NOTES for Heb 8:7-13

This passage quotes God’s promise from the book of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The Lord says that the covenant He wants to make with His people must differ fundamentally from all previous covenants. The former covenant was theory. It was a certain knowledge of what should be done... but this knowledge did not work: the people did not remain in the covenant. Why? Because it is impossible to preserve unity with God by following rules! A person will either be unable to understand all the rules, or will follow them mechanically, not with the heart but only with the mind, or both. The New Covenant differs fundamentally precisely because the Lord begins to act no longer from outside, but from within. He places the law in the mind and in the heart. This is possible only through the action of the Holy Spirit. Only by allowing Him to do this within us will we be able to live in His righteousness and be His people.