Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Jer 32:40

I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I win not turn away from them, to do them good.

The application of the covenant of grace

I. It is all of grace. Its grand end seems to be, to glorify all Gods attributes, indeed, but especially to manifest the exceeding riches of His grace.

1. God was under no necessity of making such a covenant. Man, as fallen, guilty, and depraved, might most justly have been left in the destruction into which his sins had brought him. He could have no claim upon God for a second covenant, merely because he had ruined himself by his breach of the first. God is indeed merciful and gracious, but He is not thereby laid under any necessity to show His goodness in the way of saving sinners of the human race, any more than He was obliged to save the angels who fell. Grace and mercy are, and must be, absolutely free, and spontaneous, and self-moved. God, too, is infinitely independent of all His creatures–self-sufficient, yea, self-satisfied. Though all sinners had been left to perish, His happiness and glory would not have been thereby diminished.

2. God is the party contracting in the covenant for both sides. God the Father engages for the Godhead; and God the Son, as the God-man Mediator, engages for sinners. Moreover, it is an absolute covenant of the richest and the freest promises; for, so far as we sinners are personally concerned, there are no meritorious conditions or prerequisite qualifications.

3. If you consider the character of those persons to whom the covenant is fulfilled, that they are not only all heinous sinners, but that, very often, they are the oldest and the vilest sinners that burden and pollute Gods earth, who are brought to enjoy it; you will see another proof, that it must be a covenant of the freest grace, since it embraces such hell-deserving sinners. It begins at Jerusalem. The publicans and harlots are brought into the kingdom, while, generally, the scribes and Pharisees, the decent, moral, respectable men and women, are left out. Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.

II. It is very kind and beneficent. It is all about doing us good, especially by making us good, holy, and happy. Coming from God, the infinitely good one, the author of every good and perfect gift, it is just one great promise of ceaseless and unmixed love to us. It is just a constellation of blessings. Observe, too, their certainty. Nothing will provoke God to turn away from thus doing His people constant good; and even with regard to afflictions and temptations, they shall be enabled to say, It was good for us that we were afflicted. You will observe that there is no limitation upon the good here promised, and why should we restrict? We must view it in its universal comprehensiveness. It includes all good–good temporal, spiritual, and eternal–good for the body, the mind, and the soul–all true happiness in time, at death, and through eternity–grace and glory–all the good that God can bestow, or that we can receive. It includes good in three distinct periods of time. Good before our conversion–to bring us into being–to preserve us alive notwithstanding all dangers–to prevent our committing the unpardonable sin, or in any other way putting a tombstone upon our souls, and sealing them over under the curse–and to bring about an effectual calling at the appointed time. Good after conversion and union to Christ, comprehending all the blessings of grace. And glory in eternity. In the first period, eternal life is only coming certainly towards them, and as yet they have no personal title to or enjoyment of it; during the second period, they have the title, and a begun but still an imperfect enjoyment; and during the last period they have both the perfect title and the perfect enjoyment, and that for ever, too!

III. It is very full and comprehensive. The three following ideas will illustrate its amplitude and completeness.

1. First, you will observe that it not only provides for all on the part of God, but that it also secures everything on the part of the sinner with relation to his enjoyment of it, which, strictly speaking, is all that he has to do with it. Hence, it is so suitable to our helpless spiritual condition, who, of ourselves, could do nothing but just sin on, and so deserve fresh wrath, and the upbreaking of the covenant, if that were possible.

2. Again, you will notice that God here provides for the making of this covenant with each and all of His people in the way of their being brought to close with it. The application of it is as much Gods work and promise as is the decreeing of it or the fulfilling of its conditions. I will make, and who will or can prevent Him? Neither the devil, nor guilt, nor their own wicked and unbelieving hearts shall.

3. Once more, you will observe that the line of this covenant runs through all time. It is from everlasting to everlasting, like its parties–as endless as the soul of the sinner on which its blessings are to be bestowed. How ample then–how all-comprehensive is Gods covenant! There is no redundancy, but there is no deficiency.

