Under the old covenant, salvation and a right relationship with God came through a faith expressed by obedience to His law and its sacrificial system. Sacrifices in the Old Testament had three leading purposes: They taught God’s people the gravity of sin. Sin separated sinners from a holy God, and they could be reconciled to God and find forgiveness only through the shedding. They provided a way for Israel to come to God through faith, obedience, and love. They pointed forward to or foreshadowed Christ’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of the human race.
Jeremiah prophesies God will establish a new covenant for His people. It will embody as a heart reality. God’s holiness and righteousness will represent the believer by the Holy Spirit, imparting a new heart and nature that will love and joyfully obey God. The new covenant will be personal. To know God is both a community experience and a personal knowing by each member of the covenant community. Jesus Christ, as our high priest, with His blood, makes possible direct access into the Most Holy Place of God’s presence.
The new covenant would thoroughly deal with sin. New covenant believers will know the reality of God’s forgiveness through a cleansed conscience. Whereas only the blood of bulls and goats could only cover one’s sins, the blood of Jesus Christ enables one to blot out sin so that God remembers it no more. Jesus is the one who initiates and establishes the new covenant, and His heavenly ministry is far superior to the ministry of the Old Testament earthly priests. The new covenant is an agreement, promise, last will, and a statement of intention to bestow divine grace and blessing on those who respond to God in sincere repentance and faith. Specifically, it is a covenant for those who, through faith, accept Christ as God’s Son, receive His promises, and commit themselves personally to Him and the obligations of the new covenant.
Jesus Christ’s as a mediator of the new covenant basis on His sacrificial death. The promises and obligations of this covenant embody in the entire New Testament. The purpose of the new covenant is to save all those who believe in Christ. To commit their lives to the truths and obligations of this covenant, to form them into a people who are God’s very own.
The purpose of Jesus’ death was “to put away sin,” removing it entirely, not just covering over sin as did the blood of the old covenant sacrifices. Moreover, Jesus’ death was voluntary as the Son of God. the new covenant is of the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who ministers life and power to those who accept God’s covenant. All who participate in the new covenant of Jesus Christ receive its blessings and salvation as they persevere in faith and obedience. The faithless are excluded from its blessings.