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Hebrews 8 — I Will Be to Them a God, and They Shall Be to Me a People
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum — we have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. Christ is the minister of the sanctuary, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises. Jeremiah's prophecy quoted in full — I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. In that He saith new, He hath made the first old; that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:”
— Hebrews 8:10
- v.1-6 The minister of the true sanctuary
- v.7-13 The new covenant of Jeremiah 31
Mediator of a better covenant. Christ is the bridge in the new arrangement, as Moses was in the old. Better — the keyword of Hebrews. Better ministry, better covenant, better promises.
The Christian lives under the better covenant — not the law's pressure but grace's provision. The same God presides over both; the better Mediator is the difference.
I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. The old covenant wrote on stone; the new writes on hearts. The law is no less the law — but the location changes the relationship.
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. The covenant formula. Belonging is mutual and definite. The believer's deepest identity is in that sentence.
Will I remember no more. The most freeing line in the chapter. God's deliberate non-remembrance of forgiven sins. The slate is not simply wiped; the record is unkept.
For the believer whose conscience replays old sins, the verse is the cure. God does not bring them up; neither should the conscience. Where He has forgotten, the believer is free not to keep dragging them up.
Verse 12 should be kept ready for replay. When the old sins march back into memory, this is the answer — I will remember them no more. God does not. Why should you? Where He has forgotten, the conscience is free. Bring the verse to mind every time the old accusations rise.
Chapter 8 establishes Christ as the Minister and Mediator of the better covenant. The new covenant promised in Jeremiah is His. The chapter is the bridge to chapters 9-10 — Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, by His own blood, ratifying the covenant that writes God's law on the heart and erases His record of our sins.
Hebrews' thesis distilled. The book's argument summarized — we have such a high priest. The verb is present; the high priest is currently in office.
Set on the right hand. The seated position of a finished work. The Levitical priests stood (10:11) because their work was never done. Christ sits because His is.