238. Law in the heart
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Another “new” part of the new covenant is that the law will be inward, in the heart. God promises a new covenant with the people of God. This will come about after the new covenant is established by the Messiah. “After those days” is after the Messiah has come and lived and died and rose again. It is the Messianic Age, the Days of the New Testament, the days in which we are living today.
In place of outward worship and ritual and sacrifice and the Law on tablets of stone, we have worship in spirit and truth, inward faith in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the motivation and working of the Holy Spirit in the inward parts to actually bring our lives more in accord with God’s Moral Law. The Holy Spirit lives in the believer creating faith, keeping him in the faith, and living the faith.
This promise of “law in the heart” makes all the difference. We do not obey the Law of God or live a moral outward life out of duty and fear and proper ritual; but we live a renewed, and better, life because we want to out of love for Him who loved us. The heart is changed by the One living there. He changes our desires, thoughts and motivations by the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God that brings desires and lives in line with the Ten Commandments. The Law in the heart is exactly the same as the Law on tablets. The difference in the “new” covenant is that by the Gospel and the Spirit we have the power to actually keep it. Sanctification is a long and arduous process and all believers are some way along the path, but no one is finished yet. Meanwhile, we have this promise that the Law has been put in the inward parts and written in the heart. This is the power to live the right way, like I always knew I wanted to but could not. Hang on to the promise: “He that is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” If you believe in Jesus you have a new covenant; if you have the new covenant you have the Law in your inward parts; if you have the Law in the heart you have His Life which is the power.