Thursday: If…
Look up the following verses. What is the one point they have in common, and what does it teach about the nature of the covenant?
Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com
God openly acknowledges Abraham’s faithful obedience to “my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5). It is implied that God expected such a lifestyle from His human partner in the covenant. The full statement of the biblical covenant at Sinai makes it abundantly evident that conditions of obedience are one of the basic aspects of the covenant.
Exodus 19:5 made it clear, “if ye will obey … ” The conditional aspect of the covenant is undeniable; though bestowed by grace, though unearned, though a gift to them, the covenant promises were not unconditional. The people could reject the gift, deny the grace, and turn away from the promises. The covenant, as with salvation, never negates free will. The Lord does not force people into a saving relationship with Him; He doesn’t impose a covenant upon them. He freely offers it to everyone; everyone is invited to accept it. When he or she does, obligations follow, not as a means of earning the covenant blessing but as an outward manifestation of having received the covenant blessings. Israel should obey, not in order to earn the promises but that the promises could be fulfilled in her. Her obedience was an expression of what it is like to be blessed by the Lord. Obedience does not earn the blessings, in that God is obligated to bring them; obedience, instead, creates an environment where the blessing of faith can be made manifest.
| “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:33). Is the Lord saying here to Israel that if they obey they will earn these blessings, that these blessings are what the people are owed? Or is He saying: If you obey, these blessings can result because obedience opens the way for Me to be able to bring the blessings upon you? What is the difference between the two ideas? |
(32)
We struggle with the Grace/Law thing to the extent that many lose their Christian experience over it. Part of the problem is extremism where we often focus on extreme positions rather than the big picture.
In statistics, if we collect a set of data we often get what we call outliers. These are bits of data that are outside the normal set of data. Typically we note there are outliers but don't let them distract from what we are really trying to measure.
In the grace/faith/law discussion we need to identify the outliers and ensure that they do not turn our attention away from "big picture" salvation.
There are two outliers in this grace/law issue that we need to understand:
Outlier 1: We are saved by grace and it does not matter what we do because deeds don't save us. The extreme example of this is the "once saved, always saved doctrine". Mostly this outlier is used as the rationale for not keeping the Sabbath and/or consuming food and drink that are not all that good for you.
Outlier 2: We become so consumed by the persuit of perfection that is obliterates the big picture of grace. I remember one dear church member telling me that they had overcome all sins except the sin of eating icecream. I was going to be cheeky and asked him if he was proud of achieving so much, but I thought better of it. I did mentioned that maybe God didn't really care whether he ate icecream or not, there were more important things to consider.
Both extremes have a basis in truth but that truth is distorted by human perceptions.
The big picture is that grace produces growth and fruit. It provides the basis for interacting with one another.
Finally grace provides forgiveness.
All of us make mistakes and thankfully Jesus is willing to forgive us.
In my trip to Sydney the other day, I had to turn right at a big intersection controlled by traffic lights. I entered the intersection but suddenly the cars turning in front of me stopped - there was another set of red lights 30 metres on and the lanes were full of cars. Then the unthinkable happened, my lights turned red and I was stuck in the middle of the intersection. I had broken the law - don't enter the intersection if you cannot leave it before the lights change. Fortunately for me, the cars who now had a green light saw my predicament and waved me though. They forgave me for breaking the law and let me go on my way.
Jesus sees our mistakes, forgives us, and waves us through. Forgiveness is not a licence to do what you like but like grace is freely given to the pentitent person.
Brother Maurice...well said....Seventh-Day Adventist do struggle with accepting Salvation by Grace thru Faith. Period. The struggle is not unique to Seventh-Day Adventists. In my experience of studying with other denominations and listening to preaching and teaching of other denominations and even non-denominational preachers and teachers, the tension about obedience and the role of man in Salvation is constant.
I believe that my LORD Jesus Christ forgives me for my sins and promises me Eternal Life in The New Earth when I repent and Believe in Him. It is my response to His call thru The Holy Spirit that determines my Salvation. I am called to be His Disciple and to evangelize my family, my community, my nation and the world as He provides the means and the opportunity.
Thank you for your commentary to the Sabbath School lessons. Your commentary provokes thought and meditation which helps me in developing my relationship with The LORD Jesus Christ and in developing my Discipleship.
How nice to get this lines...these blessings can result because obedience opens the way for Me to be able to bring the blessings upon you.
