經文: 「我與以色列家所立的約，乃是這樣，我要將我的律法放在他們裡面，寫在他們心上。」— [聖經·耶利米書 31章31,33節]
在西奈山上帝與以色列民訂了第一個約，「若你聽我的話，遵守我的誡命，就要在萬民中作屬我的子民。」但以色列民卻沒辦法遵守上帝的約，因為人的本性是邪惡敗壞的。這第一個約並沒有供應恩典讓百姓有能力守約，反而顯露出百姓的罪惡。
後來上帝與民另立新約，應許祂要賜能力使民能遵守祂的誡命。因為這約不是用墨水寫的，乃是用靈寫在他們心版上。因此我們可像大衛那樣說：「我的上帝啊！我樂意遵行祢的旨意，因祢的律法在我心上。」聖靈會藉著屬天的幫助，將樂意遵行主旨意的力量，賞賜給我們。就如同耶利米書32章27,40節所說：「在我豈有難成的事？」「又要與他們立永遠的約，使他們有敬畏我的心不離開我。」
舊約時代百姓無法履行舊約的誡命，然而不同於舊約時代的人，新約的信徒只要敬畏上帝的話，願意認真遵行上帝的話，就可以持續地、全心地順服上帝的旨意，這乃是上帝所應許的。
謹記新約中上帝的應許，全能的上帝將保守信徒的心，使他們不致遠離祂。讓我們深深地俯伏敬拜在祂面前，並且相信上帝所說的話。上帝的能力會顯出多少，將根據聖經的話：「你們的信心有多大，我的應許就能成就多少。」
我們必須時常去思想，這新舊兩約有何等大的不同，舊約時代的恩典夠多，但還不足以使信徒能憑信長久住在主裡面；惟有在新約，有上帝明確的應許，並有聖靈大能的幫助，以其奇妙豐盛的恩典，結出心靈更新的果子，保守我們「聖潔無可指責」。
—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 4月8日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興
『The New Covenant In Jeremiah 31』
Scripture: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their hearts will I write it.” — [Jeremiah 31:31,33]
When God made the first covenant with Israel at Sinai, He said, “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me from among all peoples” (Ex. xix. 5). But Israel, alas, had not the power to obey. Their whole nature was carnal and sinful. In the covenant there was no provision for the grace that should make them obedient. The law only served to show them their sin.
In our text God promises to make a new covenant in which provision would be made to enable men to live a life of obedience. In this new covenant, the law was to be put in their inward parts and written in their heart, “not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God,” so that they could say to David: I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart.” The law, and delight in it, would, through the Holy Spirit, take possession of the inner life with all its powers. Or, as we have it in Jer. xxxii. 40, after God had said: “Is there anything too hard for Me?”: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them; and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.”
In contrast with the Old Testament and its weakness, which made it impossible to continue faithful, this promise ensures a continual, whole-hearted obedience as the mark of the believer who takes God at His Word, and fully claims what the promise secures.
Learn the lesson that in the new covenant God’s mighty power will be shown in the heart of everyone who believes the promise: “They shall not depart from Me.” “It shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto Me.” Bow in deep stillness before God, and believe what He says. The measure of our experience of this power of God keeping us from departing from Him will ever be in harmony with the law: “According to your faith be it unto you.”
We need to be at great pains to keep the contrast between the Old and the New Testament very clear. The Old had a wonderful measure of grace, but not enough for the continual abiding in the faith of obedience. That is the definite promise of the New Testament, the fruit of heart renewal and the power of the Holy Spirit leading the soul and revealing the fulness of grace to keep us “unblameable in holiness.”
— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 8 April 」
