Holiest of All by Andrew Murray

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the covenant, to its being a better covenant, to Jesus being its
surety, and to the priesthood as that in
which the covenant and
the suretyship have their power.
A better covenant. The object of a covenant is to define
and settle the relation between the two parties who enter into it,
and to give security for the faithful fulfilment of their engagements
to each other. The old covenant which God made with
Israel had proved a failure. At its establishment they were
most ready to promise, All that the Lord hath said will ivc do
and be obedient. But how soon was the covenant forgotten
and the promise broken. They had undertaken what they could
not perform ; the vow and the purpose availed nothing without
the strength. In course of time God promised to establish a
new covenant, and in it to provide for what had been wanting, for
the power to obey, and so to keep the covenant. It would be a
covenant of life
— giving that new life into the heart, out of which
obedience would naturally spring. Of this better covenant,
established on better promises, we shall hear in the next chapter.
The surety of a better covenant. It is this Jesus has come
to do, to give the covenant its security, and to undertake that
its engagements shall indeed be fulfilled. He is surety of the
covenant on both sides. Surety to us that God will keep His
promise, and give us His life and law and Spirit in our heart ;
surety to God for us. He will ensure our obedience and our
keeping the covenant.
Become a Priest with an oath. It is in the priesthood of
Jesus that the covenant and the suretyship have their power.
It is the Priest for ever who deals with sin and takes it away
in the power of an endless life. It is the Priest for ever, the Son
of God, perfected for evermore, who has opened a new and living
way, a new state of life, and works all in the power of an endless