God's Covenant Written On The Heart

"This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people... I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (1)

"I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.": God's law is not simply to be an external standard of righteousness. It is "our tutor to bring us to Christ." (2) God's law is a listing of His values that we are to live by, and they are the values that God plants in our hearts by His Spirit. The fruits of His Spirit are enumerated in Galatians 5:22, and "against such there is not law." His Holy Spirit "will guide you into all truth." (3) "God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth." (4) By His Word and by His Holy Spirit, God writes His law and His values on our hearts.

"I will be their God, and they shall be My people.": Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments... He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (5) God dwells in the hearts of His people by the presence of His Spirit. When they put their faith and trust in God and in His Son, they will reflect the love and values of their Creator. In essence we are re-created into the image of the One who loves us and has redeemed us from the ravages of sin, from that which destroys. As we put our faith and trust in Him, He will teach us and share with us the power of His values and His love.

"I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more": "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity, - He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." (6) "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." (7)

By beholding, we are changed. By "beholding - the glory of the Lord [we] are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory - by the Spirit of the Lord." (8) As we put our faith and trust in God, study His Word, and receive His Spirit, He is planting His law and His love into the hearts of His people.

1. Jeremiah 31:33, 34.
2. Galatians 3:34.
3. John 16:13.
4. 2 Thessalonians 2:13.
5. John 14:15, 21, 23.
6. Micah 7:18, 19.
7. Psalm 32:1, 2; Romans 4:7, 8.
8. 2 Corinthians 3:18.