The New Covenant Is Not What Many Have Been Taught
The old covenant was the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai, and Scripture says plainly that this covenant was the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 4:12–13 says, “The Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire… So He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.” The same truth is repeated in Exodus 34:28: “He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” These commandments were spoken directly by God and written by His own finger. Deuteronomy 5:22says, “These words the Lord spoke… with a loud voice; and He added no more. Then He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.” This was the covenant Israel entered into, and this covenant stood as the foundation of their relationship with God.
The prophets later spoke of a new covenant, not because the commandments were changed or removed, but because Israel did not keep the covenant they had entered. Jeremiah 31:31–32 says, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says 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… My covenant which they broke.’” The new covenant would be different in how it works, not different in the righteousness it requires. God does not say He will erase His law. Instead He says what the new covenant contains. Jeremiah 31:33 says, “But this is the covenant that I will make… 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.” The change is not the removal of the commandments. The change is the location of the commandments. Instead of being written only on stone, they would be written inside the heart of the believer.
Jesus confirmed this with His own words and actions. Jesus taught that the commandments remain God’s will. In Matthew 5:17 He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.” In Matthew 19:17 He told the seeker, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jesus also showed what love for Him means. John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Jesus is not replacing the Father’s commandments. He is confirming them. In John 15:10 He says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” The new covenant does not remove obedience. It brings a new kind of obedience through the Spirit.
Jesus also fulfilled what the prophets wrote about the Spirit being given to those who believe. John 7:38–39 says, “He who believes in Me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit.” And after His resurrection, Jesus said in John 20:22, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit does not replace the commandments; the Spirit writes them into the heart, just as Jeremiah said.
The new covenant also includes forgiveness in a deeper and final way. In Jeremiah 31:34 the Lord says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jesus confirmed this at the Last Supper. Matthew 26:28 says, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The new covenant brings cleansing, pardon, and a renewed heart so that the believer can walk in God’s ways with joy and strength.
The Scriptures also teach that the kingdom of God grows in this age, even while not all receive it. Jesus said in Matthew 13:31–32 that the kingdom is “like a mustard seed… which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs.” And in Matthew 13:33 He said the kingdom is like leaven that spreads through the whole lump. The growth of the kingdom continues until He returns. Yet only those who believe receive the Spirit now. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” And those who receive Him walk in His words because His law is written in their hearts, as the prophet declared.
This is the distinction the Scriptures give. The old covenant was the Ten Commandments written on stone and heard at Sinai. The new covenant is the same Ten Commandments written on the heart by the Holy Spirit, joined with the forgiveness and life that come through the blood of Jesus. Jesus confirmed the commandments by His teachings, kept them perfectly in His life, and through the Spirit He gives, He enables His people to keep them from the heart. The kingdom grows as the word spreads, but only the true believers receive the Spirit now and have God’s commandments written within them until the day He returns.
