Skip to main content

Deuteronomy 6-7

Deuteronomy

6:1-25 -  ‘Hear’ and ‘do’ (1-3; James 1:22-25).  In our obedience to God, there is to be the fear of the Lord and love for the Lord (2,5).  Fear and love: the two belong together.  God is holy – fear Him.  God is love – love Him.  This is for every generation: ‘you and your son and your son’s son’(2).  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart’ (5).  Teach the children well so that the blessing of God may be ‘prolonged’ among us (7,2).  Our promised land – heaven (John 14:1-3) – is far better than Israel’s promised land.  Through faith in Christ, we have received ‘eternal life’ (John 5:24; 6:40).  Never take the Lord’s blessing for granted.  Always remember to thank Him for all that He has done for you (10-12).  Teach the children what the Lord has done for them (20-23).  Then, and only then, tell them what they must ‘do’ for Him (24-25).
7:1-26 -  Enter, Destroy, Possess (1-2).  Don’t try to jump straight from entering to possessing.  Don’t forget to destroy.  We enter the Christian life through faith in Christ.  We will not ‘take possession of’ a fuller enjoyment of His salvation if we refuse to ‘destroy’ the obstacles to His blessing in our  lives.  Sin is like a ‘cancer’.  It will ‘kill’ us if we let it (Romans 6:23).  This is why we must fight it – with ‘the whole armour of God’ (Ephesians 6:10-17).  From beginning to end, our salvation is the work of God:  ‘…it is because the Lord loves you… that He has… redeemed you…’ (6-8).  The Lord’s love speaks of His keeping power.  He will complete the work He has begun (17-19; Philippians 1:6).  Saved and kept by the power of God, we travel from Christ’s Cross to our Crown (Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24-25; 5:4).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 1-3

ROMANS 1:1-32 -  ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? – A world of ‘ungodliness and wickedness’ (18-31). Many times, Paul could have given up in despair – ‘There is too much ungodliness and wickedness all around me. How can I go on?’ When you feel like giving up, when everything seems to be so difficult, remember Paul. Remember his longing to ‘impart some spiritual gift’, his desire to ‘reap some harvest’ his eagerness to ‘preach the gospel’ (12-15). Let us say, with Paul, ‘God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6:14). Let us be ‘set apart for the gospel of God’ (1). 2:1-29 -  None of us can ‘escape the judgment of God’. None of us can ‘presume upon the riches of His kindness’(3-4). We dare not come to God like the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Judges 4:1 - 6:10

Judges 4:1-5:11 Barak is an example of 'faith' (Hebrews 11:32-34). Faith involves believing God's promise - 'I will give...' and obeying His command - 'Go' (4:6-7). God still says, 'Go...I am with you always...' (Matthew 28:19-20). Barak needed Deborah's help (4:8-10). Both needed God's help - 'Our sufficiency comes from God' (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). In Deborah's song, we learn of the importance of giving all the glory to God: 'Bless the Lord...To the Lord I will sing, I will make melody to the Lord...Bless the Lord' (5:2-3,9). We are to repeat the triumphs of the Lord'. This is our high calling as 'the people of the Lord' (5:11). 'Awake, awake, Deborah'...Arise, Barak...' (5:12) - God is still calling His people to wake up, to rise up: 'Rise up O Church of God, awake!' ( Church Hymnary , 477; Mission Praise , 178). 5:12-6:10 'The people of the Lord marched down for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Numbers 16-18

Numbers 16:1-50   -   ‘You have gone too far!’: They regarded themselves as ‘holy’, yet they refused to go ‘too far’ with God (3)! What kind of ‘holiness’ is this? There is a ‘holiness’ which is more concerned with respectability than obedience to God. Faced with ‘the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’, we dare not say, ‘We will not come up’ (12; Philippians 3:14). We are to be ‘holy’: ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity’ (4; 2 Timothy 2:19). ‘Separate yourselves’ (20): This is not the false separation of the Pharisees - Spiritual ‘pride’ is ‘an abomination to the Lord’ (Proverbs 11:1-2). Maintain your high calling - Don’t get dragged down to the level of those who ‘will not come up’ to where God wants them to be - and remember: ‘By grace... not your own doing... the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). 17:1-18:32   -   The call comes from God - to Aaron, to Christ (17:5; Hebrews 5:4-6). Christ is both the Offering for sin ...
Post a Comment
Read more