IV. It is personal and particular. It is made or fulfilled with each and all of Gods people individually and separately, and not merely with the whole Church as s corporate body. The persons with whom it is actually made, are not all men without exception. The countless heathen never so much as hear of its existence or offer. It includes, then, only all Gods elect people–all those given to Christ as Mediator by the Father, and accepted by Him as such–all Christs mystical members–His spiritual seed–Gods true spiritual Israel. Their names are all enrolled in the book of life, and engraven on Jesus breastplate. They are constantly in His eye, and in His breast, and so they are in His prayers, and in His working, and in His dying. The Lord knoweth them that are His, directly and unerringly. We again can ascertain them only in so far as we can see this covenant fulfilled to them, enjoyed by them, and exemplified (extracted as it were) in their lives. But when we see the Lord thus doing good to any soul, and putting His fear into any heart, then and there we see Gods seal and mark, and behold His election realised in their sanctification.

V. It is very holy. God, the maker of it, is holy in all His works, and peculiarly so here in this, the glory of them all. Hence, we find Zecharias calling it (Luk 1:72), Gods holy covenant. Two observations will show its sanctity. First, it preserves unsullied, yea it peculiarly displays the righteousness and holiness of Gods character and government in at all saving sinners, only through the infinite and vicarious sufferings, death, and obedience of the God-man Mediator, in their room, and on their behalf. Secondly, it secures the personal holiness of all who are brought into the covenant. God here engages to do them good, and especially in the way of making them really and spiritually good. It gives to each a twofold righteousness, corresponding to the twofold unrighteousness he inherited from Adam–the imputed righteousness of Christ for justification, and the inwrought righteousness of the Spirit for sanctification of heart and life; and it never gives the one without the other.

VI. It is everlasting. It would be comparatively valueless, if it could ever end. Oh, how tantalising it would be to be stripped of the enjoyment of its blessings after we had enjoyed them for a period, and so had just come to know their incalculable value l Deprivation of such blessedness would be torture, exquisite just in proportion as we had tasted its sweetness. The reminiscence and the contrast would then make the loss all the more agonising. But it is everlasting –a covenant of salt–which can never fail, or change or intermit, or end. It must be so; for you will remember that the condition of the covenant has been already performed by Christ, and accepted by the Father. Now, God will not–indeed, He cannot,–alter or reverse what has been already done, for that is an impossibility. Moreover, the condition being the infinitely perfect, unchangeable, and everlasting righteousness of Jesus, the covenant founded thereon must be absolutely unalterable and eternal The very holiness, justice, and truth of God are all pledged to Christ to secure its permanency and everlasting continuance.

VII. Faith in Christ is the only way of our being brought into the enjoyment of it. Faith is just a receiving and resting upon Christ fist and upon all the promises as in Him yea and amen to the glory of God. Nothing more is requisite in us. The fidelity and omnipotence of the promises ensures their fulfilment to, the soul that believes and rests on them. There is nothing left for us to do but thus just to receive and rely upon these promises, and Christ in them, by the empty hand of faith. And even this faith, and its act of closing with the covenant, is here previously secured. It is included in the good to be done to us. Faith is Gods gift–one of His promises and one of the operations of His Spirit. Faith and repentance, and new obedience, are all blessings in the covenant, and not conditions of it. At the very most, they are only conditions of connection and of order in the enjoyment of its various and well-regulated blessings. (F. Gillies.)

I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.

Perseverance in holiness

I. The everlasting covenant. I will make an everlasting covenant with them. In the previous chapter, in the thirty-first verse, this covenant is called a new covenant; and it is new in contrast with the former one which the Lord made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. It is new as to the principle upon which it is based. Brethren, take care to distinguish between the old and the new covenants; for they must never be mingled. If salvation be of grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; and if it be of works, it is not of grace, otherwise work is no more work. The new covenant is all of grace, from its first letter to its closing word; and we shall have to show you this as we go on. It is an everlasting covenant, however: that is the point upon which the text insists. The other covenant was of very short duration; but this is an everlasting covenant.

