Tuesday: Teshuvah
All through the book of Deuteronomy, a key theme appears: obey the Lord and be blessed, disobey and you will suffer the consequences. It’s no different in the New Testament. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” ( Galatians 6.7-8, NKJV).
Unfortunately, at least after the Fall, sin seems as easy and as natural as breathing. And despite all the warnings and promises — “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off” (Deuteronomy 30:11) — many of the people did precisely that: they fell into the sins that God had warned them about.
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
And yet, even then, God was willing to take them back if, using their free will, free choice, they repented and returned to Him.
Read again Deuteronomy 30:1-10. What is the Lord saying He will do for His people, despite all the wrong that they have done? What, though, was the condition upon which these wonderful promises rested?
The idea is simple and straightforward: if you mess up, terrible consequences will result for you and your family. That’s what sin does. However, even then, you can repent, and the Lord will take you back and bless you.
Numerous times the same Hebrew root word behind teshuvah appears in these verses. In Deuteronomy 30:2, the text says “and you return to the LORD your God” (NKJV, emphasis supplied); in Deuteronomy 30:8, though it is often translated, and correctly so, “you will again obey the voice of the LORD,” it could be translated literally, “And you return and obey the voice of the Lord.” Finally, in Deuteronomy 30:10, where it reads “and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” again the word “turn” is really “return.”
In other words, despite all that happened to them, despite their utter violation and breaking of the covenant, the Lord was not through with these people, and if they didn’t want Him to be through with them, they could manifest that desire by repentance.
| Though dealing with the nation as a whole, how do these texts, despite the different context from us today, still reflect the reality of how central true repentance is to us as believers who, at times, violate the covenant we have made with God, as well? |
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I wonder how many of our readers started their lives in the church, then questioned the whole faith/christianity thing, yet finally returned to Christianity from a new perspective. To a large extent, I have been through that cycle. I was fortunate enough to read C S Lewis's book, The Pilgrim's Regress, in my late teens and I recognised myself in the character, John.
John crew up in Puritania under a seemingly tyrannical landlord and longed for an island filled with freedom. He jouneys through lust and desire and meets many of the idolatries of his day (It was written in 1933, and if you are familiar with the period you will recognise many of the allusions in the story). Finally he comes to understand grace and essentially ends back where he started seeing things in a new light.
Although the book is somewhat dated now and the arguments are regarded as a bit immature (it was one of the first books Lewis wrote), it is remarkably similar to the journey of many of us. We see Christianity as oppressive and legalistic, and question why we should stick with a religion that seems to put its curse on everything that is fun and enjoyable. Unfortunately far too many people stop their spiritual journey right there, seeking to satisfy selfishness rather than searching for fulfilment. The modern world, with its emphasis on gratification and consumerism has much to offer the person who wants to abandon the journey.
For those of us who return to our spirituality the big difference is the understanding of grace. Not just the word, but the action as personified in the life of Jesus. It is the light that shines on the spirituality that was there all along and that we regarded as oppressive. John, the character in "The Pilgrim's Regress", returns to where he started, seeing everything in a new light.
This is the story of Deuteronomy and indeed the whole saga of the Hebrew nation. God wanted them to return, teshuvah, not just the same old thing, but in a new light, for their own good and the good of others.
Today's lesson states that:
The lesson then quotes Galatians 6:7,8 as the biblical unpacking of what is going on:
So let's unpack this verse a bit*.
Do not be deceived. Do you recall the very first instance of a human being deceived (Genesis 3:13)? Who provided the deception, what was that deception, and what was that deception designed to do? Keep in mind the greater deception is not necessarily the words that are said - but the subtle insinuation that creeps in 'under cover' of the 'smokescreen' of the actual words being said. You do your own investigation, but I would propose the core deception The Serpent was insinuating was that, while God had said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16,17), rather than the death being an inherent consequence to their actions, it would instead come about as a result of an artificially imposed action by a self-seeking God.
Was The Serpent mocking God by this suggestion? If so, how? I would propose that The Serpent was mocking God by misportraying (ie, blaspheming) God as one who is self-seeking and therefore the arbitrary imposer of consequences to those who don't play by His also arbitrarily made-up and imposed 'rules'**.
Against this deceptive mocking, Galatians 6:7 outlines the truth of how true reality actually operates: we reap what we sow - meaning there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:8 then illustrates in detail how this functionally operates: if we sew to the flesh (which from wider scripture we know is representative of both self-seeking and lawlessness), we will reap corruption from the flesh (ie, we will self-destruct because the inherent nature of self-seeking and lawlessness is self-destruction/non-viability - ie, corruption). To further reinforce this, the verse goes on to contrast where the source of life comes from - The Spirit, and therefore from being in harmony with The Spirit (Galatians 5:16,17).
Thus, we have a key theme running through Deuteronomy that continues more widely and more fully 'unveiled' into the New Testament: God is not the one who will destroy you - self-seeking and lawlessness will (see also John 10:10; 2 Peter 3:9 as similar summary verses). This is in direct contrast to the Great Controversy deception unleashed by The Serpent at the commencement of human history that was designed to mock/blaspheme God.
