Monday: Law in Deuteronomy
The Hebrew nation on the borders of Canaan, God’s chosen people, are finally about to inherit the land that God had promised them. And, as we have seen, Deuteronomy is Moses’ final instructions to the Hebrews before they take the land. And among those instructions were the commands to obey.
Read the following texts. What point is expressed over and over and over again, and why is this point so important for the people? (Deuteronomy 4:44, Deuteronomy 17:19, Deuteronomy 28:58, Deuteronomy 30:10, Deuteronomy 31:12, Deuteronomy 32:46, Deuteronomy 33:2).
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Even the most cursory reading of the book of Deuteronomy shows how crucial obedience to the law was for the nation of Israel. In a real sense, it was the people’s covenant obligation. God had done so much for them and would continue to do so much for them — things that they couldn’t do for themselves and that they did not deserve to begin with (which is what grace is, God giving us what we don’t deserve). And what He asked in response was, well, obedience to His law.
It’s no different now. God’s grace saves us, apart from the works of the law — “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28) — and our response is obedience to the law. We obey the law, though, not in a vain attempt to be saved by it — “therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20) — but as the result of the salvation that we so graciously have been given. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
Deuteronomy could be seen as one big object lesson in grace and law. By grace God redeems us, doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves (any more than Israel could have escaped from Egypt by themselves), and in response we live, by faith, a life of obedience to Him and to His law. From the fall of Adam onward, up to those who live through the time of trouble and the mark of the beast, a people depicted as those who “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12) — God’s relationship with His covenant people is one of law and grace. God’s grace forgives us for having violated His law, and God’s grace enables us to obey His law as well, an obedience that arises from our covenant relationship with Him.
| How can we avoid the trap of not becoming legalistic as we obey the law? |
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Today's lesson ends with the question:
In order to answer this question, there is another question that perhaps needs to be answered first because how we answer this first question will impact the answer we see for the question above.
So, while it is true that, as the lesson states, "by grace God redeems us, doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves (any more than Israel could have escaped from Egypt by themselves), and in response we live, by faith," what is the primary reason why we then live "a life of obedience to Him and to His law"?
I look forward your responses to this question...
If we reduce the author's complex sentence to its simplest form, we get, "We obey the law... as the result of the salvation that we so graciously have been given. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15)."
And " God’s grace enables us to obey His law as well, an obedience that arises from our covenant relationship with Him."
That's not bad at all: Our obedience to God's commandments is a response of gratitude and love. It arises "from our covenant relationship" in which God promises to save us if we trust Him. We trust Him to ask us to do only that which is in our best interest and thus choose to obey even when sometimes it *feels* as though another way would suit us better.
The author didn't write a treatise on salvation, or he might have mentioned that this obedience is the natural outgrowth of a new heart that God graciously gives us.
Personally, I came to the conclusion decades ago that, besides what I already mentioned, the reason to do just as God says is to ensure that we do not misrepresent His character of love because He relies on us, who call ourselves Christ followers, to demonstrate His character to the world
Our obedience to God and His law is a sign that we accept His love for us and His forgiveness to us
Hi Phil,
I believe it is love and compassion.
Simple is that.For when there is love no place for legalism.
Phil, I place my focus on the depth of ones awareness of the law! Awareness of the law needs to be coupled with love of the Law Giver and the method of execution/delivery: walking His path of righteousness - one's awareness - by faith.
We cannot judge the depth of the awareness by the progress the believer makes as he/she walks along life's path. We are called to abstain from judging, because we do not know the 'Will of God' which works differently in each person's life.
It is God who forms/molds the faith of the individual believer as He sees it needful according to His will.
Some need to encounter challenges to strengthen their faith, others have the experience of being used as a tool to fulfill the Will of God.
We cannot allow our awareness/understanding to become the standard which establishes our fellow man's 'obedience' as he/she observes the tenets of God's Law - Prov.16:1-7KJV.
More often than any other reason, in direct and implied statements, the NT gives for living a life of obedience is so that 1. others will be attracted to the gospel, 2. the public will not scoff or ridicule the church and its beliefs.
Neither of these have anything to do with the salvation of the person. For NT believers, that is already a settled question.
Phil, my answer is that it goes back to why we keep the law - our motivation. If we keep the law out of a sense of obligation, that is legalism. But if we keep the law of love because we have the love of God in our hearts that we long to share, we will not easily become legalistic. I also appreciate how Inge expressed it.
I have been party to a number of very earnest discussions about Sabbath-keeping over the years. It can get quite a touchy subject, so I am not going to bring the issues up here. One of the problems we face is that we like to think we own the Sabbath and it is our responsibility to defend it to the hilt. "Seventh-day" is part of our name and is one of the things that differentiates us from other Christians. Our identity is very closely tied to Sabbath-keeping. I am not denying the importance of the Sabbath, but I wonder if we perhaps we should adopt a less parochial view. It is not ours. Rather, God has given it to us to share. The more we defend it, the more we appear as legalistic, but when we share something good we break the argument cycle and share an experience. Hopefully, our shared Sabbath is something we can share, even with our unbelieving friends.