1. The first reason why it is an everlasting covenant is, that it was made with us in Christ Jesus. He is, both in His nature, and in His work, eternally qualified to stand before the living God. He stands in absolute perfectness under every strain, and, therefore, the covenant stands in Him.

2. Next, the covenant cannot fail because the human side of it has been fulfilled. The human side might be regarded as the weak side of it; but when Jesus became the representative of man that side was sure. He has at this hour fulfilled to the letter every stipulation upon that side of which He was the surety. Since, then, that side of the covenant has been fulfilled which appertains to man, there remaineth only Gods side of it to be fulfilled, which consists of promises–unconditional promises, full of grace and truth. Will not God be true to HIS engagements? Yes, verily. Even to the jots and tittles, all shall be carried out.

3. Furthermore, the covenant must be everlasting, for it is founded upon the free grace of God. Sovereign grace declares that He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy, and will have compassion on whom He will have compassion. This basis of sovereignty cannot be shaken.

4. Again, in the covenant, everything that can be supposed to be a condition is provided. If there be, anywhere in the Word of God, any act or grace mentioned as though it were a condition of salvation, it is in another Scripture described as a covenant gift, which will be bestowed upon the heirs of salvation by Christ Jesus.

5. Moreover, the covenant must be everlasting, because it cannot be superseded by anything more glorious. The moon gives way to the sun, and the sun gives way to a lustre which shall exceed the light of seven days; but what is to supersede the light of free grace and dying love, the glory of the love which gave the Only-begotten that we might live through Him!

II. The unchanging God of the covenant. I will not turn away from them, to do them good.

1. He will not turn away from doing them good, first, because He has said so. That is enough. Jehovah speaks, and in His voice lies the end of all controversy.

2. Still, let us remember that there is no valid reason why He should turn away from them to do them good. You remind me of their unworthiness. Yes, but observe that when He began to do them good they were as unworthy as they could possibly be. Moreover, there can be no reason in the faultiness of the believer why the Lord should cease to do him good, seeing that He foresaw all the evil that would be in us. He entered into a covenant that He would not turn away from us, to do us good; and no circumstance has arisen, or can arise, which was unknown to Him when He thus pledged His Word of grace. Moreover, I would have you remember that we are by God at this day viewed in the same light as ever. We were undeserving objects upon whom He bestowed His mercy, out of no motive but that which He drew from His own nature; and if we are undeserving still, His grace is still the same. If it be so, that He still deals with us in the way of grace, it is evident that He still views us as undeserving; and why should He not do good towards us now as He did at the first? Moreover, remember that He sees us now in Christ. Behold, He has put His people into the hands of His dear Son. He sees us in Christ to have died, in Him to have been buried, and in Him to have risen again. As the Lord Jesus Christ is well pleasing to the Father, so in Him are we well pleasing to the Father also; for our being in Him identifies us with Him.

3. The Lord will not turn away from His people, from doing them good, because He has shown them so much kindness already; and all that He has done would be lest if He did not go through with it. When He gave His Son, He gave us a sure pledge that He meant to finish His work of love.

4. We feel sure that He will not cease to bless us, because we have proved that even when He has hidden His face He has not turned away from doing us good. When the Lord has turned away His face from His people, it has been to do them good, by making them sick of self and eager for His love.

5. I close with this argument, that He has involved His honour in the salvation of His people. H the Lords chosen and redeemed are cast away, where is the glory of His redemption?

III. The persevering people in the covenant. I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me. The salvation of those who are in covenant with God is herein provided for by an absolute promise of the omnipotent God, which must be carried out. It is plain, clear, unconditional, positive. They shall not depart from Me.

