{"id":5593,"date":"2026-03-24T18:27:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=5593"},"modified":"2026-03-24T18:27:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:27:51","slug":"entering-into-and-enduring-in-the-new-covenant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2026\/03\/24\/entering-into-and-enduring-in-the-new-covenant\/","title":{"rendered":"Entering into and Enduring in the New Covenant"},"content":{"rendered":"

[On Palm Sunday I will preach the eighth sermon in the Jeremiah series, \u201cThe Word of Life, the Word of Judgment.\u201d This devotion is expanded from part of the seventh sermon, preached July 6, on chapters 31 to 33. This complements well what we have been learning about the covenants in our present core seminar \u2013 Coty]<\/p>\n

In Jeremiah, God promises a new covenant. Consider the text, noting, first, what was wrong with the old covenant; second, God\u2019s four promises; and, third, the relationships among the promises.<\/p>\n

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers \u2026 my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband\u2026. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days\u2026: [First promise] I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. [Second promise] And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [Third promise] And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest\u2026. [Fourth promise] For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (From Jeremiah 31:31-34)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Wrong with the Old Covenant<\/em><\/p>\n

What does God say was wrong with the old covenant? Does He say anything was wrong with the Ten Commandments, or the sacrificial system, or the annual feasts?<\/p>\n

No! The problem with the old covenant is that the people broke it! <\/em>As we have seen in our Core Seminar, all biblical covenants have both promises and requirements. The people violated the requirements.<\/p>\n

Now, realize: The problem is not sin in and of itself. Within the old covenant, there is provision for the forgiveness of sins \u2013 the sacrificial system. When the people sin, they are to confess, to repent, to return to God, and to offer the designated sacrifice. When they respond rightly to sin, they remain in the covenant.<\/p>\n

The people become covenant breakers when they not only sin, but when they reject God, <\/em>when they despise Him, when they place no value on His Word, His revelation, His promises.<\/p>\n

The Logical Relationship Among the Four Covenant Promises<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeremiah has emphasized the guilt of the people. So there is a need for forgiveness. \u00a0<\/em>Thus the fourth promise is the basis, the logical ground, for the other three promises. Without forgiveness, guilty sinners can\u2019t be the people of God.<\/p>\n

Thus, Jesus fulfills the old covenant insistence on sin requiring the penalty of death. \u201cGod made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).<\/p>\n

So the fourth new covenant promise logically precedes the other three. Without forgiveness, sinful people cannot be in relationship with a holy God.<\/p>\n

Which promise comes next?<\/p>\n

God forgives us, enabling us to enter His presence, to be among His people. But what happens when we sin again?<\/p>\n

We know from 1 John 1:9 and other texts that we are to confess. That\u2019s how we should think of the first new covenant promise: God\u2019s writing the law, the torah, on our hearts.<\/p>\n

Remember, the torah includes not only statutes and requirements but also instruction. <\/em>The torah tells us who God is, what He is like, how we are to have a relationship with Him. When that <\/em>is written on our hearts, when we sin, we repent!<\/p>\n

God speaks of leading the people to do this in Jeremiah 31:9: \u201cWith weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just so for us. The law being written on our hearts does not imply that we lead perfect lives. Rather it implies that we see sin for what the torah tell us it is, <\/em>and we see God as the torah describes Him. <\/em>We thus recognize sin, know it is the path to destruction and not to joy \u2013 so we hate it. Furthermore, we know He offers us forgiveness through Jesus, so we come to Him humbly confessing and repenting. He then cleanses us from all unrighteousness.<\/p>\n

Thus, the requirement for staying in the new covenant is not sinless perfection; if it were, there would be no hope for any of us. The requirement is to make use of the new covenant method to restore the relationship with God.<\/p>\n

This then leads us to the third promise of the new covenant. When the torah is written on the hearts of all God\u2019s people, they all know Him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The torah includes this great description of God:<\/p>\n

\u201cA God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty” (From Exodus 34:6-7).<\/p>\n

To know God, we must know of these attributes. But knowing Him <\/em>implies more than knowing about Him. <\/em>We must respond with joy, with worship, with delight, as God describes in the near context of Jeremiah 31:31-34:<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 33:11 Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 31:14 My people shall be satisfied with my goodness.<\/p>\n

So the third new covenant promise implies that we respond rightly to the truths God has told us about Himself. As Jesus says, \u201cThis is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent\u201d (John 17:3).<\/p>\n

Finally, the new covenant culminates in the fulfilment of God\u2019s plan to create a people for Himself: \u201cI will be their God, and they shall be my people,\u201d the second new covenant promise. God\u2019s people are in an eternal, life-giving, joyful relationship with Him, in Jesus, through Jesus, as Bride, as children, as redeemed.<\/p>\n

This was the goal of the entire history of redemption, as hinted at in the Garden, shown a bit more clearly to Noah and Abraham, then shown yet more clearly to Moses and even more to David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets. God\u2019s plan has always been to fulfill the old covenant through the perfect seed of the woman, through the perfect offspring of Abraham, through the perfect Davidic king, through the perfect suffering servant \u2013 that is, through Jesus Christ. He is the only human who ever loved God with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength every minute of every day. He is the only human who loved every person He encountered as He loved Himself. He is the faithful Israel of God.<\/p>\n

And through His life, death, resurrection, reign, and return we can be united with Him. We can be God\u2019s people; He can be our God \u2013 forever and ever.<\/p>\n

Entering into and Enduring in the New Covenant<\/em><\/p>\n

We must never think of Jesus or His work as a means to achieve a greater goal. For example: Don\u2019t think of Jesus as a tool to cleanse you from the guilt of sin. Jesus is not a tool. Jesus is not a means to an end. Rather, Jesus is the Goal. <\/em>He is the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in a field. As the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:18, in everything Jesus must be preeminent.<\/p>\n

So we enter into the new covenant \u2013 as pictured in baptism \u2013 by praying something like this:<\/p>\n

Father, I gladly acknowledge that I am a sinner. I have closed my eyes to keep myself from seeing You; I have shut my mind to Your Gospel. I deserve Your judgment. But now I confess \u2013 that was the path to death, not life. That rebellion was not a pursuit of my greatest joy; rather, it was walking away from my greatest joy. Jesus is worth more than all the world has to offer. You, Father, invite me to be among your people by grace through faith in Him. I believe Jesus provided the payment for the penalty of my sins, and I believe that knowing Him is eternal life. Please accept me into His Kingdom, uniting me with Him and thus with You forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalm 51:17 assures us, \u201ca broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are not<\/em> in Him, God calls upon you now: Come to Him, like that. He will incorporate you into His people.<\/p>\n

If you are<\/em> in Him \u2013 How do you endure in the new covenant?<\/p>\n

Baptism pictures our entrance<\/em> into<\/em> the new covenant; the Lord\u2019s Supper pictures our enduring in <\/em>the new covenant. Jesus says \u201cThe one who endures to the end will be saved\u201d (Matthew 10:22). The Lord\u2019s Supper is God\u2019s gift to help us endure.<\/p>\n

Note that our Lord uses new covenant language when instituting the Lord\u2019s Supper in Luke 22:20: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.\u201d So whenever you partake of the Lord\u2019s Supper, consider all four new covenant promises:<\/p>\n