Hebrews 8:6

Hebrews 8:6 says, 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.  Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry, one based not on the law of the old covenant, but one grace of the new covenant.  The old covenant with Israel was viewed as a task master pointing people to Christ.  The problem with the old covenant was not the covenant itself, but the inability of anyone to live up to its requirements, until Jesus came to earth and fulfilled it.  Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant.  Verse seven adds, For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.  Again, the fault with the old covenant was not on the part of God but was instead on the part of the people under the covenant.  A failure in any part was the same as a failure in all parts.  Since people could not live up to the requirements of the covenant, a new covenant was needed, one based on grace and not the obedience to the law of God.  Verse eight continues, 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:  This was not a new idea, but had been promised to the people of Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-32.  This new covenant was issued in with Christ, the only One qualified to fulfill the old covenant of the law.  Verse nine declares, 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.  As already stated, the new covenant was necessary because God's people did not continue in the old covenant.  Salvation through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord is the forever covenant between people and God.  It is based not on our fulfillment of all the law, but on Christ having fulfilled it.  Verse ten adds, 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:  God said He would put His laws in their minds and write them in their hearts.  His laws become more than just words written on a stone tablet.  They become the center of our thoughts and purpose, if we are followers of Christ.  As long as God's law remains just words chiseled in stone, they will never change a person.  They must be written in our hearts and minds.  Verse eleven continues, 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.  I don't believe that this means that we should not witness, but that God Himself prepares every person's heart and mind to receive His word.  Verse twelve states, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.  When people accept the new covenant of faith through Christ, they will be totally forgiven.  When we become followers of Christ, all our sins are forgiven and remembered no more.  We often say that we forgive but will never forget.  True forgiveness, I believe, means that we must forget as well.  The memory may remain, but it can never be brought up in judgment again.  If God always filtered His mercy through memories of our past sins, we would never be totally restored to God.  Verse thirteen adds, 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.  We live under the covenant of Christ and the covenant of the law has passed away.  Though we are to still follow God's laws to guide our lives, we do not follow them to prove ourselves worthy of salvation.