1. It is not carried out by altering the effect of apostasy. If they did depart from God, it would be fatal If the Holy Ghost has indeed regenerated a soul, and yet that regeneration does not save it from total apostasy, what can be done?

2. Neither does this perseverance of the saints come in by the removal of temptation. No, the Lord does not take His people out of the world; but He allows them to fight the battle of life in the same field as others. He does not remove us from the conflict, but He giveth us the victory.

3. This is affected by putting a Divine principle within their hearts. The Lord saith, I will put My fear in their hearts. It would never be found there if He did not put it there. What is this fear of God? It is, first, a holy awe and reverence of the great God. Taught of God, we come to see His infinite greatness, and the fact that He is everywhere present with us; and then, filled with a devout sense of His Godhead, we dare not sin. The words, My fear, also intend filial fear. God is our Father, and we feel the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. There moves also in our hearts a deep sense of grateful obligation. God is so good to me, how can I sin? He loves me so, how can I vex Him? But if you ask, By what instrumentality does God maintain this fear in the hearts of His people? I answer, It is the work of the Spirit of God: but the Holy Spirit usually works by means. The fear of God is kept alive in our hearts by the hearing of the Word; for faith cometh by hearing, and holy fear cometh through faith. Be diligent, then, in hearing the Word. That fear is kept alive in our hearts by reading the Scriptures; for as we feed on the Word, it breathes within us that fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom. This fear of God is maintained in us by the belief of revealed truth, and meditation thereon. Study the doctrines of grace, and be instructed in the analogy of the faith. Know the Gospel well and thoroughly, and this will bring fuel to the fire of the fear of God in your hearts. Be much in private prayer; for that stirs up the fire, and makes it burn more brilliantly. In fine, seek to live near to God, to abide in Him; for as you abide in Him, and His Words abide in you, you shall bring forth much fruit, and so shall you be His disciples. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Bible religion

The world abounds with religions. There is but one true religion, that of the Bible. It is sometimes spoken of as trust in God, sometimes as love for God, sometimes obedience to God; here it is spoken of as the fear of God. It is the fear of not pleasing in all things the object of the affections. The fear of not coming up to the Divine idea of goodness.

I. As having its seat in the heart. Fear in their hearts There is something in mans spiritual nature analogous to the heart in his physical organisation. The heart of the body is the most vital of all its organs; it sends the life-blood through all the parts. What in mans spiritual nature is like his heart, and which the Bible calls his heart? It is the chief liking of the soul. The chief liking is the spring of human activity; it works and controls all the faculties of man. Bible religion takes possession of this, inspires this, makes goodness and God the chief objects of liking, so that the soul feels that God is its all in all.

1. Bible religion is in the heart, not merely in the intellect.

2. Not merely in the sentiments.

3. Not merely in occasional service.

II. As imparted by God. How does He put this priceless principle into the heart? Not miraculously, not irrespective of mans activities.

1. By the revelation of Himself to man.

2. By the ministry of His servants.

III. As a safeguard against apostasy. IS it possible for man to depart from his Maker? In a sense, no. No more than from the atmosphere he breathes, no more than from himself. But there is a solemn sense in which men can and do depart from Him. It is in sympathy of aim. All unregenerate souls are far off from God, vagrants, ever wandering, settling nowhere. To depart from Him is to depart from light, health, harmony, friendship, all in fact that makes life worth having. What can prevent this, the chief of calamities? God s fear in the heart. This is that law of moral attraction that will bind the soul for ever to God as its centre. (Homilist.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

This promise manifestly relateth to those Jews that should receive the Lord Jesus Christ, or that were Israelites indeed; for as to others, God did turn away from doing them good, when their city was taken by Titus; unless it be to be understood of a national conversion of the Jews, not yet effected.

