Obedience to God is Not a Deprivation from Life It is God s Gracious Directions for Abundant Life 1
God s People Blessed with God s Commands You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. Exodus 19:4-6 (NIV) So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you, Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess Deuteronomy 5:32 33 (NIV) The Sad Story of Israel s Disobedience Something was Wrong What was Wrong? A Neck Problem The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, Do not do as they do. They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God 2 Kings 17:7 21 (NIV) 2
What was Wrong? A Heart Problem But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. Zechariah 7:11 12 (NIV) The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. Isaiah 29:13 (NIV) God Promises a New Covenant A Heart Transformed by the Holy Spirit Ezekiel 36:24-28 For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:24 28 (NIV) God Promises a New Covenant God s Law Written on Your Hearts Jeremiah 31:31-34 The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, Know the LORD, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Jeremiah 31:31 34 (NIV) 3
Jesus Brings the Blessings of the New Covenant Died for Our Forgiveness and Cleansing from Sin Hebrews 10.11-18 Raised to Give Us New Life in the Holy Spirit Romans 8:9-11 Ascended to Give Us the Gift of the Holy Spirit John 14:15-31; 15:28; Acts 1:4 A Heart Transformed and Indwelt by the Holy Spirit Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. John 3:5-6 (NIV) You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 (NIV) Walking According to the Spirit Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:1 4 (NIV) 4
Walking According to the Spirit = Seeking the Help and Guidance of the Holy Spirit If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. John 14:15 17 (NIV) Walking According to the the Spirit = Obeying the Leading of the Holy Spirit But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:22 26 (NIV) Word AND Spirit, not Word OR Spirit is more (but not less) than following Biblical commands and principles. 5
Important Questions Is the Spirit of God in You? Are You Walking According the Spirit? 6