It Opens the Way to Acquaintance with God
Pardon’s Relation to Knowledge
By Fred O. Blakely
“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: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness [for I will forgive their iniquity (Jer. 31:34)] and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 8:10-12).
The text sets forth vital contrasts between the old and new covenants, which serve to exhibit the vast superiority of the latter. Prominent among these contrasts is the spiritual knowledge of God made possible under the new dispensation, as opposed to the comparative ignorance of Him that prevailed under the old one. The forgiveness of sins, to which all of the surpassing benefits of the better covenant are ultimately to be attributed, is fundamental to this superiority.
Let us consider the text with a view to perceiving something of its engaging representations in this connection. In that discernment, we shall more fully appreciate our favored status as those upon whom the grace foreseen and predicted by the Prophets of old time has now come (Heb. 11:39-40; I Pet. 1:10-12), and be better equipped to live and walk becomingly in it.
The Contrast with the Old Covenant
Although there was a revelation of God under the old covenant, because of the provisional, or tentative, way in which sin was dealt with (Heb. 10:1-4; cf. chs. 8:7-8; 9:8-10), and the resultant unregenerated nature of the people (Rom. 8:3), the covenant was weak and unprofitable to invest the “comers thereunto” with the spiritual knowledge of God (Heb. 7:18-19; cf. chs. 8:7: 9:8-9). Hence, the first covenant served only for “the time then present” as a beginning of approach to God by alienated man (Heb. 9:9), until “the time of reformation,” when full propitiation for sin would be accomplished by Christ (v. 10), and the “better covenant” and “better hope, by which we draw nigh unto God,” was brought in (chs. 7:19; 8:6-7).
The Provisions of the Old. The faultiness of the old covenant, as compared to the new one, is evident in its provisions. As we have said, the sin-offerings were inefficacious to cleanse the conscience and thus perfect its subjects (Heb. 9:9; 10:1-4). The covenant was entered by the fleshly birth, thus assuring ignorance of, and alienation from, God, who is Spirit, and must be known and worshipped in spirit (Gen. 17:7-14; cf. Jn. 4:24). We later read, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8), and all Israel was thus situated, as we fear is likewise the case with much of the nominal church today. (Incidentally, all females of Abraham, through Jacob, were considered to be in the covenant [see Num. 36], though the males were formally inducted into it by the rite of circumcision—without which they were not reckoned as children of the covenant [Gen. 17:14]).
“If we except the few Gentile proselytes, who on condition of their being circumcised, were admitted to some of the rights and privileges of the Theocracy, all subjects of the old covenant had to be taught to know the Lord. But not so under the new covenant. No one, ignorant of Jehovah, can possibly become a member of it: ‘for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him’ (Heb. 11:6).”—Robert Milligan
The General Ignorance. In accordance with their flesh-and-blood nature, the law given to Israel was written “in tables of stone” (II Cor. 3:3). Thus, it was external to their inward man, and contrary to his very nature (Col. 2:14). What is more, the average Israelite had very little even of the knowledge of God afforded in his time. That was because, until establishment of the synagogues, there was not much public teaching of the people, though they themselves were commanded to study the Scriptures which they had (Deut. 6:4-9).
At best, therefore, the average Israelite perceived God only from the natural view-point (as do many churchmen nowadays), and so could not know Him in intimate spiritual discernment. Men like David, who rose above that plane, were distinctly exceptions rather than the rule in the nation. This general nature of the case under the first covenant must be understood in order to perceive the full force of Jeremiah’s and Paul’s contrast of it in our text with the new one. In the former era, it was necessary for every man to teach his neighbor and brother, saying. “Know the Lord,” simply because that knowledge was not an integral part of covenant membership, as it is with the present dispensation.
Trhe Vivid Contrast. “Under the Jewish dispensation, the average Jew had only an exceedingly dim apprehension of religious truth, whether about God or the way to Him, or about holiness and immortality. But, under the new covenant, spiritual truth shall become more widely diffused and more clearly perceived. For now the Holy Spirit is the great Teacher of the church; and He does not impart esoteric instruction to some special caste, but teaches every believer ‘from the least to the greatest.’
