Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for January 10th, 2024

D10E, “Law of the LORD*”

Posted in Blessing, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , , , , on January 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Law of the LORD has several nuanced meanings referring to the total body of God’s commands and instruction, to the narrower part of that body-the Pentateuch or first five books of the Moses, or simply the Ten Commandments. When God commanded Joshua to meditate on “the book of the law”, it undoubtably meant the five books of Moses. By the time of the psalmist, it would have included the histories of Joshua and Judges and perhaps some part of the Samuels and Chronicles.

Among its many purposes, the law reveals God’s righteousness and our wickedness, God’s will and our resistance to it, the way of life and of death, and points us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). We have so much more in the canon of God’s completed revelation, and by the Holy Spirit we are enabled to fulfill the works of the law (Romans 8:3-4). We are no longer under the curse of the law, but the law of liberty or law of Christ (James 1:25, Galatians 3:13, 6:2). These direct us. The New Covenant law is not different than the Old Covenant moral law in content, only deeper as it includes matters of the heart- intentions. We may and should meditate on the Law of the LORD both day and night so that “He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:6, KJV)

*LORD- YHWH (Yahweh), the I AM (self-existent) covenant keeping God

Read Full Post »

D10M, Cart or Horse?

Posted in Blessing, Faith, God's Law, God's Word, Gospel, Grace, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , , , , on January 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Psalm 1 lays out an overview of the characteristics of the righteous and the wicked. Do the characteristics listed in verses 1-3 make a man righteous or do those made righteous do these things?

Verse six says, “The Lord knows (approves, has regard to (1)) the way of the righteous.” Does that mean that the sinner is saved by keeping the law or that the one declared righteous lives rightly and is approved?

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) Are these two passages contradictory, or were Old Testament saints saved by a different means than we are today?

No, these two passages agree but one speaks of cause and the other effect. God saved by the same means in the Old Testament. In Habakkuk 2:4 the Lord says to the prophet, “Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” God is referring to those who would judge Israel, as He said, “I am raising up the Chaldeans.” (Habakkuk 1:6) But anyone is a “proud one” who seeks to make his own way apart from God, so He states how one lives (is saved, justified, continues)- by faith.

The whole of Scripture agrees: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Works is excluded (Romans 3:27-28). So where do works come in? They are the effect, or result. Those made righteous by “grace… through faith” will demonstrate it by their works (James 2:18-26).

  1. NASB 1995 center notes

Read Full Post »

Myrela

Art, health, civilizations, photography, nature, books, recipes, etc.

Overflows from the Heart

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart…" Matthew 15:18

CreatorWorship

Pointing to the One who made, saved, and sustains