Written on the Heart

To which does the Bible point?

You might be old enough to remember when every Vacation Bible School recited Psalm 119:11 in every opening assembly. It says, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” That verse was used to try to get kids interested in memorizing Scripture.

Memorizing Scripture is a good thing, but that verse is not about Scripture memorization. It is about having God’s word in our hearts. The Psalmist was anticipating a time when the word of God was to be written in our hearts as prophesied in Jeremiah 31. It is a precursor to the New Covenant that God would establish with those who would receive Christ as their savior. It is about a time when God’s people would have a new attitude about their relationship with Him; an attitude of the heart.

Except at the “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion,” it is rare for a preacher to even mention the New Covenant, let alone expound on what it is and what it means. Most certainly don’t emphasize it. Yet it is the very cornerstone of who we are as Christians. Jesus proclaimed His blood to be the New Covenant. Paul preached its importance. The book of Hebrews spends FIVE CHAPTERS developing its concept. (Does God spend five chapters on something that we should take or leave as we see fit?)

The old covenant that God had established with His people required obedience to the Old Testament Mosaic law. Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), the law required that people perform rituals and sacrifices. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that there would be a time when God would make a New Covenant with His people.

"'The day will come,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. . . . But THIS IS THE NEW COVENANT I WILL MAKE WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ON THAT DAY,' SAYS THE LORD. 'I WILL PUT MY LAW IN THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. I will be their God, and they will be my people'" (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people. The old covenant was written in stone, but the new covenant is written on our hearts, made possible only by faith in Christ, who shed His own blood to atone for the sins of the world. Luke 22:20 says, "After supper, [Jesus] took another cup of wine and said, 'This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you – an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.'"

Now that we are under the New Covenant, we are not under the penalty of the law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through Holy Spirit who lives in all believers (Romans 8:9-11), we can now share in the INHERITANCE OF CHRIST and enjoy a permanent, unbroken relationship with God.

Hebrews 9:15 declares, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them FREE FROM THE SINS COMMITTED UNDER THE FIRST COVENANT.”