“The full forgiveness of sins (Heb. 12). This ‘promise,’ although introduced last, precedes the others in actual bestowment. Sin must be pardoned and cleansed away before the law can be written on the heart, or the mind flooded with spiritual light. None of the Levitical sacrifices could expiate moral guilt; but on the basis of Christ’s atonement God now imparts that forgiveness which is the precedent condition of moral renewal and a holy life (Ps. 130:4).”—C. Jerdan
“It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. The blood of the new covenant, ‘shed for many for the remission of sins’ (Matt. 26:28), cleanses from all stains, and produces divine peace, looking at forgiveness in the light of God’s Word. It is an invaluable blessing. It releases us from evil thoughts, and excuses which appeared in the words of Adam and Eve, and makes the spirit to be ‘without guile.’” It disarms the power of temptation. It introduces those who are forgiven into the safe and joyful state of justification, with all the blessings which are inseparably connected therewith. It engages the Presence and gracious action of the Spirit of God, who enriches the soul with fruits of righteousness, and creates, by His Presence and power, an earnest of the life to come.” —D. Young
The Way of the New. Since the grace aforetime purposed has now come by Christ the Savior, things are altogether different. Under the reign of that grace, covenant subjects have, not a tentative passing over of sin, but full and complete forgiveness and justification by “the blood of Jesus,” which is wholly efficacious for that purpose (Rom. 3:21-26: 5:9; Heb. 10:5-22). Because of the removal of sin, the way is wide open for both the Father and the Son, by the agency of the Spirit, to indwell covenant subjects, and for the subjects to dwell in Them.
This makes possible the spiritual knowledge of and fellowship with God which was not possible under the law given from Sinai. Such knowledge is the preeminent blessing God has for His people, being equated with spiritual life itself (Jn. 17:30). “‘The knowledge of God and of Christ is the sum of all science; this is the only knowledge that can incorporate and mingle with our being; and all other knowledge is real only so far as it is symbolic of this” (Harris).
Other Marked Contrasts. A marked contrast with the Sinaitic covenant is evident in the fact that participants in the new covenant become such by rebirth—of water and the Spirit’“ (Jn. 3:3, 5, ASV), not by the natural birth. The approach to Mount Zion is by personal faith and obedience (Heb. 12:22-24), not by the fleshly birth. It is essential that this be understood and acknowledged, if one is to comprehend Paul’s contrast in the text. New-covenant subjects begin life as such by knowing God (Jn. 6:44-45), inasmuch as hearing of Him, believing in Him, obeying Him, and receiving His Spirit are also required and associated with that beginning. Although they are required to increase in that knowledge (I Pet. 2:2-3; cf. Col. 1:9-10; II Pet. 3:18), in the beginning sense they knew Him at birth. We should certainly teach and exhort the brethren of things pertaining to the kingdom, but it is not in order to admonish them to “know the Lord.” We are to assume that they know Him; else, they should not be regarded as brethren.
As opposed to the divine law being written “in tables of stone” under the old covenant, it is inscribed “in fleshy tables of the heart” under the new one (II Cor. 3:3). This is that of which the text speaks as the putting of God’s laws in the mind and the writing of them in the heart. In a word, it denotes the reconciliation of covenant subjects to God, or the inclination of their hearts to His law, or Nature. Whereas the ordinary Israelite was inwardly unreconciled to God, all new-covenant participants are reconciled to Him, and, like the only begotten Son, delight to do His will, though they have “another law” within their members—that of sin—against which they must continually strive (Rom. 7:7-24).
The Ground for Divine Knowledge
The particular point of stress in the text of Hebrews 8:10-12 is the ground for the distinguishing knowledge of God which the better covenant features. It is expressed by Jeremiah, speaking for God (whom Paul quotes from the Septuagint) in these words: “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34). Incidentally, it should be noted that His one sufficient offering for sin (which provides the basis for God’s forgiveness of sin) is that upon which Christ, in His enthronement at the Father’s right hand, confidently expects the ultimate subjection of all His enemies (Heb. 10:10-14).
