The promise of the new covenant is one of the most precious
of the entire Bible: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not
like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the
hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although
I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. ‘But this is the covenant which I
will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I
will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be
their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his
neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they will all
know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them [only those who
know Him will be in the covenant],’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more’” (Jeremiah
31:31-34).
In the new covenant, He writes His Law on the heart of the
covenant people (see also Deuteronomy 30:6,8; Proverbs 1:23; Ezekiel 36:26,27)!
This promise is fulfilled in Christ (Hebrews 8:6-12; 9:15; 12:24), and
proclaimed weekly at the Table of the Lord (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25).
His Law is on the hearts of those who are truly the covenant
people. But it doesn’t stay there. Remember this other great promise: “It
will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and
your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour
out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28,29//Acts 2:16-18). This promise is for
all those who “repent” and are “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
The writing of the Law on the heart is parallel to the
pouring out of the Spirit. The Word and Spirit cannot be separated. The
presence of the Spirit is manifested by the presence of the Word in the heart. The
Law, written on the heart of those in the new covenant by the Lord Himself,
does not stay in the heart. The Spirit manifests His Word from the heart of the
new covenant community members through “prophesy,” “dreams,” and “visions.”
These three manifestations will not deviate in the slightest from the Word of
God (or they show themselves to be of a different spirit that is not holy).
In
the new covenant, the Lord Himself (through His Word/Law and Holy Spirit) works
out obedience to His own command: “These words, which I am commanding you
today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and
shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and
when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your
hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). I just
read this passage to my children last night (we are considering Q.42 of the
Westminster Shorter Catechism this week). The Spirit-spoken “prophecy” is
none other than the teaching “diligently to your sons” and the “talk...in
your house...by the way.” The “dreams” and “visions” are the “talk
of them...when you lie down and when you rise up.” This is the blessed man who delights "in the Law of the LORD," and this delight manifests in his "day and night" meditation (Psalm 1:1,2).
Don’t miss the fact that we are to teach our children not
just any “words,” but “these words,” commanded by Moses: the Law
of God. They will never know their need for Christ apart from “these words”
(Galatians 3:22-24). At the same time, don’t miss the fact that you cannot “teach
them diligently,” “talk of them,” “bind them,” or “write them” apart
from the Holy Spirit, Who speaks His Word/Law from the hearts of those who are
the new covenant community in Christ.
“...be filled with the Spirit...fathers, do not provoke
your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of
the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18; 6:4). The instruction to our children of the Law
of God in the power and help of the Holy Spirit in Christ is His great means of
grace in our homes.
No comments:
Post a Comment