“And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.” (Nehemiah 9:38)
The walls of Jerusalem had been repaired under the instruction of Nehemiah. They celebrated Yom Kipper (Day of Atonement) and confessed their sin and made a covenant with the Lord. In those days it all depended on their behavior. They promised to behave a certain way and the Lord would bless them.
But our covenant is in Jesus. It doesn’t depend on our behavior because our behavior will fail, just like the Israelites’ behavior failed them. Our covenant depends on what Jesus did. He was obedient. “He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—His death on the cross.” (Philippians 2:8) He was all man and all God and never sinned. “Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made Him share our sin in order that in union with Him we might share the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21) He took our sin and paid the penalty for sin. “But now God's way of putting people right with Himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all: everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence. But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with Him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. God offered Him, so that by His blood He should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in Him. God did this in order to demonstrate that He is righteous. In the past He was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time He deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate His righteousness. In this way God shows that He Himself is righteous and that He puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-25)
This is the “better than Good News.” This is the Covenant of Jesus. This is the Gospel. This is a better covenant. “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” (Hebrews 7:22) It’s a better covenant because it removes our guilt, our sin, our penalty and our death whereas the old covenant could not. All the prophets prophesied about a coming time of forgiveness of all sin. “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) Paul wrote about it to the Romans. “For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death. What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending His own Son, Who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin.” (Romans 8:2-3)
Because of our weak flesh some may despair. But God knows that we are weak and unable to conquer the flesh on our own. “What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God's law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25) Paul understood this. He tries to explain it. Our spirit is reborn of God. It’s pure and holy because it’s from God. But our flesh is earth bound with all the defects and weaknesses from this sinful earth. The Holy Spirit is in communication with our human spirit. The more we pray and obey, the more influence our human spirit, which is from God, has over our soul (mind, will and emotions). We have decisions to make every moment. The decisions can be bad, good, better or best. We can do good things, but it may not be the best. Jesus told Martha what the best part is. “The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42 CEV-Contemporary English Version) Other versions say the better part or the good part instead of the best part. The best part is what God would have us to do.
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