Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 10
The teacher connects the Sermon on the Mount to Jeremiah’s new covenant—Torah written on the heart—so Jesus’ commands aren’t merely “new laws” but the life of a softened-heart people (including hard sayings like “divorce is out”); where do modern Christians (including Anabaptists) still rely on “provisions for hard hearts,” and what habits of repentance and obedience-from-the-heart would need to change if this teaching is true?
Another way to ask: If Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is about God changing hearts (like Jeremiah’s new covenant), where do Christians today still make “exceptions for hard hearts,” and what would need to change in our repentance and obedience if Jesus is right?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests that whenever Christians treat Jesus’ commands as external rules with built-in allowances for stubbornness—rather than as the life of a heart-renewed people—we are relying on “provisions for hard hearts”; if Jesus brings the new-covenant heart, we must pursue repentance that results in real obedience “from the heart.”
- He links Sermon on the Mount to Jeremiah: new covenant where God “would write his Torah on the hearts of the people.”
- Jesus is not saying, “I’m the king…new laws,” but describing “what a Torah written on the heart would look like.”
- He uses divorce as the example: Moses allowed it “for the hardness of your heart,” but the new age is where God makes hearts “soft,” so “divorce is out.”
- Kingdom includes God “finally give you soft hearts that will obey from the heart.”
- He says only those transformed (he mentions “Jesus atoning death” enabling heart change) can live this greater righteousness.