NOTES for Jer 31:33-34

This passage is the fullest statement of what the New Covenant is. It is interesting that this statement is contained in the Old Testament; that is, God warned people in advance, six centuries beforehand, about what He was going to do for our salvation. It is worth thinking deeply about the meaning of these words.

"I will be their God, and they will be My people" is the formula of what God offered people already in the covenant with Moses, what is fulfilled if people keep God's law. The problem is that the law is not kept. Human sinfulness, slavery to sin, gets in the way. This is exactly what the New Covenant deals with. So God says: "I will put My law within them, and on their hearts I will write it," that is, God promises to make the law not an external ordinance for a person, but his inner need, motivated by "knowledge of God," a deep personal connection with Him. But sin separates a person from God, so God is going to destroy ("I will remember no more") this barrier. How? "I will forgive their iniquities," by the forgiveness of sins. And now remember the Gospel, and you will agree that it tells of the fulfillment in Jesus Christ of all these promises of God.