I will put my fear into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me; my Spirit, which shall beget in them a dread of me, so as they shall not depart from me. Hence some conclude well, that when once the body of the Jews shall be converted, they shall never again apostatize from God. It may well from hence be concluded, that both conversion unto God, and perseverance in the ways of God, are the gifts of God; we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

40. (Jer 31:31;Jer 31:33; Isa 55:3).

not depart from meneveryet fully realized as to the Israelites.

I will not turn away fromthem . . . good (Isa30:21). Jehovah compares Himself to a sedulous preceptorfollowing his pupils everywhere to direct their words, gestures.

put my fear in . . . hearts .. . not depart from meBoth the conversion and perseverance ofthe saints are the work of God alone, by the operation of the HolySpirit.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,…. Which is made known and manifest at conversion; when the grace of it is applied; the blessings of it bestowed; and the promises of it made good; and therefore said to be made; for otherwise the covenant of grace here spoken of was made from all eternity with Christ, and his people in him; as appears from his being set up as the Mediator so early, and from the blessings and promises of it being of such a date. It is founded on the everlasting love of God, and is according to his eternal purpose; and is no other than an eternal transaction between the Father and the Son concerning the salvation of his elect; and which will last for ever, and never be antiquated, as the covenant under the former dispensation was; and which shows that this respects Gospel times:

that I will not turn away from them to do them good; he may withdraw his gracious presence for a while; but he never turns from his love and affections to his people; nor from his gracious purposes concerning them; nor from his promises to them; nor from his gifts bestowed on them; or so as to utterly leave them and forsake them, or cease to do them good: he has laid up goodness for them; he has bestowed much on them whom he has called by his grace; he has given himself to them as their God and portion; his Son as their Saviour and Redeemer, and all good things with him; his Spirit as their Sanctifier, with his gifts and graces; and he has wrought a good work in them; and he will continue to do them good, by fresh discoveries of his love; by granting his gracious presence; by carrying on his work of grace; by supplying their wants, and making all things work together for their good. The Targum is,

“my Word shall not turn away, c.”

but I will put my fear in their hearts which is not naturally in the hearts of then; and, where it is, it is put there by the grace of God, and as a blessing of the covenant; it appears in those who are brought to a true sight of sin, in their humble sense of themselves, and dependence on the Lord; and in a reverent affection for him: and in a true and spiritual worship of him; and which is a security from a final and total apostasy from him, as follows:

that they shall not depart from me; not but that they may and do sin against God; and there may be a partial departure from him in those that truly fear him; but not a wicked, final, and total one: the fear of God influences them to cleave close unto him; and the power of God keeps them from departing from him, from his doctrines, worship, and ordinances, from his people, and a profession of his name.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

He pursues the same subject; but the repetition is intended emphatically to recommend the grace of God, for we know how men ever strive to withhold the praise due to his grace, and that on account of their pride. God, then, on the other hand, celebrates in high terms his grace, lest men should malignantly obscure it.

He first says, I will strike with them a perpetual covenant We must notice the contrast between the covenant of the Law, and the covenant of which the Prophet now speaks. He called it in the thirty-first chapter a new covenant, and gave the reason for it, because their fathers had soon fallen away after the Law was proclaimed, and because its doctrine was that of the letter, and deadly, and also fatal. But he now calls it a perpetual covenant That the covenant of the Law was not valid, this was accidental to it; for the Law would remain in force, were we only to keep it; but through men’s fault it happened that the covenant of the Law became void and immediately vanished. When, therefore, God promises anything, there is a manifest difference; but what is it? God intimates that his doctrine is set before men with no effect, for it only sounds in their ears, it does not penetrate into their hearts. There is, then, need of the grace of the Holy Spirit; for except God speaks within and touches our hearts, the sound will be to no purpose, only beating the air. We now, then, see why the covenant is called perpetual which God now promises.

