Not only is Jesus the better covenant and the High priest implementing it, but Hebrews 8:6 goes on to tell us that this covenant “was established on better promises.” The Old laid out through Moses at God’s command was faulty because while giving the standard to live by it did not provide the means to do so, it was “not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” Hebrews 10:4 neither could it change the heart, so God declared it “obsolete” (that is worn out) Hebrews 8:13. The old had accomplished its purpose by revealing our sin (see Romans 7:7) and pointing us to Jesus through all its sacrifices and holy observances that pointed to Him and the new covenant! The promise of the new is “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh…and cause you to walk in My statutes…” Ezekiel 36:26-29. Speaking of Jesus Hebrews 10:9 says “He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” Romans 8:3 makes it clear that “what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…” Under the old covenant “there is a reminder of sins every year” Hebrews 10:3, but the better promise of the new is “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” Jeremiah 31:34. The old depended largely on the works of the people to follow God’s law which they could not fully do because of their sinful hearts, but the new covenant depends on what God has already done, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9. This does not mean we abandon God’s holy and moral standards because of grace, rather we are empowered to keep them; Romans 6:1-2, 15 says “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! …” The old while pointing to the new leaned heavily on the provisions of this present life; the new while not abandoning our present needs, leans heavily to the spiritual and eternal! A new heart, a clean slate, an eternal future; better promises, I think so!
A better promise
By Rose Hill
Better promises God has given,
With them comes victorious livin’.
He gives a new heart and new spirit within,
And remembers no more our sin.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission