Seminar: The Life of a Saint

Most of the time we read the Bible without thinking about how we are to obey. It is a big problem for it leads to lukewarm Christians. The life of a saint is all about obedience to the scriptures. God has laid out clear commands in the scriptures for believers to follow in obedience to Him. Before the Children of Israel went into the promised land, Moses had to remind them of the commands of God towards them. Earlier, because of disobedience, the Israelites spent 40yrs wandering in the wilderness. For those 40yrs, God wiped out the disobedient generation. Now, they were going into the promised land and so they won't just live as they wanted. God had expectations from them that were to be obeyed. [Read passage] In the same way, God expects believers to live differently from the people in the world. We are to live in obedience to the scriptures. Saints are in the process of sanctification. Obedience in Salvation Verse 1-3 The children of Israel had been redeemed from the land of Egypt and now they are about to enter the promised land. The land that the Lord had promised to the Children of Israel and of which they were expected to live differently. Moses is giving them the commandments that he has been given by God of how they are to live in the promised land. I related it to salvation because God had assured them of it. They are commanded to fear the Lord. Fear in this context is not caused by threat or danger, but it refers to revering God. How? By keeping God's commandments. For how long? For the rest of their lives. The desired outcome of Moses teaching them is obedience. Obedience Driven by Love Verse 4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." There is no other God but Jehovah. We only have one God. Some of you may ask; Does it mean that all other religions apart from Christianity are false? There are those who have never even heard of the Christian God, do you mean they are following lies? According to the scriptures, that is the case, we only have one God, the maker of the heavens and the earth. That's a pluralistic view. The Israelites were commanded to obey then they are commanded to love the Lord. Christians, we are commanded to love the Lord. We won't obey without love and we can't truly love if we don't obey. How are we to love? With all our heart - This is to love not just for the sake of, but passionately. A musician who passionately loves music will not only listen to a song for the sake of but will go on to listen to the chords, the harmonies, sing-along, find the key, etc. God wants us to love Him this much. With all our soul - Loving the Lord with our intellect. We can never know God fully but we should always strive to know Him more daily. Labor in studying of the scriptures that you may know the Lord more. With all our might - We should express our love for God. The best we can do this is by sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard. Because we have received such a great blessing of salvation, our desire should be for all nations to hear it. I kiss my wife goodnight, not because I have to, but because I want to. Motivated by love. Meditate and teach them to your children Day and Night Verse 6-8 The statutes of the Lord should always be on our hearts, meditating upon them day and night. Memorizing scripture is a key element in meditating. It is a command by God to Christian parents to teach their children the scriptures. This especially goes to the Father. Teach them at all times, when you are chilling out in the living room; when you have gone for the morning run; when you put them to rest; when you wake them up preparing them for school. Teach them the word day and night. The word of God should readily available to you. it should be as close to you as your wristwatch so that you can access it anytime. It should be close to you as your sunglasses. That you won't lose it. Serve no other god but Yahweh Verse 9-15 Anyone who comes into your house or city should clearly see the commands of God. That is basically what the Lord was telling the Israelites. This you do to remind yourselves daily of God's commands so that when the Lord blesses, you will not forget His commands. There is a possibility of forgetting the commandments of God when you get too comfortable. It is the Lord alone that you shall revere and Him alone you shall worship. God is a jealous God. Someone may think, how can a holy God be jealous? He is jealous of His glory, for worshiping another God is giving the worship that is due God to another. Like a husband is rightfully jealous of his wife's love. We should obey God because of the love that we have for Him. As we read the scriptures, let us also put to practice what we learn. Obeying the scriptures makes us more like Christ and that is sanctification.

notes

Main Point Summary

You shall love the Lord your God by keeping His commands and be careful lest you forget.

