Hebrews 8 proves that the promise of Jeremiah 31 has come true. It declares that Christ is now the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). It quotes from Jeremiah 31, and then concludes,
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13).
“Obsolete” means “no longer in use” or “out of date.” We can still learn many important things from the old covenant (as we have already done in this course). But the Old Covenant is “obsolete” in that it does not rule over us as it once ruled over the Israelites. God’s people are no longer part of that covenant written on stone tablets at Sinai (2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Galatians 4:21-31). Many people worry about this change. They ask, “If we are not under the Ten Commandments, does that mean we can steal, commit adultery, and murder now?” The answer is that God has replaced the Law with something far better.
Take the question of murder, for example. Jesus, our Mediator, teaches us not to murder. But He goes much further. He warns us against anger and calling people bad names (Matthew 5:21-22). What keeps us from becoming murderers? Is it old ties to the Law of Moses? No, for Romans 7 tells us that we died to that Law. Now we do not even want to murder, for we follow Jesus and He trains us how to love.
The same can be said for nearly all of the Ten Commandments. Jesus not only repeated them in His New Covenant, He gave them greater meaning. The only command not repeated for Christians was the Sabbath. Indeed, as already noted, no one can force Sabbaths on us today.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).
The shadows were important for their purpose, which was to point toward Christ. But that purpose has been served. Christ has come. We now have the reality. Hebrews 8:11 assures that all in the New Covenant “know the Lord.” They all have His “laws” written on their hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
Which “laws”? The full will of God now given through Jesus! For Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). He is the main way that God speaks to us now (Hebrews 1:2). He is the Prophet like Moses. He is the One of whom God said,
”You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people” (Acts 3:22-23).
Jesus emphasized that all His teachings and commands should be obeyed (Matthew 7:21-23; 28:18-20).