Hebrews 8:8-13

Hebrews 8:8-13 But God found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Matthew 20:34-35 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

God's new covenant goes out to whosoever will: believers are his chosen people. In the Old Testament, the chosen were an ethnic people known as the children of Israel. Jewish men were circumcised as physical evidence that they were God's people led by the law of righteousness given to them through Moses. They tried to fulfill this law through their fleshly efforts, but they could not keep the law and fell from God's grace, for their hearts were not circumcised. Since they continually disobeyed God and went whoring after other gods, He judged them and dispersed them throughout all nations. Were they still God's people? Yes, but they too needed their hearts circumcised by accepting Christ. A man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:29) Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:27-31) Every jot and tittle of the law was fulfilled in us through Christ's death and resurrection. By faith in his finished work, we no longer live in our righteousness but in his.

Christians, whether Jew or Gentile are the house of Israel referred to in the above passage. We who allow God to circumcise our hearts have the privilege to be God's chosen, the ones who receive the promise: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. This proclamation applies only to the people of God, those whose hearts have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. We who place our faith and trust in Jesus are now his spiritual household, the house of Abraham, his chosen ones, blessed by Abraham's SEED, Jesus Christ. Now God's people must live by faith in Christ because the Bible says the just will live by faith and will inherit God's domain, HIS PRESENCE. Do we replace the ethnic Jew? No, God chose them for honor, and He will deal with them in his way.

The Holy Spirit writes God's law, his righteousness, on the hearts of believers. We no longer discover God through the priesthood or through another person. We do not go to the temple to offer sacrifices for sin and to find God, for we know him in our hearts, from the least to the greatest. The Spirit in us testifies of God and his Son: Christians know God because He is in us and we are in him. We know God's greatness and his mercy because He resides within our spirits. We hear his voice, yield to him, and we follow his dictates; this is God's promise of the Spirit to us. Jesus said He must go away so He could send the Holy Spirit who would reside in all believers. We who are alive IN CHRIST have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He desires to reap a harvest in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Today's scriptures have been fulfilled in us; therefore, we should walk in the Spirit, denying the flesh's preeminence in our wills. We should take up the cross and follow him. As our testimony embraces the cross, we no longer live but Christ lives in us. As we listen to and obey the Spirit, He directs our lives, communes with us, comforts us, and honors God in us. As those whose hearts have been circumcised through faith in Christ, let us be the children of God in every way by following the Lord and leading others to God's plan for salvation and eternal life.