The Thoughts of Wesley son of Cornelius

We must not miss the depths of this third point. This unconditional statement comes right out of the midst of the old covenant:

"I will make my dwelling [tabernacle] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people." (Leviticus 12:11-12)

as well as

"I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God." (Exodus 29:45)

After Jeremiah, God inspired Ezekiel to write:

"I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. It will set them __ and multiply them, and will set my santuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

This phrase of man's submission to God and God's ownership of man is connected to this idea of God dwelling [tabernacle] with man. As we saw in point 2, it is the Holy Spirit that now dwells in the hearts of man forevermore under the new covenant.

"I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart." (Jeremiah 24:7)

"And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:27-28)

"And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me." (Jeremiah 32:38-40)

A special aside needs to be addressed concerning "the good of their children after them." While it is true throughout Scripture that blessings are bestowed on the children of the righteous, a key difference between the old and new is seen here with the children. For in the old, the old covenant passed on biologically. Those born into the nation of Israel were accepted into the old. However, in the new, the Spirit cannot be passed on biologically. The heart has to be changed. With this in mind, the statement following point 3 (and in my mind connected to this point) is a little more clear:

"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:34)

All of those under the new covenant will know him, unlike in the old where foreigners and infants were brought into the old and were taught to know him. Hence, it makes little sense to allow the new covenant symbols--baptism and the LORD's supper--to have any meaning to the foreigner of God's people, as well as, to the infants.

Yet, I end with this: "I will have mercy on No-Mercy, and I will say to Not-My-People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'" (Hosea 2:23)

Note: In Hosea these words are applied to the Jew, in Romans 9:26 Paul applies it to the Gentiles, and in 1 Peter 2:10 Peter appears to be applying it to all "people belonging to God."