God is actually trying to do nothing other than save you from self-seeking and lawlessness that will otherwise destroy you - which is why His compassion-based grace is so abundant and freely, rather than reluctantly, offered (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9). However, you need to be authentic about accepting and embracing God's grace and about undertaking a 're-turn' to live in harmony with the Spirit rather than the flesh because that is how reality operates - not because God requires that you do things His way or else.
What do you think?
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* I am mindful of the caution of building a doctrine on a single verse. However, there are verses in scripture that are succinct summaries of wider doctrine. I find Galatians 6:7,8; John 10:10 and 2 Peter 3:9 to be examples of such.
** The difference between a true 'law' and a rule is as Galatians 6:7,8 states: a true 'law' is an inherent cause-and-effect reality. In contrast, a rule does not have this inherent nature - it is made up and therefore must be enforced arbitrarily by imposing punishment.
Thank you so much for this. It's a continued great reminder, that God's ways are the only eternal prospering ways. Selfishness just dies out. And God is trying to help us realize that what we truly want and long for is the eternal. Him.
The Apostle Paul also gave us Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This to me is "The Gospel in one verse." Our focus should be Jesus and Jesus only for attaining to eternal life. EGW put it very plainly too: Justification is our "Title to heaven," and sanctification is our "Fitness for heaven." So our focus should never be "our fitness for heaven." Our focus should always and only be "Our title to heaven." Our fitness for heaven can never take the place of our fitness for it. And our fitness for it can never be attained by focusing on our fitness to it at all.
I believe God's word teaches us to examine ourself, are we allowing ourselves to be sanctified by Jesus(through the Holy Spirit) living out His life within me/us.
5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1 Corinthians 11:28 KJV
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 KJV
In the parable of the wedding feast, there were both "good and bad" there, Matthew 22:10. But only one was cast out, the one not wearing the "wedding garment,"verse 13. The wedding garment represents Jesus' Righteousness by faith and it has nothing to do with being "good or bad" but just simply that we claim Jesus' own righteousness in place of ours by faith even though ours is way less than His for righteousness in comparison.
This is what the apostle Paul means when he says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take thought beforehand for the lusts of the flesh.” (Rom 13:14.) Instead of spending our lives to wear designer clothes, to drive a status symbol and to live in a McMansion, we sell out to Jesus, body, soul and mind. We “wear” him and become so fully identified with him (that is, being in him) that when people hear us speak and see what we do, they cannot help but think of him. That is life well spent—it’s all about Jesus.
Does not being 'obedient' come down to how seriously one takes the Word, or how much one reveres, loves the Creator God? In addition, if one does not wholeheartedly believe the Word, can one really be obedient from the heart?
From one person to another - if one does not love or respect a person, is one still 'moved' by how this person reacts to one's disinterest? Do we fall into 'sin' because we do not consider our Maker and His Word seriously enough?
God's Door is always open for the sinner that follows the invitation to step over the threshold of God's kingdom by faith. God has a standing invitation for all who can hear His Voice persuading them to come home. All who come home are provided a seat at the family table.
Whether one comes early or late, whether one is rich or poor, still troubled or at peace, people of all races leave behind their peculiar creeds and persuasions - because all are equally persuaded by the same Spirit of Truth and Light, expressed by the Spirit of the Voice who calls them.
Now as it was then, hope and Faith need to be present in the heart when it responds to the voice inviting them to come and follow the Way the Creator has laid out for His children to walk in.
All are called, but not all are able or willing to hear; mi-yitten - teshuvah - return to me, your Creator God, for your Salvation - James 4:10KJV.
Hi Brigitte
Thank you in particular for this contribution. You beautifully reflected both the reality and feel of God's Salvation - including both (a) the existence and offering of God's "standing invitation" and (b) the accompanying reality-based necessity of our embracing and putting to effect that invitation by wholeheartedly believing and committing to do what is necessary on our part ('obeying'). It is so true that all are called - but sadly not all are willing to respond:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!" (Luke 13:34).
Phil - my prayer is that God may become real to us! He is the Life in us and for us; more real and closer than we can ever be to 'ourselves'.
God in you touched my heart - His blessings to you, your ministry, and your loved ones.
Am blessed beyond words and therefore constrained to love the lord my God.The measure of influence of what you are doing here will only be revealed at the judgement seat of christ.God bless you all you are amazing.
Am so humbled by the promise of God that as long as I repent of my sins, the Lord God will take me back and will bless me in abundance.
As I chose to return to the Lord so I will be blessed
However, in Matthew 22:10 "...Both good and bad," does not mean that some of those guests in the wedding feast were actually "good," because they were all wearing "the wedding garment" except for the one that was cast out. I believe that Jesus here meant that some who accept Him by faith go all their lives serving Him and actually appear to others as if they are actually very good and do serve Jesus in His vineyard quite well; then there are those who also accept Jesus' Righteousness by faith but they just seem to always come across to others as being troublemakers that just do not get along very well with others and therefore others see them as being bad and even wonder whether these will ever be saved at all. And yet they will be found in Jesus' Eternal Kingdom too but those so called "good" will only be there the same as those seeming "bad" ones will be also, "only because of Jesus Wedding Garment---His very own Righteousness (by faith)."