The New Covenant Has Solved
the Problem of the Heart
Compare the new covenant promises of Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel
36:26, 27. How are they related?
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The first covenant document was written by God on tablets of
stone and was deposited in the ark of the covenant as an important
witness of God’s covenant with His people (Exod. 31:18, Deut.
10:1–4). Documents written in stone, however, could be broken; and
scrolls, as Jeremiah had experienced, could be cut up and burned
(Jer. 36:23).
But in the new covenant God now will write His law in the hearts
of the people. The heart refers to the mind, the organ of memory and
understanding (Jer. 3:15, Deut. 29:4), and especially to the place where
conscious decisions are made (Jer. 3:10, Jer. 29:13).
This promise did not simply secure access to and knowledge of the
law for everyone. It also, and more important, was to bring about a
change in the heart of the nation. The problem of Israel was that their
sin was engraved “with a pen of iron . . . with a point of diamond . . . on
the tablet of their heart” (Jer. 17:1, NKJV). They had a stubborn heart
(Jer. 13:10, Jer. 23:17); therefore, it was impossible for them to do the
right thing (Jer. 13:23).
Jeremiah did not announce a change of the law, because the problem
of Israel was not the law but the heart. God wanted Israel’s faithfulness
to be a grateful response to what He had done for them; thus, He gave
the Ten Commandments to them with a historical prologue, expressing
His love and care for them (Exod. 20:1, 2). God wanted Israel to obey
His laws as an acknowledgment that He wanted the best for them, a
truth revealed in their great deliverance from Egypt. Their obedience
was to be an expression of gratitude, a manifestation of the reality of
their relationship.
The same is true today for us. Jesus’ love and care in dying for us is
the prologue of the new covenant (Luke 22:20). True obedience comes
from the heart as an expression of love (Matt. 22:34–40). This love is
the distinguishing mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of
the believer. God pours His love on us through His Spirit (Rom. 5:5),
the reception of whom is expressed by love (Gal. 5:22).
If ancient Israel was to love God, even without the understanding
of Christ’s death, why shouldn’t we love God even more than they
did? How does obedience make manifest the reality of that love?