We must, at the same time, bear in mind that this covenant peculiarly belongs to the kingdom of Christ. For though it was a part of God’s grace, which was manifested in delivering his people from captivity, yet the continued stream of his grace ought to be extended to the coming of Christ. The Prophet then, no doubt, brings Christ before us, together with the new covenant; for without him there is not the least hope that God would make another covenant, as it appears evident from the whole Law and the teaching of the Prophets. Then Christ is here opposed to Moses, and the Gospel to the Law. It hence follows, that the Law was a temporary covenant, for it had no stability, as it was that of the letter; but that the Gospel is a perpetual covenant, for it is inscribed on the heart. And for the same reason it is also called a new covenant, for the Law must have become obsolete, since the perpetuity of which the Prophet speaks has come in its place.

Now follows an explanation, Because I will not depart, etc. The אשר asher, here is not a relative, but rather an explanatory or exegetic particle. It then briefly designates the form or nature of the covenant, even that God would never depart from behind them God is sometimes said to go before his faithful people, when he shows to them the right way. He is said also to rule them from behind, as when Isaiah says,

“

They shall hear a voice behind them, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’” (Isa 30:21)

God no doubt testifies here, that he would be always an Instructor and Teacher to his people. And he says, that he will speak from behind, as schoolmasters follow the pupils committed to their care, even that they may observe and watch all their gestures, walking, words, and everything else. So God compares himself to those teachers to whom children are committed to be taught and trained; and he says that he speaks from behind. We may then explain what is here said in this sense, “I will not depart from after thee:” but we may also take a simpler view that God would not depart from them, even because he would show them perpetual favor and kindness, according to what is immediately added, that I may do them good In a word, God shows that he would be an eternal Father to his people, who would never forsake nor cast them away. (82)

But the manner or method is also expressed, that he would put his fear in their hearts, that they might never depart from him. This is the same doctrine with what we have already seen; it is now repeated, but in other words; and thus God, as I said, more fully illustrates his favor, he says then that he would put his fear in the hearts of men. We now see how that puerile fiction is refuted, with which the Papists are inebriated, when they say that God’s grace co-operates, because the Spirit helps the infirmity of men, as though they themselves brought something of their own and were co-operators. But the Prophet here testifies that the fear of God is the work and gift of the Holy Spirit. He does not say I will give them power to fear me, but I will put my fear in their hearts We then see that he again shews that the Spirit works effectually in us, so as to form anew our affections, and does not leave us capable of turning or suspended. The same thing is said by Ezekiel,

“

And I will cause them to fear me.” (Eze 36:27)

Thus the same doctrine is confirmed there, for it is said, that God would make Israel to fear him, not that they might be able to fear him.

He adds again, That they may not depart from me We see that clearly refuted are those foolish notions about neutral grace, which offers only power to men, which they may afterwards receive if they please; for the Prophet says, “that they may not depart from me.” Thus he again shews that perseverance, no less than the commencement of acting rightly, is the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit: and as I have already said, were God only to form our hearts once, that we might be disposed to act rightly, the devil might, at any moment, entice us, by his wiles, from the right way, or, as he employs sudden and violent attacks, he might drive us up and down as he pleases. To rule us then for one hour would avail us nothing, except God preserved us through the whole course of our life, and led us on to the end. It hence then follows, that the whole course of our life is directed by the Spirit of God, so that the end no less than the beginning of good works ought to be ascribed to his grace. Whatever merit then men claim for themselves, they take away from God, and thus they become sacrilegious.

