The children of Israel, God’s chosen people of old, were in captivity in Egypt. God sent his servant Moses to rescue them from their captivity, which he did. Then they wandered in the desert for 40 years under Moses’ leadership because of their rebellion against the Lord, although not all disbelieved God. Then, after all those who had rebelled via unbelief against God had died, and after Moses, God’s servant, had died, God chose Joshua to lead God’s people, his faithful remnant, over the Jordan into the Promised Land.
The Lord then gave this promise to Joshua (Joshua 1:3-5 ESV):
“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.”
We, as God’s legitimate children today, must guard against
arbitrarily taking God’s promises given to specific people at specific times in
history and making them our own promises from God. Obviously most of this was
very specific to Joshua and to the children of Israel at that time, other than
perhaps just this last sentence, “I will not leave you or forsake you.”
Yet, many people today pull promises of God out of context
and make them their own when they do not apply to them. So, to me, a general
rule of thumb is to see if these promises are repeated in the New Testament for
us, God’s chosen people today. If they are, then we can definitely apply them
to our lives, but not to all who merely just profess faith in Jesus Christ. For
all of God’s promises have specific conditions to be met for them to be
fulfilled.
Another rule of thumb here is to consider this teaching:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV).
So, what is this saying? It is saying that “all Scripture,”
whether from the Old Testament or from the New Testament, or whether
specifically directed at us or not, is useful to us today. Yet, that doesn’t
give us liberty to freely interpret Scripture and to apply it to our lives where
it should not be applied, but we can learn something from all Scripture. There
are universal truths which we can gather from all Scripture which can be
applied to us today as long as they are in agreement with New Covenant
teaching.
So, let’s move forward and we will see what application we
can make here:
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-9 ESV).
“Be strong and courageous” is definitely taught to us as God’s
children today with regard to our walks of faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t have
to do all according to the law of Moses, but we are required in the New
Testament, under the New Covenant, to obey our Lord and his commands (New
Covenant teaching). Not turning from New Covenant teachings to the right or to
the left so that we will be spiritually productive in our Christian lives
definitely is taught us in the New Testament, under the New Covenant.
The law of Moses, with regard to the liturgical,
sacrificial, ceremonial, and purification laws that God’s people of old had to
obey, does not apply to our lives today. But God’s moral laws are repeated for
us under the New Covenant and we are required of God to obey them, but not as a
set of rules to follow, necessarily, but out of submission and obedience to
Jesus Christ, and out of hearts and lives surrendered to him, desirous to do
his will. We must obey Jesus if we want to be saved from our sins and to live
eternally.
Therefore, God’s instructions to us, who are his children by
legitimate faith in Jesus Christ, are not to depart from our mouths or from our
hearts, but we should meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night. And his
word is not just the written word but it is all that the Holy Spirit is
teaching us, for the Living Word is living inside of us, and we have the mind
of Christ. But since the Spirit’s voice is somewhat subjective, we must test
everything against the Scriptures, for all must agree with the written word in
principle.
Let me give you an example of what I mean here. We are all
called of God to specific ministries, our parts in the body of Christ, and we
are all given spiritual gifts of the Spirit of God to be used within the body
of Christ for our mutual edification. But the written word is not going to name
us specifically or give us our specific assignments or tell us what our
spiritual gifts are. This requires discernment of the Holy Spirit’s voice
speaking to us specifically and individually leading us in the way God has for
us. But whatever we believe God is leading us to do must agree with the
Scriptures in general.
And we should not only meditate on the word of the Lord, but
we are to be careful to do according to all that is written in it which applies
to our lives specifically as followers of Jesus Christ. And the only way that
we are going to know what God’s instructions are to us, his people today, is to
be students of the Scriptures, but to study them in context so that we do not
misinterpret and misapply them to our lives. For we must obey our Lord, and
forsake our sins, or we will not inherit the kingdom of God.
And the final exhortation is again to remind us to be strong
and courageous, but not in our flesh, and not about things of this world, but
in the Lord, and in his strength and power, and with regard to all that is holy
and righteous and godly and morally pure and upright and honest and
trustworthy, etc. We are to remain steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ and
in the teachings of his word (New Covenant) and in moral purity, and in our
testimonies for Jesus Christ and for this unadulterated gospel truth.
And we are not to be frightened in any way by any and all
who oppose us who also oppose the Jesus of the Scriptures and the gospel of the
Scriptures. For many people today are following “another Jesus” and a “different
gospel” other than the Jesus and the gospel of the Scriptures, and they are
coming against the Lord’s servants and his gospel with full force right now to
oppose and to challenge us in our walks of faith in Christ. But we need to know
that God is with us who are following him in truth, and he will give us all we
need to endure, so we are not to give up hope.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal
6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev
18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]
Courageous!
An
Original Work / December 24, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
The Word of God throughout taught.
Some people heard but did doubt.
Still others had faith in Christ.
By grace He purified them.
They turned from sin
And they obeyed Christ.
He opened up their blinded eyesight;
Turned them from darkness
To the true Light;
Forgave their sin by His might.
He strengthened them in their faith.
He said, “Remain my faithful.”
He called them to obedience.
By faith, they were so grateful.
By faith, they were to follow Jesus;
To daily sit and listen to Him;
To have such faith
That mountains could move;
To love those whom He gave them.
Be on your guard; courageous.
Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.
Take up the shield of your faith;
Protect against all evil.
Do not move from
The hope that you have.
Your faith in Jesus let it endure.
Hold to the truth;
Your conscience be clear.
Endure with perseverance.
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