Jeremiah 31:33 7/2/2019*

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

You know the point in a movie when you suddenly realize the hero’s plan to save the prisoners? …that is this verse.

The old testament is full of man’s failure to keep the law of God.  The standard operating procedure for Israel was to get in trouble, be delivered by God, make grand commitments to follow Him, and then fail again and begin serving other gods.

The enemy must have been elated that there was “not one who was righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), and probably felt as though his strategy was working beautifully.

But this verse is the moment when the devil realizes he has walked into a trap. 

The law was never intended to save us…it was to show us that we needed saving.

Law written on stone can only show me problems, not fix them…but law written on my heart and put in my mind transforms everything.

The game changer is that it is not an outside standard that I continually fail, but an internal change that empowers me to succeed.

This is what salvation is …. not some intellectual ascension to an idea, but a radical procedure where I am given a new heart and a new mind…. Both of which have the law of God tattooed permanently on them.

That is why I am free…not because I improved…but because God made me new.

The Holy Spirit engraving the law of God on your heart is the only way that God can be your God, and you can be His people.

If you are still trying to earn your way, you missed the best part of the movie. You can’t be good enough to earn salvation. The grand plot twist is that your transformation is a gift. Go to your Father, repent, and accept His grace and rest in the work He has already done.

“The old covenant says, “Keep the law and live.” The new covenant is, “You shall live, and I will lead you to keep my law, for I will write it on your heart.”
- Charles Spurgeon