Ever since I realized (through the teaching of others) that holiness is the primary goal of the Christian, I see it everywhere I read.
For instance, today’s reading although long is really relaying one key thought. “you will be blessed if you obey, and you will be punished if you disobey”. I don’t know how much clearer it could be, really.
The discussion about “cleansing the land of idols” and “stoning those who suggest following other gods” both emphasize that obedience is critical. Do away with anything….anything that might cause you to wander away from obedience. Because if you sin, you will lose the blessings and you will be punished. Am I reading this correctly? Would you agree with me up to this point? I’m saying that God is telling the people to take any measures to avoid disobedience. Burn down an entire town if you must, but don’t allow ANYTHING or ANYONE to influence you to disobey.
Okay, now fast forward to the New Testament. Matthew 5:29-30 is part of the sermon on the mount. This is Jesus speaking to the people and telling them how to behave. If you read the verse I hyperlinked, you know what He says: “if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off”. Does that New Testament teaching from God the Son remind you of anything you read today in the Old Testament? You betcha.
Disobedience must be avoided at all costs. This is why we preach, have Bible studies and meet together…to remind each other to remain obedient. Let’s not lose the blessings, and God’s favor. The twin motivations of blessing and curses cause us to take unpopular positions on marriage, leadership, self identity and intimacy. Our desire to remain obedient causes us to end friendships with some and create friendships with others. We read God’s Word so that we won’t miss commands that we are supposed to be obeying, and when we find commands, we rejoice! Because we know that we can now obey even more completely.
But in all of our striving to obey we recognize that obedience isn’t what saves us from hell, only Jesus could do that. Obedience is our response to His overture. Obedience is our act of worship, our attempt at developing the relationship, our way of expressing both appreciation, and giving thanks. Obedience informs our mindset and our spiritual posture, we are servants…we are dearly loved, and we are adopted into the family as sons and daughters…but we are servants none the less. All creation serves and obeys the Master of All Things. Loving obedience is the pulse of all spiritual life, and those who would inherit heaven must have a pulse.
Faithfully,
PR