The New Covenant

"The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant ...not like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, ... This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: 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. No more shall any man teach his brother saying "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me. For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more."

A covenant is a binding agreement or contract. In Biblical terms it's God's promise (originally to Israel and their commitment to worship Him only). Today it remains his promise to everyone who is willing to accept it. The new covenant is God's last and final covenant pertaining to his rule. It is new in contrast to the old, which was given to Moses as the Law. The old covenant was conditional: "If you will ..... I will ..." The new covenant is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The old covenant made mankind conscious of sin and his inability to atone for his own sin. That is why it required a sacrifice to be made by the priest on our behalf.

By contrast, the new covenant accomplishes everything the old could not, and allows us to live lives consistent with God's character. It came into effect with the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ at Calvary, and is the source of our forgiveness and reconciliation to God.

The new covenant regenerates and it renews us by giving us a new heart towards God.