Psalm 119:1-3 ESV
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the
law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him
with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his
ways!”
We Are Blessed
We are blessed of God who walk in the ways of the Lord in
obedience to his word, who walk in the ways of righteousness, holiness,
integrity, and uprightness, and who do not live in open rebellion against our
Lord in wicked living and in moral compromise.
We are blessed of God, too, who keep his testimonies, which
are his commandments. But let me talk about that for a minute here.
Under the Old Covenant God had with his people, he gave them
the Ten Commandments and then he gave them many other laws that they were to
follow which were ceremonial and purification laws and laws having to do with
sacrifices and food, etc.
Under the New Covenant Relationship God has with us who
believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, Jesus is the
fulfillment of that law. And, he summarized the Ten Commandments into two: Love
the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor
as yourself (Matt. 22:37-39).
But the New Testament reiterates all the Ten Commandments
over again except for one, which has to do with remembering the Sabbath. And,
that is because our salvation in Jesus Christ is now our Sabbath rest, and we
are to worship our Lord in spirit and in truth all the time and anywhere. So,
we are not under the Sabbath law that the Jews were.
As well, the New Testament goes into even more detail than
the Ten Commandments do regarding what is sin. And, it teaches us that we must
forsake our sinful practices, be changed in mind of the Spirit of God, and that
we must now walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we
want to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God.
In several passages of Scripture it gives us specific lists
of sins that are to be cut out of our lives, and we are warned that if we
continue to make these sins our practice (our life course) that we will not
inherit eternal life with God. So, under the New Covenant we are not free from
having to obey God’s moral laws. So, we are not given permission to become
lawless and to live however we want (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 8:1-17; 1
Jn. 1:5-9).
Context is Critical
So, when it tells us in the New Testament that we are to
obey our Lord’s commandments, it is speaking of the ones given to us and
repeated for us in the books of the New Testament under the New Covenant. And regarding
Jesus’ teaching, if not all of it, the majority was New Covenant teaching, I
believe.
But in determining what we are to obey or not obey, context
is everything. We can’t pull Scriptures out of context and build doctrines
around them or make them into rules to follow if by removing them from the context
we have altered their meaning.
Sometimes the context is cultural, sometimes historical,
sometimes it is specific to certain people and not to all people, so we must
examine the context to make certain we are correctly handling the word of
truth.
For example, the Scriptures teach us to be of one mind and
heart with other believers in Jesus. But we must understand that the “one mind”
is not the mind of men or of a man, but of the mind of God. And, we are to be
unified with other believers who are also unified with the mind of God, of
Christ.
So, if you have a religious leader telling you that you must
obey him, but what he is teaching is not what the Scriptures are teaching, then
you don’t have to obey him, no matter how much he tries to shame you into unifying
with him and with his business goals and objectives.
So, when we do obey, we need to make certain we are obeying
God and not the teachings of men who may be teaching what is contrary to God’s
word, usually because they take the Scriptures out of context to make them say
whatever it is they want them to say. And, we need to make certain what we are
obeying is under the New Covenant and interpreted in the full context.
But the moral compass that the Lord Jesus has given to us,
his followers, should make it quite clear for us what is sin and what is not
sin. If we are loving God with our whole being, and we are loving our neighbors
as ourselves, then we aren’t going to cheat on, lie to, steal from, commit
adultery against or murder anyone, etc. But we will obey our Lord.
Psalm 119:4-6 ESV
“You have commanded your precepts
to be kept
diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your
statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes
fixed on all your commandments.”
We can’t pick and choose what we will obey and what we won’t
of our Lord’s commandments (under the New Covenant). And, we can’t pick and choose
when we will or when we won’t obey, either. The Bible calls that being
double-minded, asking for the wisdom of God, but then vacillating regarding whether
or not we will do what he says.
If we keep his commandments diligently (persistently and conscientiously),
we will be steadfast in keeping them, and we won’t waver in opinion regarding
his commandments or in our commitment to obey them, either.
For, it is shameful for us to profess faith in Jesus Christ
and then to ignore our Lord and his commandments and to still live for the lusts
of the flesh. It is like a slap in the face to God to profess his name and then
to do the opposite of his commands. For we are to honor God with our lives, and
we are to walk in the fear of the Lord, showing him respect and reverence.
Psalm 119:7-8 ESV
“I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn
your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly
forsake me!”
An upright heart is one that is pure, but it is also honest
and sincere. It has no selfish or manipulative motives or hidden agendas. It
does not do for God to get something from God in return, but it walks in
obedience to our Lord out of love for God and appreciation for him, and out of
a desire to want to do what pleases him, because it is the loving and right
thing to do and for no other reason.
So, our praise of our Lord should not be lip service only,
nor for show, nor to impress others, but it should be out of sincere love and
appreciation for our Lord and for who he is and for all that he has done for us
and will yet do.
And, we should praise him when we learn of his statutes (his
laws). We should be glad and rejoice that God has given us these commands for
us to follow, for they are for our good. We should not resent them or grumble
and complain over them, but we should want to obey them because we love our
Lord and our desire is for him to please him in all things.
And, then, with grateful hearts for all that the Lord has
done for us, we must bow in submission to him, and we must do all that he requires
of us. We must put off everything that would hinder our walks of faith with our
Lord and every sin that entangles, so that we can run with perseverance the
race God has marked out for us to run (Heb. 12:1-2).
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
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