characteristic of the new covenant; it is the very basis of the astonishing workings of God. Divine forgiveness makes possible inner transformation, intimacy with God, and an inclusive community that delights in faithful living.
When Jesus inaugurated this new covenant (see Matthew 26.28), the fact was that this costly gift of forgiveness would be possible only through his self-giving, through his own blood. And when we accepted that forgiveness, it would be not only the law, but its author who would indwell the Christ-follower (see John 14:17,23).
The “old covenant” was the basis of the relationship that God had with his people, the Israelites. It was based on the Mosaic Law, given by God, and depended on human obedience and perseverance to sustain and grow a relationship with him. It was realistic about human disobedience and sinfulness and therefore required a sacrificial system that, in turn, required adherence to that system for it to have any meaning or effect. But much about the Law had to do with the external, with the aim that the doer would internalize it. Yet Israel’s history (and ours as well) showed that humans are pretty bad at obedience and perseverance (just as “New Year’s resolutions” rarely last past a limited time!). However, we discover that the “old covenant” was just a prelude to what God had planned – the “New Covenant.” This would be something internal. And prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke about it. [I must confess that I have relied heavily for my study on my professor Dr Chris Wright’s excellent book The Message of Jeremiah: Grace in the End].
Lent prepares us for the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross and his resurrection. It was his death and resurrection that ushered in this “new covenant.” But before we begin Lent, let us discover why these “old covenant” prophets spoke about a “new covenant” long before it ever came to pass. Maybe we’ll be surprised by the discovery that that was God’s intention all along, and respond to him!
- Change that is from the inside-out
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts" (v.33)
In Hebrew thinking, the heart is not so much where we have our emotions; instead, it is where we do our thinking, choosing, and deciding. It is the seat of our will. Deuteronomy 6:6 already states, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts” (a requirement of the Old Covenant given at Sinai). What seems new in Jeremiah 31:33a is that God not only asks for obedience from the heart (as in Deut. 6:6), but also promises to implant it there. Chris Wright writes, “It seems that a genuine internalizing of the law is envisaged. It is no longer merely that Israel should wholeheartedly obey the law when they read or hear it (Deuteronomy clearly called for that), but that they should live by an inner impulse coming from within, from God’s law written on their own hearts. In other words, their whole inclination and habitual action would be to live according to God's standards and ways.”
Jeremiah had already written in 17:1, “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts…” God’s promise through Jeremiah now reverses and transforms that! Just as they had sinned because of the unrepentant and habitual inclinations of their hearts, now they would be obedient because God would have transformed their hearts. They would be acting from a new script, one written within them by God himself. It is significant that God does not promise to give a new law. Rather, what is promised is a new ability, from within, to live in accordance with the essence of the law God has given.
Paul explains that in Christ, God has not given us a new law (a whole new set of requirements) but, through the indwelling Spirit, has given us the power to live in a way that pleases God. Because of Christ's sacrifice, we no longer stand under condemnation but have been set free so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (see Romans 8:1-4). The rest of Romans 8 explains how this would be made possible through the Holy Spirit
- Intimacy that is personal and inclusive
- "I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (vs.33-34)
This was really not new! This is what God intended all along for all of his created humanity, and especially for his Covenant people, Israel. He always desired that we would belong to him, as he would be an integral part of our lives (See Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3.
This new covenant promise includes a reversal of that lamentable living ignorance of God. Israel (and consequently us) - repentant, restored, and returned - would know God. Now, because God’s transformation of us would be internalized, our intimacy with God would be personal and inclusive. What began with the Jewish people would spread out to all peoples, breaking every stereotypical boundary. Knowing God with such intimacy would have that love and obedience be translated into our human relationships as well as in faith and worship.
Jeremiah's vision of the new covenant is not merely of a collection of individuals who all have personal access to God in worship. Rather, he envisages a whole community that is collectively committed to knowing God through the practice of the covenant values that God delights in - social compassion and justice. It is a vision not merely of a new spirituality, but of a new society.
Isn’t that what should be the mark of the Church?
- Forgiveness that is complete and permanent
- “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (v.34)
All the newness that was previously impossible to even imagine is now possible because YHWH has forgiven – God has broken the vicious cycle of sin and punishment; it is this broken cycle that permits Israel to begin again at a different place with new possibilities. It is the broken cycle that grace makes possible. The new covenant offers unqualified forgiveness to broken people who can no longer bear the burden of their guilt. Interestingly, the absolution of sins comes without strings attached, without reference to the temple or sacrifice. YHWH just declares it! Forgiveness is more than a characteristic of the new covenant; it is the very basis of the astonishing workings of God. Divine forgiveness makes possible inner transformation, intimacy with God, and an inclusive community that delights in faithful living.
When Jesus inaugurated this new covenant (see Matthew 26.28), the fact was that this costly gift of forgiveness would be possible only through his self-giving, through his own blood. And when we accepted that forgiveness, it would be not only the law, but its author who would indwell the Christ-follower (see John 14:17,23).