“Details matter” was my professor’s response. Thus ended my excuse for not having used the proper format on my midterm paper. I had downloaded an instruction sheet on the required format, but when I got to the parts that didn’t seem relevant, I stopped reading. Bad move on my part.

While not a costly mistake, it was more embarrassing than anything else. My professor was also a friend, and I had told him to not go easy on me as my professor. I was sort of kidding, but he wasn’t. He had a greater expectation of me as someone who has walked with the Lord for over four decades.

Details matter. I did real estate for several decades, and believe me — in the voluminous pile of required paperwork, details matter. Things like deed restrictions, homeowner’s association covenants and restrictions, boundary lines … I could go on, but you get the point.

Details matter to God as well. Jesus made a covenant with those who have called upon His name for salvation. In fact, it’s a “blood covenant!” Jesus called it that when He shared the Passover meal with His disciples. “And he [Jesus] took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28, ESV).

The same statement is found in Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, and 1 Corinthians 11:25. The King James translation rightly adds the word “new” in each of these verses. The Greek word translated “covenant” is diatheke, defined as “the basis, established by the death of Christ, on which the salvation of men is secured” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).

In most cases, the term “covenant” is applied to an agreement between two parties, with each party having specific obligations to fulfill. When Jesus cited a new covenant, He was referring to a prophecy from Jeremiah, which is repeated in Ezekiel. The author of the Book of Hebrews brings it into focus for those who have committed their lives to Christ Jesus.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10, ESV). He then goes on to add, “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (8:12).

The failure of the Old Covenant was that the people were never able to fulfill their part of the obligations. God said He would make a New Covenant under which our sins would be forgiven once and for all, and His Law would be written in our hearts. In addition, the Holy Spirit now takes up residence in our hearts, showing us God’s heart and empowering us for service and faithful living.

Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant has no “legal” obligation for the believer in Christ Jesus. So, what should our response be? Should there even be a response?

While there is no “legal” obligation under the New Covenant, there is an expectation of an attitude of gratefulness on the part of the Christian. Jesus taught His disciples about faithful and unfaithful servants, and He summed it up with this statement: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48, ESV).

Earlier in Luke, Jesus asked a question of His dinner host. Two people were both forgiven a debt by their master, one larger than the other. Jesus asked, “Which of them will love him more?” (Luke 7:42). The response was, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt” (7:43). Jesus commended his response.

In light of the New Covenant, much has been given. What should my response be? What should your response be? Details matter.

What say ye, Man of Valor?