Blessings only comes from above. The word "if" God implies no hard command ,nor compulsary requirements to His people to strictly follow His will. There's a freedom of choice for the Israelites, whether to keep or to follow their own steps. If the Israelites go for God's command they will experience blessings from God. And not only blessings, but a good relationship between God and man will be established. How wonderful this freedom of choice that we have. That was a long long time ago, from the early ages of creation God put an "if" , and until now in our stage, as we claim christians, " if you continue in My Word you are truly my disciples ". So it's up to us also, if we follow his words, He will remain in our sides, we will be in safe,secure,comfort zone. No protocol of at least one meter distancing, using facemask, always washing hands, getting disinfectant solutions, but with God's word , we are in God's side, can breath freely with his words,washed our sins, getting blessings as our disinfectant. But if we don't follow/continue God's word... a curse sequence will come.
I pray always to the Lord, help me in my journey in this world, so I can reach heaven at the end where Jesus will welcome me, with my love ones, friends, and you who are reading this. All of us, I pray for.
Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any things that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:5
If
If, only if, then, only then. There are so many conditional promises in the bible. Many like Saul, were/are disobedient to the holy words yet want to hold on to the results of the blessings. Like Esau, the birthright was conditional if he obey the Lord and do what was right. He by choice, choose to do what was wrong. The blessings went to his brother but not how it was supposed to be done by deceitfulness. The Lord worked for Jacob in a positive way but he still had to reap the consequences of his bad behavior.
What about us? I like this in my own life although I am not perfect.. 'Obedience does not earn the blessings, in that God is obligated to bring them; obedience, instead, creates an environment where the blessing of faith can be made manifest.'
Or as the Psalmist wrote:
"Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly."
Psalm 119:4-8
God created man to bless him and provide for all his needs. God cannot bless any who rebel against Him, for they are refusing His Sovereignty. If God blessed a rebel, He would appear to justify their rebellion.
Robert, Romans 2:4 says God’s goodness leads us to repentance. Doesn’t that sound like God is being merciful to all? Doesn’t Jesus say in Matthew 5:45 that God sends rain and sunshine on the wicked as well as the good? Doesn’t Genesis 12:3 say all families will be blessed? It is God’s blessings to me when am in the wrong that make me love Him and choose to turn away from sin.
I agree with all you wrote William, but I am answering the question above, and how it regards the blessings and cursings God gave through Moses. Many blessings from God are withheld due to unbelief and disobedience, yet God remains "merciful, gracious, longsuffering...", until probation closes and those who rejected His grace must be given the "reward" for their works(Rev 22:12). In the end, everyone will get the desire of their heart.
What if God had brought that first generation to the promised land while they were in constant rebellion against Him? Instead all but two were buried in the wilderness after 40 years of wandering. This was not God's plan, but rather, the results of their unbelief. God could not perpetuate or bless their rebellion in any way without endangering His plans for them and the whole world. They were out of Egypt, but were still in bondage through unbelief.
The question for you, Robert, is "How is rebellion cured?"
Is it cured by exhortations to obey? Is that what Jesus did?
Inge, "Jesus" is the author of Lev 26, and Deut 28. He also is the author of the Beatitudes. Do you see the connection? The exhortations to obey always follow the law, as a warning against unbelief. The question(s) above, which I was addressing, is specific isn't it? Not every answer requires as exhaustive explanation of the entire plan of Salvation does it?
I believe I have answered your question many times on this website. If needing it again, Eph 2:8 is a good place to start, along with John 3:16. Notice the common thought in those two passages?
I should point out that the Bible is filled with exhortations to obey, beginning in Gen 2:17. What does this mean?
No, Robert, you did not answer the question I asked now or before. I asked "How is rebellion cured? Is it cured by exhortations to obey? Is that what Jesus did?"
I believe we don't have to look very far in real life to see that exhortations to obey do not generally work. People don't care a bit about what you say until they see how much you care about them.
To cure the rebellion of this planet, God became one of us and showed how much He cares. Jesus referred to this in His talk with Nicodemus when He said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32) He was referring to His ultimate sacrifice in our behalf, saying that this would draw all unto Him. As one is drawn to see Jesus lifted up on the cross, he sees that it is sin which scourged and crucified the Lord of glory. He sees that, while he has been loved with unspeakable tenderness, he has forsaken his best Friend and abused heaven’s most precious gift. That is what changes the heart of rebels.
