Concept
SoteriologyThe New Covenant
Law written on hearts, sins remembered no more: promised to Israel by Jeremiah, ratified in a cup on the night of betrayal.
#covenant#grace
- 5passages
- 41original words
- 2approved connections
- 100cross-references
The words behind it
Hebrew and Greek standing in the 5 passages listed below, not a lexicon of "the new covenant" itself. The number on each word is how often it occurs in those passages; the connecting words the languages use everywhere are set aside so the words that carry meaning can be seen.
Hebrew13
3 more hebrew words ▾
Greek28
18 more greek words ▾
The passages
Every passage this site attaches to the concept, in canon order. Each row says where it came from.
Old Testament2
- Jeremiah 31:31listed key text
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Jeremiah 31:312 voices
Behold - And not only with the Jews, but all those who should be ingrafted into that Olive. It is not called the new covenant, because it was as to the substance new, for it was made with Abraham, Gen. xvii, 7, and with the Jews, Deut. xxvi, 17, 18, but because it was revealed after a new manner, more fully and particularly, plainly and clearly.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
8, 9 , &c.), where this whole passage is quoted as a summary of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus Christ. Who the persons are with whom this covenant is made-- with the house of Israel and Judah, with the gospel church, the Israel of God on which peace shall be ( Gal. vi.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
- Ezekiel 36:26listed key text
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Ezekiel 36:262 voices
IT is a peculiar feature in our holy religion that it begins its work within and acts first upon the heart. Other religions, like that of the Pharisees, begin with outward forms and ceremonies, perhaps hoping to work inwardly from without, although the process never ends, for though the outside of the cup and of the platter is made clean, the inside still remains full of rottenness as before. No Truth of God is more sure than this concerning all the sons of men, "You must be born again."
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1129: “The Heart Of Flesh” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1873
In Eze 18:31 they are commanded, "Make you a new heart, and a new spirit." Here God says, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
New Testament3
- Luke 22:20listed key text
In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Luke 22:202 voices
This cup is the New Testament - Here is an undeniable figure, whereby the cup is put for the wine in the cup. And this is called, The New Testament in Christ's blood, which could not possibly mean, that it was the New Testament itself, but only the seal of it, and the sign of that blood which was shed to confirm it.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Evangelical
By uniting flesh that was subject to death to himself, the Word being God and life drove corruption away from it. Christ also made it to be the source of life. The body of him who is the life must be this.Do not doubt what I have said but rather accept the word in faith, having gathered proofs from a few examples. When you place a piece of bread into wine, oil, or any other liquid, you find that it becomes charged with the quality of that particular thing.
Cyril of Alexandria· COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 142, 444Patristic
- 2 Corinthians 3:6listed key text
And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3:62 voices
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new covenant - Of the new, evangelical dispensation. Not of the law, fitly called the letter, from God's literally writing it on the two tables. But of the Spirit - Of the gospel dispensation, which is written on the tables of our hearts by the Spirit.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Evangelical
Rightly therefore does Paul say that the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. For the letter circumcises a small portion of the body; the understanding spirit keeps the circumcision of the whole soul and body; that the superfluous parts being cut off, (for nothing is so superfluous as the vices of avarice, the sins of lust, which nature had not, but sin caused,) chastity might be observed, and frugality loved. The sign therefore is bodily circumcision, but the truth is spiritual circumcision, the one cuts off the member, the other cuts off sin.
Ambrose of Milan· Letter 74, To Irenaeus, 397Patristic
- Hebrews 8:6listed key text
Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Hebrews 8:62 voices
"The messenger (angel) of the covenant." which--Greek, "one which" [ALFORD]: inasmuch as being one which. established--Greek, "enacted as a law." So Ro 3:27, "law of faith"; and Ro 8:2; 9:31, apply "law" to the Gospel covenant.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry - His office of priesthood is more excellent than the Levitical, because the covenant is better, and established on better promises: the old covenant referred to earthly things; the new covenant, to heavenly. The old covenant had promises of secular good; the new covenant, of spiritual and eternal blessings.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Evangelical
Approved connections
2 links an editor approved, each with the reason it was kept.
- covenant contrast2 Corinthians 3:6
'Ministers of a new testament [covenant]; not of the letter, but of the spirit' - anchors the Mosaic-vs-new covenant contrast.
text
- covenant enactmentJeremiah 31:31
New covenant oracle: 'I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel' (Jer 31:31-34). Arc 5 sign = the cup.
text (Jer 31:31, PD)
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Where this concept leads
2Voices on these passages
Commentary matched to the verses above, each named with its source: the full pool sits on each verse page.
Behold - And not only with the Jews, but all those who should be ingrafted into that Olive. It is not called the new covenant, because it was as to the substance new, for it was made with Abraham, Gen. xvii, 7, and with the Jews, Deut. xxvi, 17, 18, but because it was revealed after a new manner, more fully and particularly, plainly and clearly.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old TestamentEvangelical
Jeremiah 31:31
IT is a peculiar feature in our holy religion that it begins its work within and acts first upon the heart. Other religions, like that of the Pharisees, begin with outward forms and ceremonies, perhaps hoping to work inwardly from without, although the process never ends, for though the outside of the cup and of the platter is made clean, the inside still remains full of rottenness as before. No Truth of God is more sure than this concerning all the sons of men, "You must be born again."
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1129: “The Heart Of Flesh” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)
Ezekiel 36:26
This cup is the New Testament - Here is an undeniable figure, whereby the cup is put for the wine in the cup. And this is called, The New Testament in Christ's blood, which could not possibly mean, that it was the New Testament itself, but only the seal of it, and the sign of that blood which was shed to confirm it.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New TestamentEvangelical
Luke 22:20
Study it deeper
5 moves a student can make from here. Every one opens a tool on this site.
Trace one word to every place it stands
A word page lists every verse that word occurs in, with its definition and its range of meaning. Start with the roots that occur most under the passages above.
Walk out from the passages
The passages above carry 100 cross-references between them, links from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the great 1830s reference work, together with the reader-voted index at OpenBible.info. The most-linked destinations:
Ezekiel 11:19→Psalms 51:10→2 Corinthians 5:17→Deuteronomy 30:6→
Read it in both testaments
Set the earliest passage beside the New Testament one and ask what changed and what did not, the shape of the new covenant before Christ and after him.
Read the whole chapter around it
A verse quoted alone can mean almost anything. Open Jeremiah 31 in the reader, where the Hebrew or Greek sits under every line.
See everywhere else it appears
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Where this comes from
Jeremiah 31:31-34 promises a covenant unlike Sinai: not carved in stone but written inward, with forgiveness as its foundation rather than its reward. Ezekiel adds the mechanism: a new heart and God's own Spirit put within (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Jesus names it over the cup: "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). Hebrews spends three chapters showing that the first covenant was always meant to hand off to this one.