The NIV 365 Day Devotional

A New Covenant with God’s People

This is the only place in the entire Old Testament where the phrase “new covenant” occurs (Jer 31:31). The nation of Judah has been exiled to Babylon as punishment for their years of excessive sin. Yet God reminds them that on the other side of judgment is salvation. God will intervene and establish “a new covenant with the people of Israel” (v. 31), but this covenant will not be like the one he established through Moses on Mt. Sinai (Ex 19–20). In the new covenant, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts . . . [and] they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Jer 31:33–34). Jeremiah is referring to a new, internal work of God, where he changes people’s hearts and ignites a desire and ability to obey God from within. It’s similar to other passages, like Deuteronomy 30:6, where God says he will circumcise the Israelites’ hearts, and Ezekiel 36:26, where God puts his Spirit within people. These passages point to the internal, transformative work that God will do in the new covenant.

And that new covenant has been accomplished through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and through the Spirit who has been given to believers (Ro 8:1–11). Grace does not mean that God overlooks sin. If God overlooks sin, then Jesus’ work would be irrelevant. Grace means that God deals with sin once and for all, through Jesus, and empowers us through his Spirit to respond to him with obedience.

Taken from the NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible.