V. 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. Here the covenant is described positively. God engages to put His laws into their minds, and write them upon their hearts. The law delivered to Israel was written on tables of stone, plainly showing them, their duty, saying, "This is the way; walk ye in it;” but it gave no strength, no disposition to obey, and is, therefore, described by the Apostle as the letter, or writing, which killeth. The children of the new covenant, on the other hand, are described as the epistle of Christ, written with the Spirit of God in fleshly tables of the heart. They are exhorted to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure. They are chosen unto obedience through sanctification of the Spirit and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:2. They are God’ s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God had before ordained that they should walk in them. “Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:5-9. The children of the old covenant were under the law, and were a stiff-necked people; but the children of the new covenant were under grace, and therefore sin shall not have dominion over them. They are the temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in them, which they have of God. “The law,” says the Apostle, "was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17. And I will be to them a God...— By the Sinai covenant God proclaimed Himself the God of Israel, and required their obedience; but they broke the covenant, by making the golden calf; and although the tables were renewed, still they were rebellious, and brought upon themselves many severe judgments; and not only so, but their rejection was foretold "Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God," Hosea 1:9; and again, “ The Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name." But, amidst all their rebellions, there was a remnant according to the election of grace; and “ as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it; so the Lord did for his servants' sakes, that he might not destroy them all" Isaiah 65:8. But when they filled up the measure of their iniquities, by not only killing the Lord Jesus, but rejecting the evidence of His resurrection and ascension, in the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, wrath came upon them to the uttermost. The Lord, according to His threatening, slew them, and called His servants by another name. Acts 11:26. By the new covenant God is the God of His people, in a higher sense than He was to Israel after the flesh. The privileges which the children of both covenants enjoyed were in virtue of their relation to Christ. The one was a carnal relation; of them, according to the flesh, Christ came, and, in consequence, they were blessed with all carnal blessings in earthly places. They were redeemed from Egyptian bondage; they were fed with manna, preserved in the wilderness, put in possession of a land flowing with milk and honey. Thus were they blessed with all carnal blessings in earthly places. The children of the new covenant are spiritually related to Christ, and are consequently blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Their redemption is spiritual; their citizenship is in heaven; their inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away.