Human Response 189: Walk and Keep OR Not Hearken and Not Do

Leviticus 26:3, 14-15 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them….But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant….

Leviticus 26 lays out the blessings and the curses that will come into our lives as consequences of keeping or not keeping the covenant commandments. These are the only two possible human responses to the Covenant Promise God makes with us: keep the Law perfectly, or break it completely by offending in only one part. The resulting blessings or curses are natural consequences; they are not rewards and punishments as such.

The major truth is this: it is black and white, with no variations or gradations in between Sin and Holiness. The major problem is this: no one can keep or obey perfectly. Therefore, the curses come into effect for everyone; the blessings are unobtainable. So the Gospel is our only hope, our only way out: Jesus kept the Law perfectly for us, died under the curse of our disobedience, and earned and gave the Holiness and Righteousness of God to us by grace.

Our faith is counted as righteousness. By faith Jesus’ response becomes our response. Therefore, in Christ we claim the blessings of the covenant and avoid the curses. We receive life in place of death. We respond with thanks, for life is good.