The New Covenant prophesied in the Old Testament
Ezekiel 36:22-27 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I show Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands; and I will bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances.“
Notes: We often assume that the New Covenant is primarily about our salvation, but the scriptures teach that it is about our God’s eternal purpose for creation and for the glory of His name, as pointed out in this prophecy.
The promise is that the Lord God will vindicate and demonstrate His holiness among or in His people, a prophetic statement regarding the indwelling of His people by His own life. See John 14 -17 for the words of Jesus explaining the life of the triune God in us and our union with Him.
Cleansing by the application of clean water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. This will come by the imparting of the very Spirit of God into His true disciples. Obedience will come in us by way of this indwelling by the Spirit of God.
These are magnificent and precious promises to those who will surrender all to our God and live by His indwelling presence!
Without Limit 
Tim, thank you for sharing this truth! I was in the book of John for a couple of weeks and because of this, re-read the words of Ezekiel. His purpose and promise–not just our salvation, but the indwelling of his Spirit. Mine has grown, my friend. And it was by completely surrendering to it. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my human “ness”. Obedience is a JOY now–not just a “list of rules” that I kept breaking! With this indwelling, we have the desire to follow to commune with the Spirit. And it’s just not “right” when I’m not (in every way). God bless you, dear friend! Give Jackson our regards too. Karla and her little dog, too!
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Thank you for the kind words, Karla. Here is the “upside-down Kingdom of God” hinted at by Ezekiel. To surrender all our living to the Spirit of Christ every day is to finally find our true life (“whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it,”said Jesus). To obey by our own efforts is to be slaves to sin, to the flesh, to Satan, to the world, and to defeat. To allow our God to obey through us by His life in us is to experience His holiness, obedience, and purity. To offer ourselves as slaves, as bond servants of love to righteousness is true freedom. To assert our independence to do as we please is the most life-destroying form of slavery there is.
Whatever our God expects of us and from us, He intends to do in us and through us. That is true freedom!
God bless you both, and all your kith and kin!
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