Christ's death is without a doubt what gives us firmness and assurance of salvation, for we are all sinners and have no hope of saving ourselves through our good works. God in his infinite wisdom sent Jesus to die for the sins of his people, and now we are saved through faith in Jesus. Whoever looks at Christ, whoever has faith in Jesus will be saved.
But is this faith produced by ourselves? In the gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus was about to be crucified and killed for the sins of his people. Then he gathers his disciples for supper, and at that moment Jesus takes the bread and makes a statement:
Taking the bread, he gave thanks, broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is my body given for you; do this in memory of me ”.
Luke 22:19 Jesus says that his body would be given for his people. And immediately afterwards Jesus makes another statement: In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you.
Luke 22:20 Not only would his body be given in favor of his people, but his blood as well. Jesus here makes a very important statement, he says that that cup represented the new covenant, and that this new covenant is in his blood. That is, this new covenant is through your blood.
But what is the new covenant? The new covenant is promised several times in the Old Testament through the prophets, and we see that this promise is fulfilled through Jesus. This new alliance promises that:
Jeremiah 31-34 "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the community of Judah." “It will not be like the covenant I made with your ancestors when I took them by the hand to get them out of Egypt; because they broke my covenant, even though I am their Lord, ”says the Lord. “This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my law within them and write it in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No one else will teach your neighbor or your brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord’, because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, ”says the Lord. “Because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer remember their sins. "
I will make a permanent covenant with them: In the new covenant the Lord promises that his people will not deviate from him. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will take the heart of stone out of you and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and lead you to act according to my decrees and to obey my laws faithfully. Ezekiel 36: 26-27
All of these texts talk about the new covenant, and make a contrast between the new and the old covenant. Jesus bought this new covenant:
In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you. Luke 22:20
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