Hebrews 8:6 declares that Jesus “has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” The Greek word translated “enacted” literally means a new legislation, a new Law/Torah enacted during the ministry/teaching of Jesus.
In other words, this new covenant, obtained by the work of Christ, has become a ministry far superior to the first covenant at Sinai. That’s why the covenant Jesus currently mediates is better.
But more than that, this new covenant has been given to us Christians as Torah on the basis of better promises. As Meyer’s NT Commentary notes: “The [Greek] expression is chosen…in order to oppose to the Mosaic law...the New Covenant as in some sense a new law now come into force.”
Hence, the “first” covenant (Heb 8:7), with its “former” commandments (Heb 7:18), has now become a “shadow” (Heb 10:1), “old, worn out, soon to be made obsolete” (Heb 8:13). As a result, Jesus, Paul and Christians in general have been qualified as ministers of that new covenant law of God (2 Cor 3.6).
Like the new covenant itself, this new law of God is not like the old one, as OT prophets like Jeremiah foresaw: “This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Jer. 31:32a).
In other words, this new covenant, obtained by the work of Christ, has become a ministry far superior to the first covenant at Sinai. That’s why the covenant Jesus currently mediates is better.
But more than that, this new covenant has been given to us Christians as Torah on the basis of better promises. As Meyer’s NT Commentary notes: “The [Greek] expression is chosen…in order to oppose to the Mosaic law...the New Covenant as in some sense a new law now come into force.”
Hence, the “first” covenant (Heb 8:7), with its “former” commandments (Heb 7:18), has now become a “shadow” (Heb 10:1), “old, worn out, soon to be made obsolete” (Heb 8:13). As a result, Jesus, Paul and Christians in general have been qualified as ministers of that new covenant law of God (2 Cor 3.6).
Like the new covenant itself, this new law of God is not like the old one, as OT prophets like Jeremiah foresaw: “This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Jer. 31:32a).
