Faithbase

Good morning, here we are again thinking about the Bible, thinking about God's law, and one of the things that I want to mention that we can keep in mind as we think about a relationship to the law of God, we've talked about how it's written on our heart now, as those who are saved in Jesus Christ. What is it that is different about the old covenant, well that's one of the things, there's many things that are different, but that's one of the things that we can count on, that the law is no longer on the outside putting pressure on us, but it is something that's written on our heart and we express as we walk in Christ's likeness. Now we're going to begin to look at the Ten Commandments now, and I want to start by looking at Exodus 19, I'm going to read this passage, you've seen what I did to the Egyptians, you know how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself, now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure among all the people on the earth, for all the earth belongs to me. Now these two verses as a preface to the giving of the Ten Commandments and then the rest of the law, there was a lot more than just those ten words, those ten commandments, but the principle we see here is that God's choice precedes man's obedience, but man's obedience is a prerequisite for enjoying the full benefits of that election. Now you might not like those terms, election or choice or whatever, but the Bible teaches that it's God who chooses us. Jesus says that the Father sends his chosen to him, the scriptures are very clear that we don't do anything to affect our salvation, it's by grace we've been saved, it's through faith and that's not of ourselves, there's nothing that we do to save ourselves, it's all Jesus Christ, he is preeminent in every way, especially in the act of our salvation, our coming into relationship to God through Jesus Christ. So God's choice precedes our obedience, but our obedience is a prerequisite for enjoying the full benefits of that choice or that election, and we're going to talk about that, we'll unfold that more as we go through this series, but I want you to keep that in mind. So our obedience doesn't save us, but it does make things better, obviously. Let's say if we ignore God's word, ignore the law, and instead of doing what Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourself, which of course as I mentioned earlier is found in the book of Leviticus, if we ignore that, we cost ourselves the blessings that we can experience, not only that we are blessing others, but the blessings that we receive as we express that Christ-like love to others. If we practice thievery, we will probably end up in jail at some point, so obviously the full benefits of our choice to be in Christ are not experienced because if you're in jail obviously for wrongdoing, it kind of curtails some of the things that you can do obviously in this life. But the point I want you to see here, this is again a preface to the Ten Commandments and what God is saying even then, even in the Mosaic dispensation, this has always been true that God chooses His people and His people experience the full benefit of that blessing of choice by doing what God tells them to do. So that's what I want you to think about today as we think about God's law. Think about the fact that God chose you. You are His special new creation, that He chose you in Jesus Christ, and think about how you can show that law that's been written upon your heart, how you can express that and the many ways that you will benefit by showing that new creation, by showing that law that's been written upon your heart, the many ways you'll be blessed by doing what God asks you to do. God bless you and I'll see you again tomorrow.