The law (in the Torah) became the Magna Carta of the Hebrew nation. It was something to be shared, not hoarded. The Hebrews treated the Torah as their sacred object. It was the key object later in Synagogues. But, it wasn't the object that was important. It was the ideas. You can put an object in a box and bring it out on special occasions, or, you can understand the ideas it contains and share them with others.
Much food for thought. Thanks, Maurice! The best way to present the Sabbath to the world is to share it as something good that we experience weekly, a gift of a weekly mini-vacation during which we enjoy our Creator's handiwork and the company of family and fellow believers.
When my husband worked as a supervisor on a large hotel complex in Aspen, Colorado, the project fell behind schedule and the company instituted a seven-day work week. When my husband came back to work on Sunday mornings, refreshed and happy, the workers professed to be jealous, wishing they had such a day off every week. It provided plenty of opportunity to share the Sabbath as something good.
(As a side note, the company decision was not cost effective because studies have shown that worker efficiency and safety goes down as the work week is expanded to eliminate a rest day.)
Yes, Brother,
In fact, it is so because many SDA members are not well trained for the only thing they own is the sabbath just like the Israelites thinking about their sacred object.
And they forgot compassion and love.
And sharing the sabbath with non-believers.
I love, worship and serve the LORD because of who He is - His Character. His Will is expressed in His Principles of Life. If I surrender my will to Him He will inscribe His Principles of Life in my heart - He will change My Character to be like His.
Deut 6:5-6; Deut 11:18; Rom 8:29; Rom 12:1-2
Berean Study Bible
The Song of Moses
(Revelation 15:1–4)
Deut 32:1-4
1Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2Let my teaching fall like rain
and my speech settle like dew,
like gentle rain on new grass,
like showers on tender plants.
3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
all His ways are just.
A God of faithfulness without injustice,
righteous and upright is He.
Anyone with an idea about the previous lesson which consists of Toroni Tripura from Bangladesh as it's mission story? & May I have the title of the lesson about the poor which contains the theming messages from Prophet Isaiah where God was pleading through Isiah on behalf of the poor? My apologies if I happened to confirm on the wrong platform.
Tendai try these links, I trust they will help you.
Bangladesh
Least of these
Thank you Shirley De Beers
The simple 10 commandment are not grievous.Now when you add something new to the simple 10 then they become legalistic. We have examples in the Bible Luke 6:1-11.The best we as human being can do is LOVE ONE ANOTHER...
I agree with Maurice to be careful and not making 'Sabbath' something to be taken out of its box to be venerated on the 7th day of the week. I suggest to include the 'law' in this context as well.
When getting to know the denomination's tenets, I noticed the leaning toward 'formality'; strictly delineating 'right and wrong' causing uneasiness with 'spontaneity'. I hope to protect 'Sabbath and Law' from becoming objects of 'veneration' by living joyfully that which I believe.
Reading from Shirley's quote of Deut.32:2 - "Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants." I consider this to be the 'working-model' of the believer of the New Testament's Covenant - living the Covenant's 'law' like gentle rain falling on new, tender grass.
Regarding teaching the 'Faith of Christ - the Gospel' to a new Christian - I think 'Heavy-handedness' when introducing/teaching 'Law and Sabbath' will cause damage to the tender sprouts of 'love of God and faith in His Son's teachings', depressing the growth of love and faith for them and moving it toward 'obedience rooted in guilt'.
The Ten Commandments represent a clarifying interpretation of the two Great Commandments, To love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind, and to Love your neighbor as yourself. The Sabbath command was the only one given at the end of creation (in the beginning) and the remainder, for clarification so we would not misinterpret the two Great Commandments, we’re not given for another 2000 years.
I have come to a place in my theological understanding that, as Christ said, it is the two Great Commandments that matter, loving/ respecting God and treating our fellow man with kindness and compassion, that are more important than the rules. I know and have known many people (Christian or otherwise) that demonstrate by their action that they are, “people of a certain sort” (CS Lewis- Mere Christianity). Their theology or the day they worship on may be off but they do the right thing and love their God.
An awakening of the Sabbath Seal is coming as is being seen among some Evangelical Pastors. God will bring conviction of truth to His chosen in His time. Many of these will not be of the present Sabbath keeping tribe. In the meantime, if the Sabbath keeping tribe remain faithful to their revelation and more importantly, demonstrate in action their respect (fear) of God by showing compassion to their fellow man, His Spirit will do the rest, for He is able.
I have no need for legalism.I trust Jesus with all my being. With me, it's a believe and trust relationship. With Jesus it's all about love. I say proudly:I have decided to make Jesus my choice!
Thank you so much God’s people am really learning a lot from you people May the living God bless you all