Yes, God had to give very specific instructions to a nation newly formed from a group of slaves. But He did not exhort them to obey until He had worked great miracles to deliver them and demonstrate His love for them. And then He Himself came to this planet in human form to fulfill man's end of the covenant, to "fulfill all righteousness" on the very points where Adam failed. He promised to write His law of love in human hearts so that there would be no need to instruct each other.
I'm glad you mentioned the Sermon on the Mount - the charter of Christ's Kingdom. Notice how Christ started out with a series of blessings, "Blessed are those who ... " In His Kingdom the only power exercised is the compulsive power of love.
While the Bible has both exhortations to obey as well as promises of blessings, a posting pattern that focuses on proof texts of obedience with the implied threat of eternal loss for those who do not obey, sounds very much like salvation by works, whether or not the poster openly embraces such a view.
May I also suggest that the Bible was never intended as a reference book of law texts with which to exhort our neighbors. I believe it is a serious misuse of the Bible to treat it as such. Rather the Bible is a story book. It tells the story of God's love for His lost children. Pleas to obey are interspersed in the story to guide His beloved children in the "paths of righteousness" where true happiness is found.
Our salvation rests in Christ alone. He gives both the motive and the power to obey.
Of course I answered it Inge, "by grace through faith". There is no other "cure" for rebellion. God's grace includes giving us His "every word" which man is to live by, which is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work".
In this word we learn of Christ, His love, sacrifice, life and teachings. How many times does He exhort sinners to "go and sin no more", or to "follow Me", or instruct the sinner to "deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me"? At the same time He treated every sinner with reverence(as Ellen has stated it), compassion, courtesy, and when needed, with warnings or stern rebuke as He left no means unused if there was a chance it would help the stubborn heart to repent of sin.
Jesus' methods are worthy of imitation, but only if we have imitated His love for our Father, and every soul created in His image.
I like your analogy of how God led Israel, and notice how when He first came to deliver them, Pharaoh's pride and rejection of God's request caused Israel's captivity to be even more bitter, which only served to make their deliverance sweeter. God did all He could have done, as He does for each of us.
If we can learn anything, it is the need for the Holy Spirit, so that whatever will be the best means to help lead a sinner to receive Jesus, that is the means we will employ. No "one size fits all" in saving souls. Compare the method used with Saul/Paul vs the woman in John 8:1-11. At first glance they seem almost opposite, yet the whole process was nearly the same, as with bringing Israel out of Egypt.
Keep in mind what Jesus has commanded all gospel workers: "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you". So this is part of the cure for rebellion, as Jesus has instructed. I agree, it cannot stand alone, and I agree with your point.
I think you are both correct but maybe talking past one another. Sin and rebellion are two different things. Sin can be forgiven although it sometimes brings human consequences but rebellion is a rejection of God and His ways/laws and leads to death.
The lesson writer states: ‘Israel should obey, not in order to earn the promises but that the promises could be fulfilled in her. I came to the same conclusion as we studied the covenant relationhip between God and man and found that the words ‘when’ and ‘as’ could be used instead of the word ‘if’.
For example: Exodus 19:5 could be read – “when you obey …” or “as you obey …”; blessings will become evident when/as we obey. The conditional word 'If' finds its proper place at the beginning-point of our walk by faith - if we believe, then ...!
It would be nice if someone could look into the translation of the old Writings to find out whether the word ‘if’ is the right word to express the proper meaning of this conditional aspect of living with/in God’s Covenant.
I do not think this to be merely a matter of semantics. My reasoning is: - As the believer lives according to the Will of God by faith, this lived faith manifests the works of the Spirit of God. Eph.2:8-10KJV states clearly that the ‘babe in Christ’, the believer's new nature, is: “…His workmanship, created IN Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (prepared) that we ‘should(will) walk in them”, engaging in them because they are of/in/by the Spirit of God; they are/express His Will.
My understanding of this passage is that, in means that it is HIS Spirit working in us, using the through our faith willing heart, mind, and body, to do the by God's spirit prepared/inspired “good works” through us.
I understand *if/when/as* is not the action of the old ‘I’ which sets out to improve the life of the old nature, it is the Spirit of Christ in us through FAITH which guides the members of our body to work out salvation, our new nature, in us.
In my opinion, by exchanging the mind’s *if I* aspect with *when I* or *as I*, we immerse ourself wholly in God’s active exchange of faith-based promises fulfilled through living, active faith; His blessings, our new nature - our salvation - becomes manifest.
