Commentary

 

249 - Newness of Life

By Jonathan S. Rose

Title: Newness of Life

Topic: Salvation

Summary: What the Bible calls newness of life is not just a matter of changing our behaviors but of gaining a new heart and a new spirit.

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Romans 6:1, 4
Isaiah 65:17; 66:22
Jeremiah 31:31
Leviticus 3:1, 14, 17, Leviticus 3:23, Leviticus 3:26, Leviticus 3:33, Leviticus 3:40-41
Ezekiel 11:16; 18:30; 36:25
John 3:3
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:17, 10
Galatians 6:12
Ephesians 4:17, 24
Colossians 3:5, 9-11
Titus 3:1-5
Revelation 21:1-5
Isaiah 62:1-2

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The Bible

 

Jeremiah 31:31

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31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

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Arcana Coelestia #6425

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6425. 'By the hands of the powerful Jacob' means received from the almighty power of the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hands' as power, dealt with immediately above in 6424, and in the highest sense, in which the Lord is the subject, as almighty power, 878, 3387, 4592, 4933 (end); and from the meaning of 'the powerful Jacob' as the Lord's Divine Natural, thus His Divine Human, 1893, 3305, 3576, 3599, 4286, 4538, 6098, 6185, 6276. That the Lord is the One who is meant by 'the powerful Jacob' is also evident in David,

He who swore to Jehovah made a vow to the powerful Jacob, If I enter the tent of my house . . . until I find a place for Jehovah, the dwelling-places of the powerful Jacob. Psalms 132:2-3, 5.

And in Isaiah,

That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the powerful Jacob. Isaiah 49:26.

In the same prophet,

Hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. I will pour out My spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your sons. This one will say, I am Jehovah's, and that one will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write with his hand, Jehovah's, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Isaiah 44:1-3, 5.

In the highest sense 'Israel' too means the Lord, in Hosea,

When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea 11:1.

The fact that it is the Lord who is meant here by 'Israel' is clear in Matthew,

Joseph went with the boy into Egypt, so that what had been said by the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt have I called My son. Matthew 2:14-15.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.