Monday, October 21, 2013

Why were you saved? Deuteronomy 4-6

Deuteronomy 6:23 (NASBStr)
He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. ’

In Deuteronomy God is giving the new generation the instructions and understanding of what happened to the first generation, that was rescued out of Egypt but died in the wilderness.    It would have been easy for this young generation to think that God wanted to bring them out of captivity, but not fully bring them into freedom (living in the land of promise).   Moses simply states to them that the very reason God purchased them and redeemed them from Egypt was to bring them into the place of milk and honey.   The picture we have in this passage is that of redemption and sanctification.    The writer(s) of the book of Hebrews and the rest of the New Testament bring this out in several passages.   God's redemption has a purpose for ultimate freedom and liberty in Christ.   Christ's salvation is both redemptive and re-inventive.   God saved us from our sin and is, at the same time and continually, creating us into a new creature.   The Israelites were not just saved from the bonds of Egypt; they were also saved to the bounty of the promise land.  God wants us to rejoice in being saved from the penalty of sin.  But, He also wants us to rejoice in the rest found in the life with Him, as we are given victory after victory over our enemies (sin in our lives).   Moses was encouraging the nation to not forget the purpose of their redemption.   The same lesson is for us.  God did not save us to give us simply a ticket out of hell.  God saved us to give us victory in the alien land we have been called to take up temporary residence.   We ought not limit our salvation to the day we were saved.  God saved us to bring us on to produce fruit with Him, in Him and for Him.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Don’t Relax The Power of God’s Word - Matthew 5-7

Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill the...