Jeremiah 31:34, commentary and pictures

The new covenant promises that all of God's people from the least to the greatest will personally know the Lord, so none will need to urge neighbor and brother to know Him, because He will forgive their wrongdoing and remember their sin no more. That knowing comes when He writes the same law once given on stone upon the heart by the Holy Spirit, bringing the renewed heart into harmony with Him in obedient fruit-bearing as His covenant people. He so pardons the repentant sinner who earnestly seeks Him that the sin is blotted out and forgotten forever, never held against the one who returns, who is received without reproach as a father welcomes a returning child. That pardon comes through Christ, whose blood atones for sin and whose obedience is accepted for the believer, while His grace renews the heart by the Spirit to live in obedience, showing mercy without setting aside justice. Its full completion comes when forgiven evil is put away and sought but not found, as Christ claims His faithful, clothes them with His righteousness, and has them written among the living in Jerusalem as holy.

Covenant Knowledge and Law

The new covenant promise is that all of God's people, from the least to the greatest, will know the Lord, so they will no longer need to teach every neighbor and brother to know Him, for He will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. Under that covenant all His people know Him, and this universal knowledge is joined to His forgiveness. It is the promise that under the new covenant they will know Him and receive forgiveness with sins remembered no more.

This universal knowing comes when truth is fully opened and the Holy Spirit descends in power, so that all from the least to the greatest know the Lord with no more need to teach one another, and the Lord's glory is revealed throughout the earth. Coverings placed over truth by human hands are then removed and truth long dimly seen is made plain to those who search diligently, as the Spirit comes in power to explain mysteries until knowledge of God becomes universal from the smallest to the greatest with no need for one person to instruct another. Then the Sun of Righteousness shines into every depth and height until the earth is filled with divine glory, which calls for putting away dissension, strife and selfishness because night is ending and day is near.

This knowledge is joined to God's inward work in which the same law once written on stone is written on the heart by the Holy Spirit, making them His covenant people who know Him personally from the least to the greatest. His grace renews the heart and brings it into harmony with His law, so that the renewed heart bears spiritual fruit and lives in obedience. Forgiveness and knowing the Lord are thus connected with the inward working of His law, with iniquity forgiven and forgiven sins remembered no more. God Himself teaches His people to know Him by putting His law in their hearts, the Ten Commandments that hedge His subjects from transgression. Becoming familiar with His Word gives light and understanding to the simple and is the only way to attain the perfection of character He requires, bringing health and happiness, peace and joy through obedience.

His favor belongs only to a people whose hearts contain His law and who are His people, with the promise including forgiving their iniquity and no longer remembering their sin. Natural descent from Abraham does not by itself secure that promise. The Jews' sins separated them from God and brought judgment and bondage, while their memory of past favor led them to excuse their sins and claim blessings as their due.

Forgiveness and Final Fulfillment

The promise is that the past is forgiven, forgotten, and blotted out forever, for God remembers forgiven sins no more. He so forgives the iniquity of the one who earnestly seeks salvation and sincerely repents that the sin is blotted out and is not held against the one who returns to Him. The returning sinner is received without reproach and without taunts for former wrongs, with compassion as a father welcomes a returning child. God turns toward such a one and covers the sinner as if innocent.

Forgiveness comes through Christ, whose blood atones for sin and whose obedience is accepted in place of human efforts to establish righteousness. His grace renews the heart by the Spirit to bring it into harmony with the law, so that it bears spiritual fruit and lives in obedience. This pardon under the covenant of peace offers rich mercy, yet it does not set aside justice nor allow the law to be broken with impunity, for perfect obedience is the condition of life and Christ's sacrifice pays the law's demands for every repentant, believing sinner. Sins forgiven in Christ are not repeatedly brought back for a fresh sacrifice, unlike the yearly remembrance of sins among the Jews.

Its complete fulfillment comes when forgiven iniquity is finally put away and remembered no more, so that iniquity will be sought and none found and sins not found. Christ, recognizing the penitence and faith of His faithful people, claims forgiveness for them and clothes them with His righteousness. Those left in Zion and remaining in Jerusalem are thus made holy, written among the living, with names remaining in the book of life, and presented as the escaped made beautiful and glorious. In the investigative judgment, when one becomes a child of God the name is written in the Lamb's book of life until every name is called and the record examined. If all wicked deeds have been fully repented of, Jesus pleads for the self-distrustful, God-fearing soul and confesses the name before the Father and the holy angels as His own graven on His hands, and the Father answers that the name will not be blotted out and the sins will stand against the person no more. These promises give comfort and encouragement to trust in the Lord and wait patiently for His help.