The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34 | Theological and associated works by author "Colossians"

The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34 Jan 1, 2014 7:24:45 GMT

Post by Colossians on Jan 1, 2014 7:24:45 GMT

This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.

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THE NEW COVENANT: JEREMIAH 31:31-34

[31] “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:”
This “days [that would] come”, is in reference to those days which proceed from the cross.

“Proceed from”, we say, not “follow”, for God’s kingdom being not delimited according to time, the substance of the days is not temporal, but causal: they are the days in which anyone turns to the Lord, regardless of when in history such an one might live – days which are by virtue of the Cross rather than days which are after the Cross. And so we read at Rev 13:8 that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world.¹

¹ See our work: “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”.

The new covenant then is new to each and every man who receives it, for all men are under the law from birth (see Gal 4:4), and any change from the jurisdiction of the law to another jurisdiction, is necessarily a ‘new day’.

“the house of Judah” refers to the elect who are of Gentile extraction, Judah having proceeded from Leah who was not at first loved (see also Rom 9:25).

“the house of Israel” refers to the elect who are of Jewish extraction, for no other reason than that it is contrasted with the house of Judah. (See then Eze 37:15-22, Eph 2:15.)

[32] “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:”
And thus a brand new covenant containing none of the old.

Accordingly, what most miss in the analysis of the stuff of ‘covenant’, is that a covenant not only contains (its) terms and conditions, but the mood of such terms and conditions. With regard to the old covenant, its modality was deontic, for it was underpinned by the notion that God was external to those with whom He was covenanting and that they (therefore) must needs obey Him as an act of their will. Such voluntary humility is in fact what generally characterises the works of the law.

The new covenant, on the other hand, is underpinned by the notion that God is internal to those with whom He is covenanting. Its modality is therefore not deontic, but irresistibility by virtue of what is (now) natural. That is, the Spirit ‘quickens’ us, rather than tells us what to do.

For we are told at 1 Cor 6:17 that “he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit”, and thereby understand that the decisions of the Head irresistibly result in the obedience of the Body, in exactly the same way as the decisions of one’s anatomical head irresistibly result in the obedience of one’s anatomical body.²

² See our work: “Sin and righteousness, structurally explained”.

So:

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you” Rom 8:10,11

: the Spirit shall, by virtue of His residence within, bring our lives into conformity with His will, at His good pleasure and to the degree that He chooses in accord with the purposes of God.

Note: That this verse (32) of Jeremiah bases itself on the disobedience of the specific people Israel, does not restrict its application to that people. For although the law was given to Israel in writing, it was nevertheless written on the heart of all flesh – which, the heart being not the mind, spoke to the general awareness of condemnation rather than any set of laws purporting to provide a way out from such condemnation – as a result of Adam’s having eaten from the wrong tree. (See Rom 2:15.) Israel then was simply the discrete sample required to unequivocally demonstrate to all of mankind that, given that Israel had descended from Adam just as the rest of mankind, no man would ever please God.

[33] “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
In that the house of Judah is no longer mentioned, we understand here that this “house of Israel” is necessarily (now) in reference to both houses. Judah, after all, was a tribe of Israel.

But it is no mere act of economy that has seen the two houses combined at this point, but rather, such is in fact crucial to the bringing out of the message of grace in these verses of Jeremiah. Specifically, we will via such combining understand that this putting of the law “in their inward parts”, is necessarily not dependent on any knowing of the law, for it is the Gentiles who constitute the major portion of such combined house, and the Gentiles “have not the law” (Rom 2:14).

[34] “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
And so we are informed of just what this putting of the law in their inward parts, consists of: their “know[ing] the Lord”. And thus we understand that this “law” that is put in their inward parts, is not in fact the law at all, but Christ Himself.

Confirming, we are (also) informed that God will “remember their sin no more”. That is, God is not so foolish as to continually remind Himself of that which He is also continually supposed to forget.

But rather:

“where no law is, there is no transgression” Rom 4:15.

And thus:

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross” Col 2:14.

In concluding ...

We read that the man who wrestled all night with Jacob at Penial, could not overcome Jacob (Gen 32:25).

Strange we might think, given that that man was God.

But then, what man has ever overcome the woman with whom he is in love? Will he not, if he destroy her, also destroy himself?

Amen.

(See also extension following.)

The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34 May 8, 2014 1:39:33 GMT

Post by Colossians on May 8, 2014 1:39:33 GMT

This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.

Extension

We have said above that the laws which God declares through Jeremiah that He would write in our hearts, were not in fact the law, but Christ: they are rather and simply eloquent metaphor for the person of Christ Himself.

For is not Christ Himself our very law? For does not the Holy Ghost by whom we are led, lead us only in accord with the mind of Christ?

Indeed:

“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” Rom 8:27.

And so note now the following apparent contradiction in scripture:

In his letter to the Galatians Paul declares:

“if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” Gal 3:21

: the law is declared most certainly impotent toward any saving of the soul,

and yet that in the psalms David declares:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul” Ps 19:7.

In accord with our teaching on Jeremiah 31:31-34, the apparent contradiction is resolved when we understand that David, who was a prophet, speaks in the psalms in the same poetic language of the Spirit as does the prophet Jeremiah: the law of which he speaks is also in reference to (the indwelling) Christ.

For we know that only Christ – specifically, the Holy Spirit – can convert the soul. For Paul has told us:

“no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” 1 Cor 12:3.

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And so David then proceeds in the same verse to also declare:

“: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple”

and where we appreciatively note the colon (“:”) inserted by the KJV scholars: this “the testimony of the Lord” is in synthetic parallelism with the aforementioned “the law of the Lord”: the two phenomena are in fact in reference to one and the same thing: they are both necessarily in reference to the person of Christ Jesus.

For is not this “the testimony of the Lord” of which David sings, in fact the spirit of prophecy?

Indeed:

“the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Rev 19:10.

And is not the spirit of prophecy that very same and blessed Holy Ghost who quickens us unto conformity to Christ?

Indeed:

“But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you” Rom 8:11.¹

¹ Rom 8:11 is erroneously represented in some bible versions as that which speaks to a physical resurrection, when in fact the context is conformity to the will of God, that which is most pointedly introduced three verses earlier as: “they that are in the flesh cannot please God”. And so we note that this “quicken[ing]” mentioned is not of mortified bodies, but mortal bodies: mortal bodies are by definition still physically alive.

Amen.