A question may, however, be here raised: we see that the faithful often stumble, not ten times during life, but every day: how then is this, that where God’s Spirit works, his efficacy is such that men never turn aside from the right way? Were any to answer, that the faithful indeed stumble, but do not wholly fail, and that God here refers to that defection which shakes off every fear of God, it would not be a full solution. For we see that even the elect themselves are sometimes like apostates, for the fear of God and piety are, as it were, choked in them. Piety is not indeed extinguished, but not even a spark of the Spirit appears in them. But we must notice, that inflexible perseverance is given to the faithful, so that when they fall, they soon repent. Hence interruptions are no hinderances that God should not guide them from the starting-post to the goal, until they complete their whole course. And thus true is what Augustine says, that the Spirit so works in us, that we invariably have a good will. For he compares our state with that of Adam, such as he was in his first creation. We know that Adam was then without any stain, for he was formed in the image of God: he was then upright and free from every vice. We are as yet imperfect; though God has regenerated us by his Spirit, there abide in us still some remnants of the flesh, and we do not run with so much alacrity as it behoves us; nay, we are constrained to exclaim with Paul, that we are “wretched,” and to confess that we do not the good which we would, but the evil which is hateful to us. (Rom 7:15) Then the condition of Adam seems to have been better than ours. To this Augustine replies, — that God deals better with us now than he did with Adam, our first parent; for though he created him just and innocent, and without any stain, yet he gave him a nature liable to a change; and hence Adam, having a free-will, immediately fell. To what end then did free-will serve? even that man immediately fell and brought us into the same ruin with himself. This is the praise of free-will! even that man, possessed of it, cast himself down into the lowest abyss, whence he could never of himself have risen. But now, with respect to us, though we halt, and also turn out of the right way, and our depraved lusts entice us to evil, and our corruption hinders us from running as we desire to do, yet our condition is far better, because God endues us amidst all our conflicts with the power of his own Spirit, so that we are never overcome or overwhelmed. This indefectible constancy, (indeclinabilis constantia) as Augustine calls it, is then far superior to the excellency and honor which Adam at first possessed. This may be clearly gathered from the words of the Prophet when he says, that God would put his fear in the hearts of his people, so that they may never depart from him.

It may be again asked, why is there no mention made of gratuitous justification? for the covenant of God cannot be valid, except he reconciles us to himself, for regeneration is not sufficient for the obtaining of God’s favor, as in part only we will rightly and act rightly. To this we answer, that there is no doubt but that God includes faith in the word fear; hence remission of sins, by which men return into favor with God, is not excluded when regeneration is spoken of. This passage may at the same time be explained in this way, that the Prophet states a part for the whole. Doubtless the new covenant, as we have before seen, consists of two parts, even that God, in adopting us as his children, forgives us, and pardons all our infirmities, and then governs us by his Spirit: but here he speaks only of the last. So the sentence may be viewed as including a part for the whole. Still the Scripture, as it has been said, when it speaks of God’s fear, often includes faith, for God, as the Psalmist says, cannot be feared, except we taste of his goodness,

“

With thee is propitiation, that thou mayest be feared.” (Psa 130:4)

For there would be no reverential fear of God, except it were preceded by a knowledge of his paternal favor.

(82) The אשר may be rendered that, or because. It would be a perpetual covenant, because he would “not turn from being after them to do them good,” or, as the Syr. is, “from following them to do them good.” The Vulg. omits אשר and so does the Targ.; the Syr. gives it the meaning of that, but it is rendered which, by the Sept., “which (that is covenant) I will not turn away from behind them,” that is, as it seems, from those behind them, i.e., posterity. And this is the meaning which Blayney has adopted, “which I will not withdraw from their posterity, to be a benefactor to them;” which last words he evidently connects with the first clause. What favors this rendering is, that “children” are mentioned in the previous verse.

Still, owing to the last clause, the Syriac version seems to be the most suitable. There are here two remarkable promises, — that God would not turn away from them, — and that he would put in his fear, so as to keep them from turning away from him. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(40) I will make an everlasting covenant . . .The covenant thus promised is, it must be remembered, identical with that of Jer. 31:31the new covenant, which shall never wax old and decay, but shall abide for ever. My fear is identical with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. The curse of Israel had been that they had been without that fear to restrain them from evil, and that the mere dread of punishment had proved powerless to supply its place.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

40. I will not turn away from them, to do them good The comma of the English text is misleading, and should be omitted. The meaning is, I will no longer withhold from them the good they need.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments