Does the “Better Promises” mean Promises are “Only Spiritual”?: Heb 8:6

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry… He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” — Hebrews 8:6

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The Question We’re Asking

Time and again, I have heard people say that physical blessings were in the Old covenant and in the New covenant, the blessings are spiritual.

In other words:

• Old Covenant → physical blessings
• New Covenant → only spiritual realities

Would that have been their natural conclusion?

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Think about it

So the people who claim that the blessings in the New covenant are spiritual only, claim that

• Yes, God provided manna in the wilderness
• Yes, God healed their bodies
• Yes, God protected them from enemies
• Yes, God prospered them in the land

These were tangible, visible, physical realities. Yes. But once the substance came, the “physical” was not needed anymore, and that “spiritual” is what is better.

So What Would “Better” Mean to Them?

I think that’s grasping at straws, because do you think that when the original readers heard that the promises are better, they would they think:

“Yes, God is blessing you spiritually but God is now not guaranteeing any physical blessings which were part of the Old covenant. Those physical things are gone now”

Or would they think:

“Whatever we have seen… something greater has now come”

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Ask a Simple Question

Also, ask one thing. We know that God provided for people who were not even born again. He could

• Feed people physically
• Heal bodies
• Protect nations
• Prosper lives

Under a covenant that was conditional and temporary, then why would He withhold those things:

From His own children under a better, stronger, fulfilled covenant?

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The Real Upgrade — Condition to Guarantee

So what was the “better” part in this? Along with more blessings in Christ, there was something which was now available to everyone in Christ

the promises got guaranteed.

Old Covenant:

• “If you obey… then…”
• Blessings were conditional

New Covenant:

• “I will…”
• Blessings are guaranteed by God Himself

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Paul Confirms the Same Idea

In Epistle to the Romans, Paul explains: The promise was made sure (guaranteed)

And elsewhere:

All the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ

So, the focus is not removal The focus is certainty and fulfillment.

So, better promises mean that now promises unlike the old covenant are not cancelled on the basis of your performance. All you have to do is believe, and every promise is yours in Christ! Hallelujah!

What Did Jesus Actually Do?

Also, by saying that the physical promises in the Old testament has been “removed’ and now its all about spiritual, it is a blow to the nature and character of God. Because IN CHRIST, He has fulfilled the law, and thus also us in Him, so technically IN HIM, we should be getting blessed with every blessing promised in the Old covenant as well.

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Final Point

Would the original readers think:

“Now everything is only spiritual”?

No.

They would understand:

• Not replacement
• Not reduction
• Not abstraction

But:

Fulfillment, strengthening, and guarantee