What I teach as a pastor about obedience regarding the Mosaic Law and the Gospel, part 2

(continued)

No less than through Abraham, God’s covenant with Moses is just as much about the intimate relationship and fellowship represented in the promise, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God,” (see Exodus 6.7, 19.5, 6; 20.2; Deut 29.13). The highest imaginable view of a relationship with God is set out in these promises. And if this sort of relationship is involved in the covenant (whether Abrahamic or Mosaic), then it is unimaginable that the requirements of the holiness of the Lord should not be articulated and embodied in expressed conditions for a person to continue to enjoy the blessings of that covenant. The books of Moses say this repeatedly–for example: Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26 21:8; Deuteronomy 6:4-15. The idea is summed up in two passages:

You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Leviticus 19.2).

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6.5).

The point is that since God is holy, those who enter into a covenant relationship with God must be holy. And this same point is made in the New Testament:

holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12.14).

It is even reiterated by the Apostle Peter when he explicitly appeals to the OT:

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1.15-16; cf. Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7).

The holiness that covenant fellowship demands is expressed specifically by obedience to God’s commands. One really should need no other arguement to show not only the appropriateness of the demand for obedience with the covenant as an expression of the highest level of spirituality, but it should also show the necessity for such a demand. The condition of obedience is demanded by the covenant precisely because the covenant is a relationship of union and communion with God.

TO BE CONTINUED

One thought on “What I teach as a pastor about obedience regarding the Mosaic Law and the Gospel, part 2

  1. Jim

    I was reading Lev 19.2 (or a cognate verse) the other day and wondered whether rather than being a demandfor holiness, Lev 19.2 was a promise of holiness, i.e., a promise or declaration of what God will make Israel.

    Just a passing thought (and not necessary adverse to your overall point). Although it depends on how we understand the word, “shall,” and how well that word communicates the Hebrew word it’s translating.

    Reply

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