I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.” vs40

There are no “buts” in the new covenant and no possibility of failure, because the responsibility of salvation is on God! He has made the promise all inclusive - faith, repentance, and obedience - and He will fulfill it, putting His fear in our heart, so that we obey Him.

Those who fell away never had the promise: they were like Judas, Demas, or the many who turned back from following Christ, but they were not like Peter, whom He prayed for [Luke 22:31-32].

There is NO POSSIBILITY the elect won’t be saved, because their salvation is guaranteed by God, who knows that we are sinners. He knows that He must do everything, and He will do it.

First, He will save in spite of the fact that we are sinners. He will banish us in anger, make us feel the terror of the law - the guilt and shame - and then He will bring us back [Jer 32:37]. We’ll be chastened and continue in iniquity to degrade ourselves, but eventually, He’ll turn us!

I was enraged by his sinful greed,

so I struck him and hid My face in anger;

yet he kept turning back

to the desires of his heart.

I have seen his ways,

but I will heal him;

I will guide him and restore comfort

to him and his mourners, [Isa 57:17-18]

Like the prodigal son, eventually, we’ll get sick of the pig pen and go back home. It will enter our minds that it is better with the Father, we’ll come back as sinners, and He’ll receive us.

“Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!” [Luke 15:17]

He’ll put fear in our hearts, and we need this fear of God. He will cause us to cherish grace, reverence Him, and return. We’ll fear departing from Him, and we’ll judge ourselves - not by what we have in this world, but by whether we commune with God, have His peace, and joy in the Spirit. We’ll value Him more than everything.

Secondly, do not preach a shaky covenant! All who teach that salvation can be lost deny election and grace; they preach a promise CONDITIONED ON MAN, and it is never sure, giving man glory; it leads to meanness, self-righteousness, and despising others! It leads to works based performance, rather than thankfulness, and it is false, never to be preached among the saints.

Do not live in fearfulness or look to yourself, but trust God to save you as you truly are - helpless! Trust Him to do it all, and He will.

Thirdly, the new covenant is joy and comfort producing. Imagine the anxiety of Jeremiah. He hears that Israel will be taken, knows she is sinful, and hears that she’ll come back [Jer 32]. He doesn’t see how it can happen, and neither do we, until we see God’s grace DEPENDENT ON CHRIST who fulfilled the promises. He is the Surety of the Covenant, and His blood has already been accepted (verified by the resurrection,) so the promise doesn’t depend on man, and God’s elect are secure, so we can preach the gospel of a saving God - not relying on ourselves, but trusting Him, and walking in peace!

We don’t have to minister in the flesh, adding our exertions, but He can work in us mightily through faith. Believing God, we get the job done: we have power in our ministries, pray in faith, and we walk as those secure in Jesus Christ.

William Huntington said, “I will pray God to create the fruit of my lips; to give me a mouth and wisdom that all my enemies shall not be able to gainsay nor resist; and that it may not be me that speaks, but that the Spirit of my heavenly Father may speak in me and then my conversation will be with power, and my words seasoned with salt, ministering grace.”

Comfort is the fruit of the gospel that we pass on to others, and He humbles us, so that we can experience it.

“For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” [2 Cor 1:5]