Commentaries:
In verse 3, Paul uses the metaphor of a letter of commendation (verses 1 and 2) to lead into a discussion comparing the Old and New Covenants. When God made the Old Covenant with ancient Israel, Moses wrote the commandments, statutes, and judgments that God had given to him in a book with "ink" (Exodus 24:4). God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger on two tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18; 32:15-16). However, Paul points out, under the New Covenant, God has given us His Spirit, enabling us to keep His laws in their spiritual intent. He is now writing His Ten Commandments on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10)!
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Have the Ten Commandments Passed Away?
Paul specifically says that the law will be written in the fleshly tables of our heart by the Spirit of the living God! However, the circumcision of the heart is a co-operative effort. God does His part, and we do ours by submitting to Him. Both parts are involved within this process, by which God is enabling us to have the power to sustain a relationship with Him. And that power is given only to the children of promise, the children of God, the church, the remnant, those who are in Christ, those who have received God's Spirit.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 11)
Paul makes it clear that the Spirit God will give us will be the means by which the laws are written on our hearts. "Circumcision of the heart," "writing God's laws on the heart," "conversion," and "changing" essentially describe the same thing.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 12)
The New Covenant will not be made with mortals who cannot keep their promises?it will be established only with immortal spirit beings who have proved, by their lives, their willingness to obey their future Husband, the "LORD" of the Hebrew Bible who became, through human birth, the Jesus of the Greek New Testament.
Although the New Covenant has been proposed, and Christians today overcome sin and live by the laws of that covenant through the power of the Holy Spirit, it will not be finalized until the first resurrection. Only then will God's children be given the fullness of God's Spirit to enable them to resist all sin perfectly.
Pentecost: Only 'Firstfruits' Now Called!
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Ezekiel 36:26-27
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