The Comprehensive Basis. The forgiveness of sin is, therefore, the ground for all the other three promises of the better covenant: writing of the law in the heart, God and subject relationship, and the resultant knowledge of God (Heb. 8:10-11). Though mentioned last, it is the basis of all four promises. At Christ’s death, or the rending of the “veil” of His flesh (Heb. 10:10), “the way into the holiest of all,” or the actual Presence of God in heaven, was “made manifest,” or thrown wide open to all His people (ch. 9:8). That death has opened for us “a new and living way” through “the curtain,” so that we may now boldly “enter into the holy place” by “the blood of Jesus,” and learn of God and fellowship with Him (ch. 10:19-22, RSV).
“The distinguishing characteristics of the new covenant are: (1) God’s laws, not imposed as an external code, but put into the mind and written on the heart; (2) the general knowledge of the Lord by small as well as great, without the former need of continued admonition; and (3) as the originating and inspiring cause of all, the forgiveness, on the Lord’s part, of sins.
“It is important to perceive that this last characteristic of the new covenant, though coming last in order, is given as the reason for the other two; for this is a first principle of the gospel. The sense of forgiveness through Christ, of acceptance in the Beloved, is ever set forth as the inspiring principle of the obedience of Christians [cf. II Pet. 1:9]. ‘We love Him, because He first loved us’ (I Jn. 4:19).
“And hence flow the two results denoted in the prophecy: (1) ‘I will put My laws,’ etc.; i.e., there will ensue, through the inspiring Spirit, from the sense of forgiveness in Christ, a hearty service of love and loyalty; no more mechanical observance of an external code. Then, (2) ‘And they shall not teach,” etc.; i.e., those who, thus led by the Spirit, give themselves to such hearty service, will acquire, further, an immediate, and as it were instinctive, ‘knowledge of the Lord,’ not confined to ‘the wise’ or ‘the scribe,’ but the personal privilege of even the ‘little ones’ of Christ (cf. Matt. 11:25; Jn. 6:45; I Thess. 4:9; I Jn. 2:20).”—J. Barmby
The new covenant is, thus, one by which we may “draw nigh” to God, since under it sin has been put away and the defiled conscience has been cleansed (which had kept us from the divine Presence) (Heb. 7:19; cf. ch. 9:9; 10:1-4).
But the knowledge of such justification comes from acquaintance with Christ, and perception of the significance for us of what He has done. Hence, Zacharias’ declaration, as he spoke of the ministry of John the Baptist in introducing the Messiah. He was to “give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins” (Lu. 1:77). It is a manifestation of the spiritual obtuseness of the day that very many persons who appear to have obeyed the gospel and to be trusting in Jesus as Savior have not yet come to a lively knowledge of their salvation in Him.
The Potential for Continued Increase
The potential for continued increase in the knowledge of God afforded by the forgiveness of sin needs to be perceived and fully exploited. “All shall know Me, from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” The sense of sin and condemnation is what keeps people from God. When one becomes spiritually aware that all this has been removed by Christ, and that now nothing at all stands between him and the Most High, he is emboldened to draw near, “in full assurance of faith,” and company with God, which is to come to know Him more and more (Heb. 10:22).
The Fruits of Divine Knowledge. We rightly attribute to the holy angels knowledge and wisdom vastly superior to the best of earth. This is because, through the millenniums, they have, with nothing between them and God, learned of Him, and so increased in these qualities. It can be something of the same with us in our measure. Now that we know God on the new-covenant level of awareness and relationship, and are “known of God” (Gal. 4:9), there is every reason why we ought to be daily growing in His grace and knowledge, as we are exhorted to do (II Pet. 3:18).
As we thus fellowship with God in the heavenly places through Christ, we, indeed, come to increasingly know Him, with all the blessed fruits of grace and peace, which are multiplied to us through that knowledge (II Pet. 1:2-3). It must be remembered that the “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” are ministered to us “through the knowledge of God” (v. 3). Hence, if we would acceptably walk in the “newness of life unto which we are risen in our baptism (Rom. 6:4), and add that godliness without which we are “barren and unfruitful” (II Pet. 1:6, 8), we must wholly utilize our pardoned state to grow in God’s knowledge.
“Observe, lastly, the ideality of the whole view given of the new covenant. It presents to us the purpose, the potentiality, of the new dispensation, rather than results to be fully realized in this world; though still actually realized as far as the ‘glorious light of the gospel’ illuminates the church, and is allowed to ‘shine into’ the human heart.”—J. Barmby
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