Doesn’t Jeremiah 31 say that God’s law will be written on the hearts of Christians? Why do we still need the law hanging over us?

Yes, it says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). This is definitely a reference to Christians but how many Christians do you know that can recite every detail of God’s law. I don’t know any. So this writing of God’s law in the hearts of Christians can’t mean they will know it in detail. We must look elsewhere for the meaning.

Another very valid way of looking at this is to take it to mean that it will be “written in their hearts” in the sense that it will be their heart’s desire to obey God’s laws. Now this makes much more sense. The desire to obey God is a trait that all true, born again Christians share.

So, the law is written in the hearts but that doesn’t mean we don’t need the Bible to guide and govern us. Rather, the desire to obey (that God instills in the heart) would produce an increased interest to learn God’s commandments. We all need God’s law. It shows us what is right and what is wrong. It tells us what sin is. It doesn’t hang over us but rather is a ready resource that guides us through the difficult questions of life. It is a source of comfort and assurance, not a burden to be born.