The Summary Of Obedience (The New City Catechism #8)

 When Paul explained to the Romans what the goal of his mission was he put it this way: It is “the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Rom. 1:5). In other words, when people trust in Jesus Christ as Savior there is a godly obedience that flows out of this faith and results in the glory of God among all kinds of people. Something we take away from Paul’s statement is that every Christ follower should strive to obey God and to disciple others so that they obey God.

This leads to a question: What does this obedience involve?  In the Old Testament alone there are 613 different laws. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the commands in the New Testament! How can we get our heads and hearts around all the Bible’s commands so we can obey God? 

We discover help since the Bible summarizes what this obedience looks like in a small list called the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4). These Ten Commandments (found in Exodus 20:3-7 and Deut. 5:7-21) are said to be a summary of what God requires of us (Matthew 19:18-10; Romans 13:8-10). Elsewhere, it is said that loving God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves summarize what God requires (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5; Matthew 22:37-40).

When we put these statements together we can see that the Ten Commandments are the short summary of God’s will in the Bible that helps us know what the obedience that flows out of our genuine faith should look like. In other words, they help us see what love of God and love of others looks like.

In this week’s catechism question and answer we will learn the Ten Commandments. As we learn them it is helpful for us also to see that they are intended to be a summary of the moral will of God.

Here is that eighth question and answer in The New City Catechism:

What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments? Answer: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below—you shall not bow down to them or worship them. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not covet.  

Delighting In This Summary Of Obedience With You,

Tom  

 

Going The Speed Limit (The New City Catechism #7)

Several years ago, we were driving through the sandhills of Nebraska, to visit friends in Orchard, Ne. I was behind the wheel and we were having a great time being crazy in the car and the next thing I knew there was a police car behind me with his lights signaling for me to pull to the side of the road. He gave me a ticket for speeding.

Now, I didn’t say, “But officer, I was unaware of what the speed limit was!” Though that was true, it was not relevant. The speed limit was posted, it gave clear direction for what I was supposed to be doing, and I fell short of the standard since I was not paying attention.

This is a great picture of how God’s Law in the Bible is intended to function. It not only reveals to us the moral character of God and the direction for how we are to live as genuine followers of Christ, it also lets us know how we fall short of God’s perfect standards and why we need a savior.

One of the reasons many people misunderstand what true salvation is or think it is not needed at all is that we are unaware of what God requires. It is like our saying to God, “But God, I didn’t know what you wanted?”  Just like with my ticket in the sandhills, so with God, we have no excuse. After all, God has “posted the speed limit.” He has revealed to us his standards in the Law.

Consider the seventh question and answer in the catechism, which introduces the Law to us and what it teaches: “What does the law of God require?  Answer: Personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience; that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves. What God forbids should never be done and what God commands should always be done.”

Take some time to give God thanks for revealing the Law to us. After all, it is a great treasure:

The law of the Lord is perfect,

    reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

    making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

    rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

    enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

    enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

    and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

    even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

    and drippings of the honeycomb.

(Psalm 19:7-10)

Delighting In The Law With You,

Tom

When We Can't Help But Praise (The New City Catechism, #6)

 When I was a senior at Liberty Baptist College (known now as Liberty University) I had the privilege of serving as the student body president. Because of this, one of the times my parents visited during that year I was able to honor them in front of the entire student body.

What motivated this? I had wonderful parents who were faithful and wise and loved me dearly. As a result, I trusted them fully, loved them intensely, listened to what they said, and enjoyed being with them. When a heart is moved in this direction toward someone(s), it is difficult to refrain from praising them. You just can’t help it.

The same is true of God. We discover this when Israel was preparing to go into the Promised Land. God not only reminded them of his gracious salvation, but also how they were to respond to him. In Deuteronomy 10:12-13 we read: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” The text draws a strong connection between reverencing, loving, serving, and obeying the Lord—and to do these whole heartedly, which would imply joyously. Earlier in Deuteronomy we are reminded that this was ultimately to glorify God (4:7-8).

Our next question and answer in The New City Catechism comes to this same conclusion, when it asks, “How can we glorify God?” The answer it gives is this: “We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law. 

We often talk about glorifying God and yet have little idea how we do this. This answer gives content to our most important purpose.

Spend some time talking about what it means to enjoy God, love him, trust him, and obey him. Close in prayer, asking God to help you glorify him as defined here.    

Joyfully Glorifying God With You,

Tom

Bridge Out (The New City Catechism #5)

 The fifth question and answer in The New City Catechism focuses on the truth that God is the creator of all and that when he first created the world everything was good and flourished under his loving rule: “What else did God create? Answer: God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.”

Part of what this answer focuses on is that when a person is part of God’s kingdom, this is how they can thrive. In other words, when we follow God this is the way of blessing.

The following story is from a series of stories about a realm of talking animals I wrote years ago to explain the kingdom of God to our children. It is called “Bridge Out!” and helps reveal to us a very practical way that following our king is of help to us.

I hope you and your family enjoy this.

    The whole kingdom of Thurrhema was shocked by the morning headline: Café Couple Killed. Max, a German Shepherd dog and his wife Hope, a yellow Labrador, had plunged into the James river ravine in their buggy and died!  This couple had just sent off their youngest puppy to school and they were looking forward to running their cafe in town and also doing some of the things that they had always wanted to do together, but never had the time.  One of those things was travel.  So, one day they got their horse and buggy out, left the cafe in the hands of some of their trustworthy help, and took off through the countryside. 

     It was a beautiful spring day. The birds were singing, the sky was a wonderful blue with hardly a cloud in it, and the fresh scent of spring was in the air.  Both Max and Hope lifted their noses in the air and smelled the delightful aromas that they had missed over the long winter months.  They thought to themselves, "What a day to be out and taking a ride!"

     They decided to go west out of town and through the winding roads which led to the James River ravine.  Just pass the gully there were some of the most beautiful rolling hills in the land.  They had always enjoyed seeing these hills--especially this time of year as trees were turning green and flowers were clothed in summer colors.

     What the couple didn't realize, though was that the king, Melek, had commissioned a herd of elephants and a construction crew of beavers to work together to replace the bridge going over the river.  The bridge had seen a lot of use over the years and the king was concerned for the safety of those traveling the road.  So, with the last of the cold winter days in the past, they had torn down the bridge and put signs up all along the road saying, Caution!  Bridge Out!  and Stop!  Dangerous Construction!  But Max and his wife Hope didn't pay any attention to the signs.  They just kept right on with their ride. What's more, the Thurrhema newspaper had carried a story telling about the bridge and its repair and cautioning people not to go down that road.  But, poor Max and Hope rarely read the paper.  They felt they were just too busy. 

     So, on they traveled, through the winding roads.  It may have not ended in disaster for the couple if the road leading to the ravine was straight and flat or if the road descended down a hill overlooking the bridge.  But that was not the case.  The road led up to the bridge and wound through some trees until you traveled up over a hill and then you were right at the bridge.  By the time they came up over the hill (and they always like to have the horse gallop at this point) it was too late to stop.  Poor Max and Hope dove right over the cliff deep into the ravine.  If only they would have read and obeyed!

Note To Parents:  Read Joshua 1:8: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” 

   Explain to your children that God wants us to read his Bible each day, learn what is says, and obey it.  If we don't, we are like Max and Hope in the story:  We will eventually get hurt.

Prayer:  God, thank you that you've given us your teachings in the Bible.  Thank you that you've warned not to do things that will hurt us and you have taught us the things which will make us happy.  Help us to learn what the Bible teaches and obey it.