Month: February 2023

Deuteronomy 6:21-23 Then shalt thou say unto thy son,…the Lord brought us out…the Lord showed signs and wonders…that he might bring us in, to give us the land.

Fathers (and all other adults) respond to God’s grace by teaching the Gospel to their sons (and their generation). There will be teaching opportunities to answer children’s questions: verse 20, “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What mean these commandments?” Then you may answer: “Because God is good, because He saved us mightily, and because He wants us to enjoy a good life, He gave commandments to follow in response to Salvation.”

Parents and teachers find many opportunities to teach the Gospel in response to children’s questions and in daily conversations. For instance, rather than saying, “Because I said so!” Something like “Because Jesus loves you!” would be better. Saying good things about God always works better than saying bad things about people.

The meaning of the Commandments and the reason for obeying them needs to be taught, for the natural man rebels against rules, and he does not naturally know the power of the Gospel for living a good life. God loves you and saves you; therefore, you will do these things. Life is happier when we are reminded of the gospel again and again. We respond by telling that gospel.

Deuteronomy 6:17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

Our response to God’s Grace and Salvation is to do what He says, keep His Commandments. God loves us so much that He wants what’s best for us, and so He gave us the Ten Commandments for a blessed life. “If you do them you will live in them.” Blessings and curses come to lives and families according to how closely we keep the Law. A Blessed Life is a natural result of obedience.

Unfortunately, sinners cannot keep the Law perfectly, and life suffers as a result. But fortunately, Jesus kept the Law perfectly for us. Therefore, the righteousness of God is granted for believers in Christ. Thus we live in two worlds: saint and sinner, old man and new man, flesh and spirit, the world and the kingdom, life in the midst of death. Life, righteousness, peace, love, joy and hope live alongside death, pain, misery, hatred, and sadness.

We do well when we look at the things of God that are not seen, when we focus on the things above, when we seek first the kingdom of God and His gift of righteousness. Believing in Jesus is keeping the commandments and receiving forgiveness for failure. Diligently simply means keeping your eye on the ball, paying careful attention to Law and Gospel.

Deuteronomy 6:13-14 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you.

Believers respond to grace by being God-fearers, people who believe God so firmly and love Him so fiercely that they naturally shy away from saying and doing anything that would grieve Him in any way. Paradoxically, fearing and loving are the same thing. It is faith that works. Such faith is worked in us by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. We respond to it (to Jesus) by faith (fear). Jesus is so good and so strong that we can trust Him with all that we are.

The Gospel for Israel was the Salvation and Provision of God in the Exodus Event. Rehearse in your minds what great and good things the Lord did for you, and responding accordingly. The Gospel for us is the salvation and provision of God in the Christ Event, the death and resurrection of Christ. Rehearse it.

Then you will serve the Lord, and Him only, for He is your only Savior. God does not need our service, but other people do. We serve God by serving others. Serving is putting love into practice. It not theoretical; it is actually doing and saying things that make others feel better. We voluntary place ourselves under others as servants to meet their needs and lift them up. We treat others humans as if they were God, with such love, kindness, and respect. As Jesus says, “You have done it unto me.”

Deuteronomy 6:8-9 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of the house, and on thy gates.

Sinners need reminders of the Gospel, for we are liable to forget the grace and the mercies of God. It is all too easy to become distracted by the world and life’s daily worries that we forget God in all of it. Jesus said to Martha, “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary (listening to Jesus).” Jesus also say in the Parable: “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word.” It is surprisingly easy to forget and drift.

Therefore, we respond to God’s goodness by setting up various kinds of reminders in our lives “lest ye forget.” The Jews responded literally by making phylacteries, which were little boxes with the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 written inside. These were attached to the forehead and were “frontlets between the eyes.” Jesus scolded the Pharisees for their pride and presumption in making them “long” and ostentious so people would notice their piety.

Christians today wear crosses as jewelry and hang up religious plaques, which is a good thing to do, but it still misses the point. The point is to be reminded by hearing the gospel as often as possible, at least weekly and daily, and then praying without ceasing during all opportunities of the day. We don’t do this to show off our goodness but the opposite: we do so precisely because we are sinners who constantly need grace. We find ways to remind ourselves of Sin and Grace.

Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

These words will be in your heart, so that you are continually reminded of what it means to believe, keep, and do them. But you are not just to keep it to yourself; your response is to share the Word by teaching Law and Gospel to your children. And then you will also talk about the Word as you go about daily life with your family.

As father and mother, and in whatever role we have in relation to children, we will teach them and support the teaching of children in church, Sunday school, etc. This role and response is given by God to every Christian. This includes praying for the succeeding generations. And we support the “teaching to observe” task for all nations.

