The Renewed or New Covenant?

In Jeremiah 31:31 we see God renewing, restoring, or refreshing - not replacing - the covenant with his people. So why do we express the covenant in such terms?

While there are a myriad of answers that may be given to support the above statement, time and space limit me to but a few: Term, Time, and Text.

The Term - "New"

Both the Hebrew chadash (Jer. 31:31) and the Greek kainos (Heb. 8:8) words for "new" may be more properly translated "renewed" as opposed to "new" or "brand-new" in certain contexts.

Chadash may mean new in quality, not new in time (1 Sam. 11:14; 2 Chron. 15:8; 24:4, 12; Job 10:7; Psa. 103:5; 104:30; Isa. 61:4; Lam. 5:21). It can mean to renew or repair. For instance, in Psalm 51:10 David says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." David uses the same word as in Jeremiah 31:31 (chadash). David was not asking for something brand-new, but was asking for a renewal of what he had previously. In 2 Chronicles 24:4,12 we see the use of the terms repair and restore (root, chadash) with the already existent house of the Lord. So in all these verses, there is a renewal, a repairing, a restoring of that which was already in existence. The same is true for Jeremiah 31.

In the New Testament, of the eight times that "new" is applied to the new covenant, seven of them use the term kainos - renewed, or new in quality, not necessarily time (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:13; 9:15) as opposed to neos (meaning new in time - Heb. 12:24). The use of term kainos means there was a preexisting covenant to which Jesus gave a qualitative difference.

We see the use of kainos more clearly in such verses as John 13:34, where the commandment to love one another was not brand-new (neos). After all, this commandment was the very heart of the old covenant (Lev. 19:18; et al.); Jesus simply added a new quality to the old covenant command, "as I have loved you". Another example may be helpful: When Paul was preaching Jesus, some accused him of preaching a new doctrine (Acts 17:18-19). Here, the doctrine of Christ was not brand-new and had been around for some time and not only in the New Testament (Gal. 3:8). However, it was unfamiliar to his present audience, therefore this was kainos, not neos.

As to the one verse that uses neos to describe the new covenant (Heb. 12:24), it simply means Jesus was the "brand-new" (neos) administrator of the re-newed (kainos) covenant (as opposed to Moses some two thousand years earlier).

Some attempt to make the case that since the new covenant has a better sacrifice (Heb. 9:23), mediator (Heb. 8:6; 9:15, 24; 12:24), ministration in the spirit (2 Cor. 3:6), high priest (Heb. 7:24-28; 8:1-6), priesthood after the order of Melkizedek (Heb. 7), promise (Heb. 7:24-25; 8:5; 9:1), and tabernacle made without hands (Heb. 8:1-6; 9:11, 24), this new covenant must mean brand-new. However, the covenant with Moses is not obsolete (Heb. 8:13) in the sense it has no value. After all, Jesus, the administrator of the New Covenant, embraced the old as relevant and even taught it to his disciples. Similarly, the Ten Commandments still have relevance today (Matt 22:36-40). But the old covenant is obsolete from the standpoint that Christ's priesthood has superseded its priestly institutions.

Jeremiah and the author of Hebrews both spoke about a covenant already in existence, but that became re-newed in character or quality and not one that was absolutely brand-new. The eternal covenant (Gen. 17:9-13) became renewed in Christ (Rom. 15:8-9).

Compare Covenants in General.

The Time - The Covenant of Grace is for All Ages:

After Adam broke the covenant of works (Gen. 1:28-30; 2:15-17), God revealed in part the covenant of grace (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 42:6; Hos. 6:7). We see salvation promised through the promised seed (Christ - Gal. 3:16).

We may trace this covenant through Abel (Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11:4), Enoch (Gen. 5:22-23; Heb. 11:5), Noah (Gen. 6:8-9), and his family (Gen. 6-8). The covenant continued to Abraham, where we see some significant expansion of it (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-16; 15:18-21; 17:1-16; 22:16-18) and where we see God promised he would be the God of Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:7) and that in Abraham all the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; cf. Rom. 4:13).

