Heb 8:7-13 “Ye are our Epistle Written in our Hearts, Known and Read of all Men” – Part 2

[Study Aired November 19, 2020]

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 
Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 
Heb 8:10  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: 
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 
Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 
Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. 

The title of this second part of our study of Hebrews chapter eight is taken from 2Corinthians 3:1-6 (verse 2) which is a very telling section of scripture regarding how and where the new covenant is being written, which reads, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.”

This chapter of Hebrews is again another opportunity for us to see the contrast that God is demonstrating through those who have been called to witness (Rev 11:3, Joh 13:35, Joh 14:15) to the world of what God is capable of doing through the sufficiency we receive from Him.

2Co 3:1  Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
2Co 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2Co 3:4  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us [Rev 19:7] able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. [Why is God saving the elect in this manner? 1Co 2:5, Joh 13:35, Joh 14:15, 1Jn 5:3-4]

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

The old covenant and the laws within it are called a “ministration of death” (2Co 3:6), and the law itself is a law for the “lawless and disobedient” (1Ti 1:9, Rom 5:20) created to make manifest the sinful nature within us which can only be changed by having God write upon our hearts the new covenant (Heb 8:10). This writing of the new covenant on the hearts of God’s people is the great act of mercy He is showing to the remnant (Rom 11:5) whom He has predestined to be recipients of that goodness in this age (Rom 2:4, Rom 11:22).

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Heb 8:10  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:

[Gods grace or favor, “charis^G5485“, is demonstrated in judging us in this age (1Pe 4:17) so that we can learn to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” which is what happens when He writes these things “in their hearts” (Tit 2:12, Heb 12:6-7). God’s love is being perfected through His chastening grace (1Jn 4:17, 1Pe 4:17).

Tit 2:12  Teaching^G3811 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth^G3811, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening^G3809, [2Ti 3:16, Pro 6:23] God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth^G3811 not?

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction^G3809 in righteousness:

Pro 6:23  For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction^{H4148 = G3809} are the way of life:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: [“that we may have boldness“] and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace^G5485 [“charis” (Luk 1:28)].

Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favouredG5487,”charis” the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

[the church, the body of Christ is highly favoured^G5487,”charis” to be filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ (Col 1:24)]

highly favoured^G5487
– Original: χu945 ρu953 τu959 ́u969 
– Transliteration: Charitoo
– Phonetic: khar-ee-to’-o
– Definition:
1. to make graceful – [Rev_19:7] – “hath made herself ready.G2090 G1438” [Mat_20:23] “but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is preparedG2090 of my Father.”
a. charming, lovely, agreeable
2. to peruse with grace, compass with favour
3. to honour with blessings
– Origin: from G5485
– TDNT entry: 15:12,1
– Part(s) of speech: Verb
– Strong’s: From G5485; to grace that is indue with special honor: – make accepted be highly favoured.  – [Eph_1:6]
Total KJV Occurrences: 2
•accepted, 1
Eph_1:6
•favored, 1
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured^G5487, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Having God write this new covenant “in their hearts” so that he can be to us “a God, and they shall be to me a people” is what makes His children in this dispensation of grace (Eph 3:2) the generation that has no confidence in our flesh. We are chastened and scourged to that end so we lean less and less on our own flesh (Heb 12:6-8) as we are received of our Father and assured in our newly fashioned hearts that the gates of hell will not prevail against us in this relationship of trust and faith given to us by God (Rom 8:38-39, Mat 16:17-19, 2Co 1:9, Php 3:3, 1Jn 5:4). Saying “grace did much more abound” of Romans 5:20 is just another way of reminding us that we must continue to fight a good fight of faith as we “continue in the faith” and that we must “through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God”, which we will if God permits (Act 14:22, Heb 6:3).

With all this in mind let’s look at this highly favoured relationship that God is forming in us through Christ Who is writing on our hearts His laws and commandments, expressed this way in scripture, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men, Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” (2Co 3:2-3) All of this is happening so we can be presented as a chaste virgin (Rev 19:7) who has learned of His faithfulness through the church, through the body of Christ that is typified by Christ’s mother, Mary, who supplied (Eph 3:10) all that Christ needed in her womb to bring forth the son of God unto maturation (2Co 11:2-4, Isa 66:9, Isa 9:6, 1Jn 4:17).

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty^G3834, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572 that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

In order to become a chaste virgin to Christ, we must have His new covenant written on our hearts, a covenant that will make us of one mind (Php 2:2), having a simplicity^G572 or singleness of mind that will keep us undefiled from this world and able to overcome the subtilty^G3834 of the devil who is always trying to deceive us and destroy that unity if it were possible, which God tells us is not going to happen to His little flock (Mat 24:24, Luk 12:32).

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Simplicity^G572
– Original: αu788 πu955 οu769 τu951 ςpar – Transliteration: Haplotes
– Phonetic: hap-lot’-ace
– Definition:
1. singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty
a. the virtue of one who is free from pretence and hypocrisy
2. not self seeking, openness of heart manifesting itself by generosity
– Origin: from G573
– TDNT entry: 07:26,6
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Feminine
– Strong’s: From G573; singleness that is (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking) or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness liberal (-ity) simplicity singleness.
Total KJV Occurrences: 8
•bountifulness, 1
2Co_9:11
•liberal, 1
2Co_9:13
•liberality, 1
2Co_8:2
•simplicity, 3
Rom_12:8; 2Co_1:12; 2Co_11:3
•singleness, 2
Eph_6:5; Col_3:22
subtilty^G3834
– Original: πu945 νu959 υu961 γu953 ́u945 
– Transliteration: Panourgia
– Phonetic: pan-oorg-ee’-ah
– Definition:
1. craftiness, cunning
2. a specious or false wisdom
3. in a good sense, prudence, skill, in undertaking and carrying on affairs
– Origin: from G3835
– TDNT entry: 17:02,8
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Feminine
– Strong’s: From G3835; adroitness that is (in a bad sense) trickery or sophistry: – (cunning) craftiness subtilty.
Total KJV Occurrences: 5
•craftiness, 4
Luk_20:23; 1Co_3:19; 2Co_4:2; Eph_4:14
•subtlety, 1
2Co_11:3

