Deuteronomy 16-19
From today’s reading, I want focus on two statements; “You must purge the evil from you,” “You must be blameless before the Lord your God.” First, I want to make clear the difference in our covenant under Christ and the old covenant; we are declared righteous and blameless because of the covering of Christ. Therefore, we are not trying to attain righteousness. However, there are some churchy words here that must be explained. Being declared righteous and blameless before God means that we are what theologians call justified or justification. Once we have had our sins atoned for by the death of Christ (the process of justification), we enter the process of sanctification. Simple stated, sanctification is living out what heaven already says that I am; blameless. The New Testament says that we are to live lives worthy of Christ. We bear His name and He has exchanged our unrighteousness, our guilt, for His righteousness. My life is to reflect that standing. While we do not live under the law, our purpose is the same as theirs. We are to live a blameless life by purging what is evil from our lives. There are always debates among Christians about what is acceptable and not acceptable, what is old covenant and what applies to us. There is a huge problem with our understanding of our call as a child of God if we are merely concerned with figuring out how much we can get away with as a Christian. How close to the line can I get? We saw in last week’s reading that God’s desire is our love. Let’s look at today’s reading from this perspective: think about a husband and wife. What is the greatest sign of a husband and wife’s love for one another? Their commitment and faithfulness to each other, right? A man cannot say that he loves his wife if he is not faithful to her. If he or she is trying to get away with as much as they can outside the relationship, but still hold on to the relationship, can it be called love? Absolutely not. Jesus said that those who love Him are those who obey Him. Our love for God is evident by the life we live. Just as a spouse cannot claim love if he or she is unfaithful, we cannot claim love for God if we are unfaithful to Him. Furthermore, His being adamant regarding the purging of sin is because He knows us. He gets our humanity. He’s realistic. There is no question that if we are surrounded by temptation and sin, we will be unfaithful to Him. We must stay away from what will cause us to stray. Would you want your spouse hanging around another woman and accept him saying, “oh, nothing will happen”? Good grief, no. What was missed by the Israelites and what we miss when we ask the questions, “What can I get away with in my life but still be ok with God?” is the heart of the law, the heart of our relationship with Him, the truth about our love for Him. If we are coming up with arguments to justify our actions, we do not love God and we are taking advantage of His grace. Our life is to honor Him. Out of my love for Him, I will rid myself of anything that is not worthy of His love and I will stay away from anything that will cause me to be unfaithful to Him. We must start asking the right questions in order to have the right relationship.
From today’s reading, I want focus on two statements; “You must purge the evil from you,” “You must be blameless before the Lord your God.” First, I want to make clear the difference in our covenant under Christ and the old covenant; we are declared righteous and blameless because of the covering of Christ. Therefore, we are not trying to attain righteousness. However, there are some churchy words here that must be explained. Being declared righteous and blameless before God means that we are what theologians call justified or justification. Once we have had our sins atoned for by the death of Christ (the process of justification), we enter the process of sanctification. Simple stated, sanctification is living out what heaven already says that I am; blameless. The New Testament says that we are to live lives worthy of Christ. We bear His name and He has exchanged our unrighteousness, our guilt, for His righteousness. My life is to reflect that standing. While we do not live under the law, our purpose is the same as theirs. We are to live a blameless life by purging what is evil from our lives. There are always debates among Christians about what is acceptable and not acceptable, what is old covenant and what applies to us. There is a huge problem with our understanding of our call as a child of God if we are merely concerned with figuring out how much we can get away with as a Christian. How close to the line can I get? We saw in last week’s reading that God’s desire is our love. Let’s look at today’s reading from this perspective: think about a husband and wife. What is the greatest sign of a husband and wife’s love for one another? Their commitment and faithfulness to each other, right? A man cannot say that he loves his wife if he is not faithful to her. If he or she is trying to get away with as much as they can outside the relationship, but still hold on to the relationship, can it be called love? Absolutely not. Jesus said that those who love Him are those who obey Him. Our love for God is evident by the life we live. Just as a spouse cannot claim love if he or she is unfaithful, we cannot claim love for God if we are unfaithful to Him. Furthermore, His being adamant regarding the purging of sin is because He knows us. He gets our humanity. He’s realistic. There is no question that if we are surrounded by temptation and sin, we will be unfaithful to Him. We must stay away from what will cause us to stray. Would you want your spouse hanging around another woman and accept him saying, “oh, nothing will happen”? Good grief, no. What was missed by the Israelites and what we miss when we ask the questions, “What can I get away with in my life but still be ok with God?” is the heart of the law, the heart of our relationship with Him, the truth about our love for Him. If we are coming up with arguments to justify our actions, we do not love God and we are taking advantage of His grace. Our life is to honor Him. Out of my love for Him, I will rid myself of anything that is not worthy of His love and I will stay away from anything that will cause me to be unfaithful to Him. We must start asking the right questions in order to have the right relationship.
No comments:
Post a Comment