The Abrahamic covenant continues with Isaac (Gen. 17:19; 26:3-4), Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15; 35:12), and Jacob's descendants (Ex. 2:24; 4:5). Time and again Israel was reminded of this covenant (Ex. 32:12-14; 33:1; Lev. 26:42; Deut. 1:8; 4:31; 7:8; 9:27; 29:12-13; Josh. 21:44; 24:3-4; Psa. 105:8-10, 42-43; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chron. 16:15-17; Mic. 7:20; Neh. 9:7-8, etc.). God's truth - God's covenant - stands for all time. God did not make a mistake in the covenant and have to begin all over - we do not serve such an incompetent God. Even God's plan for Adam to fill the earth with God's image (Gen 1:26-28) comes to fruition in the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1-8).

Even when we arrive in the New Testament we see it re-emphasized at the birth of Christ (Luke 1:54-55, 68-73). Jesus is the seed of Abraham (Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16). He himself declared to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).

Paul and Peter both saw the Abrahamic covenant at work in the new covenant (Gal. 3:8-9; Acts 3:25-26). Christ was not only circumcised according to the Abrahamic covenant (Rom. 15:8-9), but he died on the cross in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles (Gal. 3:13-14). Further, Abraham is the father of all that believe (Rom. 4:11-12); they are Abraham's seed (Gal. 3:29). Even the future state of glory is expressed in Abrahamic terms (Matt. 8:11).

The Abrahamic covenant was not set aside by the Mosiac covenant (Gal. 3:16-18). The covenant of grace is for all ages. It is everlasting (Gen. 17:9-13). It is still working in the renewed covenant:

Galatians 3:7-9 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

So, we see one covenant expanding throughout the centuries. Like a tree that is maturing, so the covenant unfolded in time. Note the stages of a tree: seed; seedling (the above-ground part of the embryo that sprouts from the seed); sapling (after the seedling reaches 1 m tall and until it reaches 7 cm in stem diameter); pole (young trees from 7-30 cm diameter); mature tree (over 30 cm diameter, reproductive years begin); and old tree (at its fullness). A maturing tree may also be called by different names throughout its life cycle. Likewise, the one covenant is referred to by different names to help further define its development to full maturity.

The Text - What Jeremiah says about Itself

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new (chadash - renewed or new in quality, not time) covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

All of the truths prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34 were already present to some degree in Israel/Judah:

Jeremiah 31:31-34	Old Covenant Witness
1. 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 broke my covenant	1. God is faithful in all his covenants (Exod. 19:4-6; Deut. 7:9; Psa. 89). God cannot completely abandon the old "everlasting" covenants (Gen. 17:7; Heb. 6:13). The "new" is new in quality, not in time.
2. though I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD.	2. God is the husband of Israel in the old covenant (Isa. 54:5; 61:10; 62:5; Hos. 2:19-20, etc.) and the invisible church continues to be his bride in the re-newed covenant (Rom. 7:4; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:23; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2-4, 9).
3. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts."	3. God's word was written on their hearts (Deut. 6:6; 30:6; Isa. 51:7).
4. I will be their God, and they will be my people.	4. God was their God and they were his people (e.g. Exod. 3:7, 10).
5. 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, "declares the LORD.	5. Some knew the Lord and therefore did not need to be taught to know him (demonstrated by contrast with those who did not know the Lord - Exod. 5:2; Judg. 2:10; 1 Sam. 2:12; 3:7; Hos. 2:20; 5:4). Some today still do not know the Lord, thus revealing the "now, but not yet" of God's promises. See "The Already and the Not Yet." So, Jer 31 is not yet "fully" realized.
6. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."	6. God forgave the sins of the faithful (Exod. 34:6-7).

The Old Covenant and the New Covenant are one. The re-newed covenant is the continuation of the everlasting covenant.