Phrase

editing

OT

Deuteronomy 6:1-15

esv

Obedience in salvation

“Now this is the commandment—

the statutes and the rules

Explanation

—that the Lord your God commanded me

to teach you,

Purpose

that you may do them

Result

in the land

Locative

to which you are going over,

to possess it,

that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son,

Content

by keeping all his statutes ... ... all the days of your life,

Manner

and his commandments,

which I command you,

and [so] that your days may be long.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful

Inference

to do them,

that it may go well with you,

and that you may multiply greatly,

as the Lord, ... has promised you,

Standard

the God

of your fathers,

Descriptive

in a land flowing

with milk and honey.

Accompaniment

Obedience driven by Love

“Hear, O Israel:

The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart and

with all your soul and

with all your might.

Meditate and teach them to your children Day and Night

And these words

that I command you today

shall be

on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently

to your children,

Destination

and shall talk

of them

Epexegetical

when you sit

Temporal

in your house,

and when you walk

by the way,

and when you lie down,

and when you rise.

You shall bind them

as a sign

Comparison

on your hand,

and they shall be

as frontlets

between your eyes.

Serve no other god but Yahweh

You shall write them

on the doorposts

of your house

and on your gates.

“And when the Lord your God brings you

into the land

that he swore

to your fathers,

to Abraham,

to Isaac,

and to Jacob,

to give you—

with great and good cities

Accompaniment #1

that you did not build,

and houses full

Accompaniment #2

of all good things

Contents

that you did not fill,

and cisterns

Accompaniment #3

that you did not dig,

and vineyards and olive trees

Accompaniment #4

that you did not plant—

and when you eat and are full,

then take care

Ground

lest you forget the Lord,

who brought you out

of the land

Separation

of Egypt,

out

of the house

Seperation

of slavery.

It is the Lord your God

you shall fear.

Him

you shall serve

Content #2

and by his name

Agency

you shall swear.

Content #3

You shall not go after other gods,

the gods

of the peoples

Possessive

who are around you—

for the Lord your God

in your midst

is a jealous God—

lest the anger

of the Lord your God

be kindled ... and he destroy you from off the face

of the earth.

against you,

Disadvantage

The Land represents salvation. That is, being born again.

Obey for your own Good.

There is no other God but the Lord. Jehovah! Why was this verse put here? For emphasis. Israel should only worship one God. Does it mean that all the other religions are false? Many people do not even know about the "Christian" God. That means you are judging them already. -Plurality-

Obedience that is driven by love and not obligation. Love is the true motivation for obedience. Israel won't obey without love and they don't truly love if they don't obey.

Meditate upon them at all times (day and night). Memorize them.

Teach your children.

It is a promise of the Lord. Salvation is promised by God Himself and therefore we can be sure of it. Assurance of salvation.

There is a possibility to forget Him.

You may not relate to the word idols as the Israelites did. But bringing it to our context, idol simply means something that you put above God. It may be anything. So do not think that because you are not worshipping a stature or a cow, you are exempted from this command. Distractions - Money, sex, media, wealth,

God demands we worship Him alone. How can God be jealous? Jealousy is sin, does it mean that God can commit sin? Or is God exempted from sin even though He sins?

The desired outcome of teaching the commandments is obedience.

Assurance of salvation.

How do you fear the Lord? How can you fear God and at the same time love Him? It poses a paradox. Fear in this context is not caused by threat or danger, but reverence to the Lord. We fear Him by keeping all His commands.

For how long are we to obey? The time frame is all the days of your life.

Inference to what is said in v.1 - 2.

Passionately

The mind

Physical works

Receiving salvation does not mean that we don't strive to obey God. The Lord has indeed blessed us, therefore, may we work out our salvation lest we find ourselves moving with the motions. Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Only those who endure to the end will be saved.

CONTEXT Israel has escaped from slavery in Egypt, they spent one year at Mt. Sinai where they received the 10 commandments, then they wander around the desert for 40yrs before making it to the Jordan River right across the land the Lord had promised them and they are ready to go in, that's where the book of Deuteronomy starts. So here, Moses gives a speech to the children of Israel before they enter. Moses tells about their journey to the Jordan and reminds them of the commandments. He now tells them how they should live when they go into the land of promise.

phrasing