Responsive. Or Dead

Deut. 26-27; Psalm 76; Proverbs 12:15-17

 

One of the easiest ways to tell whether someone’s alive or not is by their responsiveness. If a person moves or speaks, or even moans, you can tell he’s alive. If not, and if the circumstances really make you wonder whether a person might be dead, then you have to pay more careful to subtle signs of life – an almost inaudible breath, a barely perceptible pulse.

 

In Deuteronomy the Israelites said this:

You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. – Deut. 26:17

 

As Christian, some of us don’t feel like we’ve made any such commitment. “Keep God’s decrees, commands and laws? That’s impossible!” And so we praise God for His grace and walk through life without pursuing His holiness.

 

But the verse right before this said:

The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. – Deut. 26:16

 

With God commanding the Israelites to obey Him, did they dare to refuse? We sometimes make a false distinction between ourselves and the Israelites. We pretend as though they lived in a time without grace while we live in a time characterized by grace. And we misunderstand. We think that God intended them to obey His laws, but that He doesn’t expect our obedience… and that we therefore don’t need to strive toward obedience.

 

The truth is that God has always been gracious toward sinners, and He has never expected sinners to be able to obey Him perfectly. He has always had to offer forgiveness and provide salvation and life. He extended life to Adam and Eve after they sinned, not killing them immediately. He preserved Noah and his family through the flood. He kept Abraham safe despite his deceptions, overlooked Sarah’s laughter, brought life through the treachery of Joseph’s brothers, and extended grace to the nation of Israel when Moses interceded for them. God provided the sacrificial system to remind people to seek His forgiveness. So there has always been grace. Which means that grace is not intended to be an excuse for lazy attempts at righteousness.

 

When the Israelites said they would obey God, they were responding to God’s command to obey. They were showing that God had given them life. They were saying, “Yes, Lord.” Today, we have received grace through Jesus Christ. It is by confessing that Jesus is Lord that we are saved (Romans 10:10). God’s grace should do for us what it did for the Israelites: It should give us the boldness to show our life by responding to God’s commands with the words, “Yes, Lord.” If we aren’t responsive, can we really claim to be alive?