The new covenant was accomplished by Jesus Christ Himself. When the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross and shed the precious blood, He made the way for God to enact a new covenant with us (Matt. 26:28). Unlike the old covenant which was ordained in the hand of Moses, the new covenant was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, God’s beloved Son.
After eating the Passover with the disciples, the Lord established His table with the bread and the cup. He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). The new covenant was established with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. First John 1:7 also says that the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin. Because His blood satisfied the requirement of God’s righteousness, it opened the way for God to enact a new covenant with us. Therefore, the new covenant was enacted through the blood of Jesus, the Son of God; it is not like the old covenant which was enacted with the blood of bulls and goats.
Now that we are in the new covenant, we are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). Grace is the Triune God processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to become everything to us. He is our redemption, salvation, life, and sanctification.
The new covenant is based upon grace, which gives life, as its condition. This means that in the new covenant the processed Triune God intends to be our all. Hence, the new covenant does not require man to keep the law; rather, it deals with man according to grace, which is God as everything to man.
Romans 11:6 says, “But if by grace, it is no longer out of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Whereas the law is altogether out of works, grace is absolutely not of works. Anything that is out of works is not grace but law. John 3:15 says, “That everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Thus, the New Testament shows us very clearly that God does not require man to work; God requires man only to believe. In the New Testament age, the unique cause of God’s judgment on man is man’s unbelief, his not believing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 3:18).
In the New Testament, the meaning of the word faith has two aspects. Objectively, faith is what we believe. Subjectively, faith is our believing. Therefore, faith denotes both the act of believing and that in which we believe. The things in which we believe include God’s sending His Son into the world, the Son’s human living, His death on the cross to accomplish redemption, His burial, His resurrection, His becoming the life-giving Spirit, His ascension, and His pouring out of the Holy Spirit. When we hear of all these divine matters, we will be stirred up and filled with appreciation. This is our faith and this is our believing act. In the new covenant man only needs to have such a faith; man does not need to strive to keep the law.
The new covenant was established when the Lord Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood. Hence, to those who believe in Him, that was the beginning of the new covenant. But as far as the Israelites are concerned, the prophecy in Jeremiah 31 will not be fulfilled until Christ’s second coming. The new covenant will be applied unto eternity, because it is an eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20).