The thief on the cross, confessing his believe that Christ is the Son of God, did not have occasion to demonstrate his believe by obeying the commandments of the Covenant, but Christ, upon hearing his statement of faith, promised him that he will be with Him in Paradise – Luke23:43KJV.
God interacts with the believer's heart and mind through faith as he lives the Will of God in the circumstances of his life.
Thanks, Brigitte. I believe you are "right on." It reminds me of how the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda was healed, as I mentioned in another comment. He was healed as he set his will to do what Jesus said. Obedience was not a prerequisite of his healing.
I have sometimes wondered just what you mean by "faith." Here's how I understand it: Faith in God is complete trust in Him and His power to save. Genuine faith is exhibited by obedience. (If we really trust God, we will not act contrary of what we know His will to be.)
Inge – I appreciate your response and hope to clarify my comments with this reply.
As you understand faith: – ‘He trusted Jesus, as he set his will to obey, ... . I think his healing was a miracle performed by Jesus in response to this man's faith-based understanding that Christ came to heal the sick; Jesus affirmed his understanding by demonstrating His power to heal; heaven was involved here in a big way!
Yes, “Faith in God is complete trust in Him and His power to save”, and yes, ‘we desire to not act contrary of what we know His will to be.’
I propose to step even further away from any involvement, i.e. 'trust', and accept 'naked/unqualified faith' to be the means of heaven's communication with man. Christ referred to this Faith as ‘the faith of a child’, ‘untainted/unqualified’ by experience or duty, strengthened through the Father's commitment to His unrelenting, loving righteousness.
A while ago, Maurice used an analogy of ‘energy flowing through a conduit’ to explain faith. This analogy prompted me to look at faith in a new light. I have come to understand that 'faith-based communication' between God and man exists at all times and is independent of anything man does.
Faith has a ‘constant spiritual presence’ in the universe, available to all. Those who choose to engage with God through spiritual faith, who believe, wanting to know the Will of the Creator of all life, are now/live now in this spiritual channel/conduit of faith; they have ‘tu(r)ned their life into the channel of faith’, so to speak.
Not 'being', finding one's existence, in this chanel of faith, one cannot learn anything about the Creator or oneself. In/by/through this channel of Faith, heaven is in open communication by blessings or corrections, specific in one instant, and non-specific in others, but always to promote the Will of God to become manifest on earth and in the heart and mind of the faithful believer.
So, using Maurice’s analogy, I describe faith as the means of God's spirit-influence flowing through the conduit we call the Will of God; it is creatively active at all times and flows in both directions.
Hi Brigitte. You have an interesting perception of faith and faith-based communication. It almost sounds like the old "ether" postulate for the transmission of electromagnetic radiation.
I agree that God is trying to communicate with man but the choking point in the communication is often us. In communication theory, you will hear of the notion of transmitters/receivers/actions. Essentially the idea is that you can transmit all you like but if the receiver is not working you will not get any action to take place. The faith/action bit takes place at the receiver end. We need to learn to receive and grow our faith.
Paul puts it this way:
In fact Rom 10 I really about the communication difficulties God has had with Israel - something we could learn from.
Hello Maurice – yes, the ‘choking point’ is doubt and outright unbelieve on man’s side of the Faith-communication-channel. This is why it is sooo important to promote God’s Way of Truth and Light in the context of applied Faith; not applying faith in response to hearing God’s Word, the heart and mind remain unchanged.
Pure Faith is the absence of all doubt; Christ’s Faith is that example. By faith, the believer sets aside his 'own' mind’s preferences when following the *path of faith*; living godly faith forms in him the new nature, a new mind and heart.
The mystery of heaven’s life-re-creating/sustaining, spiritual faith is that it becomes evident as it is applied. One could say that in this context we are ‘co-creator’s’ with our Creator Father; we see this manifest in Christ’s healing ministry and our personal life. We may initiate by faith that which the Father supplies according to his Will and Purpose.
I do not want to sound too metaphysical, though the same concept of manifestation applies when doubt or rebellion to the Will of God is expressed; though there is Grace as God knows the heart of man!
Faith guides the Holy Spirit’s hands. He knows the deep groanings of our spirit and will supply what we do not know to asked for – Rom.8:26-37KJV.
Yes, within himself, man cannot know that heaven communicates with man through faith; it needed to be revealed to us!
I do not know anything about the “ether” postulate, but will see if I can find out about it. 🙂