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 
Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 

These first three verses are revealing that the law for the lawless and disobedient of 1Timothy 1:9 cannot perfect anyone, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” Also, that old covenant law is used to bring us to see our need for a new covenant law, “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers”, but rather a new covenant that is founded upon better promises; (Heb 8:6) promises which tell us that we can be more than conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:37) as we gain dominion over sin in our members little and by little as we go from glory to glory in the Lord at the hand of “a fit man” (Rom 6:14, Eph 2:6, 1Co 6:14, Exo 23:30, 2Co 3:18, Lev 16:10, Lev 16:21).

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The fault that is found with “them” “for finding fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah“, is speaking of the old covenant and not the law itself, which, if used properly is good (1Ti 1:8). However, our inability in our minds to live by the spirit of the law, which only Christ can come and fulfill within our hearts and minds so that we can overcome the wretchedness of sinful flesh, cannot use the law properly (Rom 7:24-25). The new covenant head is Jesus Christ represented by Judah and Melchisedec, and the new covenant body is “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16), the body of Christ, the church, represented in the old covenant as the “house of Israel” (Col 1:24).

1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

The two laws are being discussed in this section of scripture (Rom 7:24-25), and it is only through Christ that we can “serve the law of God” which is speaking of this law spoken of in Galatians: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ“(Gal 6:2). “The law of sin” is governed by the law that is not made for a righteous man, but for that lawless old man in me who is potentially “lawless and disobedient” and is guilty of all. That was the point of these scriptures, not just to remind us of the depth of God’s mercy which will be extended to all the world, but also to remind us of what would manifest within any human at anytime if God did not stay the hand of Satan and strengthen us through Christ (1Ti 1:9-10). God determines the times and seasons when that hedge must come down in the life of His children so that we never lose sight of the fact of this verse that comes right after what we just read: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1Ti 1:15).

Christ is the one who enters into our temple to give us the ability to live by the spirit and no longer by the letter that kills (Mat 5:17, 2Co 3:6, Joh 8:36 – to be free indeed is to be able to fulfill the spirit of these commandments of Christ which new commandments (Joh 13:34-35) were earmarked with Him saying to those who could receive it: “But I say unto you” (Mat 5:28-48).

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Notice the language that describes how the Lord worked with us when we were yet carnal and being led out of the wilderness, “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord”. It was written this way for our admonition to show us that we were being dragged by God to Christ (Joh 6:44) and yet the rebellious spirit was still there coming along for the ride. This murmuring and rebellion took place at this time by Israel of old and was written to cause us to move with fear knowing that it is only because of God’s mercy, God’s chastening grace and faith, that anyone of us can ‘come out of her my people’ and be led by the spirit of God (1Co 10:10-11), not going where our flesh would like to go, but regardless, still going (Heb 3:17, Rev 18:4, Rom 8:14-16, Joh 21:18).

1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come [This is the end of the world of which God is speaking to elect (1Jn 2:16-17)].

Heb 3:17  But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not [“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”].

Heb 8:10  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: 
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 

The day will come when the outward dispensational fulfillment of these verses will happen, but for God’s elect today, these things are happening every day as we die daily and fight a good fight of faith that will result in God putting His “laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts“, provided we are granted to keep under ourselves and continue to see the need to move with fear as Noah did to the saving of his house (1Co 9:27, Heb 11:7).

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

This is the covenant relationship that we have with our Father today, and it is his good pleasure to give us this opportunity today (Luk 12:32) as we give thanks unto Him who has made us “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints” (Col 1:12).

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Even now we don’t “teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest“, in the sense that we have no need that any carnal man teach us (1Jn 2:27). However the sum of God’s word shows us that we need the epistles of Christ to be ministered to us as God provides us what we need through the manifest knowledge that is made known through the church (2Co 3:3, Eph 3:10).

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Our sins and iniquities will “vanish away” by the ripping of the veil in the temple that represents our blind self-righteous flesh that cannot help but operate from the law in its members (Rom 7:23) that God put there as the lawgiver (Jas 4:12). He put that law there and knows we are all naturally subject unto this vanity of self-righteousness that causes us to sin (Isa 63:17, Rom 9:19-21). He will overcome this spirit within us by blessing us to be found with the righteousness of Christ within us (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9).

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? [“as seemed good to the potter to make it.” (Jer 18:4)]

The answer to why is simple if we can receive it, and the answer is we were made this way so that we could be fashioned into something new by the hand of the Potter, each man in His order (Jer 18:4, 1Co 15:23).

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: [1Jn 5:4]

Overcoming through Christ is precisely what the new convenant is about. It is about God bringing us to see that He is our all powerful Sovereign Father who can take “that which decayeth and waxeth old” to a point where it is “ready to vanish away” so that something new can come out of the old. The old covenant can be thought of as a worm, and the new covenant written upon our hearts is how the beautiful butterfly that God is able to bring out of darkness as “the righteousness which is of God by faith” will be born. The epistles of Christ are being written on our hearts so that we can become that new creation that will one day be revealed to all the world in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye. A brand new creation that was formed out of weakness to the glory of our Father in heaven (2Co 5:17, 1Co 15:52, 2Co 12:9).

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.