Promised Obedience

“Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” (De 13:4 AV)

This is a command to the people of Israel.  But it is a promise to the church.  The nation of Israel was tasked with obedience to the law that the world may be attracted to a holy God who is the means of salvation.  This they did without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Their calling was a national one.  The law was as much a means for a testimony to the lost world as it was the means of providing an ordered society.  These laws were as much for their benefit as it was for God’s glory.  In principle, the same is true for us.  We have the written word of God.  We strive to live under the commandments of the word so that we might glorify the LORD in all that we do.  We strive to live under the word of God so that we might also experience a life of blessing.  Thirdly, we strive to live a life of blessing so that the lost world will notice and ask us the reason for the hope that lies within.  But with the New Testament saint, it is different.  We are commanded to walk in obedience.  But we are also promised that we will.  The Old Testament Jew did not have the same promise as we do.  The nation is promised they will one day wholly follow the LORD.  Not the individual Jew.  The individual Jew must come to Christ for the command to become a promise.

A good kid with a good heart wants to please those who govern him.  At first, punishment may have to be inflicted as the motive for compliance.  After a while, however, he punishes himself enough that no extra consequences have to be added.  A spanking may be in order, but he is beating himself up because he understands his nature is his worst enemy.  A parent who can discern between a temper tantrum and self-loathing is wise.  They look identical.  I have three sons.  All three had good hearts.  They were no trouble at all.  One of them, however, wore his emotions on his sleeve more so than the other two.  If he was frustrated or angry, you didn’t need a degree in child psychology to figure that out.  With this emotional side of him also came a persona of extremes.  When he loved on you, he really loved on you.  When he was angry, he was really angry.  And when he was frustrated with himself, he was almost intolerable.  Because he had such a big heart, he strived to please his mother and me.  Not that the other two didn’t.  They did.  And just as diligently.  But with this one, it was a bit different.  When he failed, he took it very personally.  When he struggled to comply, he often fought himself more than us.  With this emotionalize of which he was gifted, rebellion was a real risk.  But God was good.  He saved that young boy at an early age and because the Holy Spirit resided within, failure was not a desire.  It was an enemy.  He got angry with himself if he did wrong.  He was the one we had to apply more severe punishments because when he did fail, it was always big.  In time, however, he beat himself up pretty well and we felt we didn’t need to add to it.  He was teaching himself a lesson.

This is the difference between the Old Testament and the New.  We have the desire to live in the law and commandments of God because He has made us new creatures.  Where the Old Testament saint did not have a desire within, we do.  Therefore, we are commanded to walk in obedience to the commands of God, but we are also promised that we will.  That is great news for those of us who habitually beat ourselves up because we fail God far more than we care to admit.  That is good news for those who struggle with besetting sin.  Knowing we have a promise that if we walk by faith, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh is a huge advantage over the Old Testament saint.  Knowing the resident inside our hearts will battle with us and for us is a blessing beyond words.  The new man wants to do right.  He lives to do right.  He wants to please his heavenly Father and when he cannot, he is thoroughly discouraged.  Hang on to the promise above.  You will walk in faith and obedience.  That is a promise!