As parents, we will talk about the Word throughout the regular routines of daily life, at least four times a day: 1) when we sit down for a meal; 2) when we work or play together during the day; 3) before we go to bed in the evening; and 4) after we get up in the morning. Each part of the day is an opportunity to pray and share the words of God. We all need constant reminders, and our response is to give what we have received. For that is more blessed.

Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might.

The primary response to God is simple, yet profound and powerful: love God. When we love God, as the first and greatest commandment says we will, then keeping all the other commandments follows naturally, and life is better. “We love Him because He first loved us” To know Him is to love Him; the closer we know Him, the more dearly we will love Him. For God is love. He loved us this way: He gave His Son, and with Him has given us all things.

Loving God first and above all things leads to desiring to keep His commandments which leads to a blessed life. And it all begins with believing God, receiving Jesus, and knowing Him better and better. This is a lifelong process, and it still goes on and grows through eternity. In fact, God’s love is so unfathomable to our human minds that we cannot totally comprehend it this side of death.

God begins it all by loving us, we respond by loving Him, and this mutual love grows forever. We begin to love Him from the moment we are baptized and believe, and the more time we spend with Him, listening to the gospel, the more we love Him. We act out that love with all that we are: body, soul, and spirit (heart, soul, and might). As God’s Love affects everything we are, and every part of life, so our love, as a response of faith, affects every aspect of our whole life.

Deuteronomy 6:2 That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons’ sons, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

Parents and grandparents respond to the Gospel by teaching both Law and Gospel to their children and grandchildren. They teach the Word in such a way that the whole family learns how to actually do it. This kind of teaching by word and example involves the proper mixture of discipline and mercy, Law and Gospel, fear and love.

The fear of God response is what preachers and prophets, parents and teachers, are after. Fear of God means simply faith in God. It means knowing and loving so much that we do not want to displease, disappoint, or offend Him. It means we believe God and take Him seriously. This fear/faith makes us want to keep His commands. We believe God’ s love and that gives us the desire and power to love God.

The fruit of fear/faith is keeping His commands, and the result of living accordingly will be prolonged days, meaning a useful, productive, fruitful, full, and blessed life.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightiest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be prolonged.

Moses responded to God’s great act of deliverance (the Gospel) by teaching them to do the commandments. This is also what Jesus expects us to do as pastors, teachers, parents, grandparents: teach to do. He says in the Great Commission to make disciples in Matthew 28:20: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Our response to the Gospel is to make disciples of all peoples by baptizing and teaching to do.

This teaching is more than imparting knowledge, although we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. But the knowledge is to be turned into changed behavior. We are expected to change lives. We do not teach to know, but to do, to actually make a difference in how other people, especially children, live out their daily lives according to God’s Word. We teach them to fear (believe) God and love Him so that they keep the commandments.

Now this is an impossible task, as wives and mothers admit: to change others. We can’t even change ourselves. But the Holy Spirit can, and He uses the Gospel to effect change. The power is in the gospel, as Moses continually refers back to the Exodus Event. So do we refer back to the exodus event of the Cross. And Jesus promises the Spirit to guide us (change us) and bring to remembrance what He did. And Jesus promises that while we are doing the job of “teaching to observe” He will be with us always.

Deuteronomy 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Observe means be careful, listen faithfully, pay thoughtful attention to, the Commandments that the Lord has given you so that you may do them. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God. Memorize, think about, and meditate on the Commandments and their meanings, implications, and applications to your life. Let them sink into your brain and your heart until they become a part of you and your lifestyle.

We consciously make a decision to obey the commands of God when faced with a choice; but even more, we unconsciously, naturally, almost automatically, obey and do the right things as a general rule after our soul has been trained in the Way. This is the normal response of the believer who spends time alone in private with God and His Word, and spends time with fellow believers in public worship and hearing the preaching and teaching of the Gospel. We speak and act out of who we are inside after we have been changed. Inward change comes as a work of God on the heart, not by selfish works of the flesh to try to do better. Inward change comes from the response of observing the Word.

The outcome is a more upright life that stays on the blessed narrow path (Jesus is the Way). It turns neither right nor left by rationalizing actions, excusing behavior, or justifying the self. We abide in the vine.

Deuteronomy 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

Jesus said: “Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it.” Moses recounts that when they were at Mt. Sinai the people told him to go near the Presence of God, hear what God says, and then speak it to them. Then they will respond to the speaking of the Word by hearing and doing it.

When hearing the gospel is mixed with faith, granted by the Spirit, such faith will by nature yield fruit, produce good works, and make a better life. Hearing leads to faith which leads to doing it which leads to a blessed life. Faith brings eternal life; obedience brings a happy temporal life. The key to it all begins with hearing: this response produces a faith that works. And the doing of good makes life good.

Put into present day simplified terms it means going to church. It also means that, like Moses, the Pastor listens to God and then preaches His Word faithfully. It is incumbent upon the hearers to test the spoken word to make sure it is faithful to the written word.