Human Response 148: You Will Live this way

Exodus 20:8-17 Remember the sabbath…Honor parents…Thou shalt not kill…commit adultery…steal…lie…covet.

The Ten Commandments are given by God as the stipulations of the covenant. Your part of My Covenant in response to My act of salvation (v. 2) is to keep these commandments. “I did that for you, now you will do this for Me; because I saved you, therefore you will obey these stipulations.” Thou shalt is a good way of rendering these commands, as a future assertion as well as an imperative. Thou shalt = you will.

Living this way is the faithful, loving, and obedient way to live. You will live this way in believing response to God’s free gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation. And you will find a good life and great blessings when you do so. It is the Gospel that gives us the motivation, the desire, and the power to actually keep these commands and live accordingly. It is not by our own mind, will, or emotions that we are able to live this way. We fail. But Jesus did it for us. Faith in that Gospel Word changes our lives.

Life on earth is, always has been, and always will be, messed up and miserable because of our disobedience to the Law. Therefore, we repent and believe the gospel. The fruit of faith in the gospel is a life that lives this way. This life-changing work is a slow process, but it is a process.