A covenant is an agreement … or a testament … or a contract. A NEW covenant replaces an OLD covenant. Pretty simple, huh? Here’s where the confusion comes from: If you don’t understand the nature of the FIRST covenant, you won’t understand what makes the SECOND one different. And then it makes no sense as to why there was a need for a replacement (also, “The new commandment” or “The covenant of Grace”) A covenant is an agreement … or a testament … or a contract. A NEW covenant replaces an OLD covenant. Pretty simple, huh? Here’s where the confusion comes from: If you don’t understand the nature of the FIRST covenant, you won’t understand what makes the SECOND one different. And then it makes no sense as to why there was a need for a replacement. What’s the first covenant? It was a contract based upon the performance of those who were part of it. Guess what? It didn’t work! It never worked. That was the point. And guess what else? We are very familiar with the nature of the FIRST covenant and didn’t even know it! It was based upon the same principles we learned as children: do good and be rewarded, do bad and get punished! It convinced us that the only way around our hopeless situation is to LOOK like you were doing good and not doing bad. It works because everybody else needs the same excuse! BOTTOM LINE: So, here’s how the new covenant replaced the first. After the people failed miserably in their attempts to be good, God brought about His promised miracle: people who would from the heart operate from love. He did this by putting an end to the lifeless, dead heart (life-source) and created a new one. He brought this about by sending His Son in the likeness of lifeless mankind and He killed it when He died; and then He brought about a new creation after the likeness of His new, resurrected life.