Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 4:32-40.

“Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other.  Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?  Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?  Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?  To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God;  there is no other besides Him.  Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you;  and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.  Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them.  And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.  Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below;  there is no other.  So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”  Deuteronomy 4:32-40.

——————–

Moses first reminded Israel of the power and sovereignty of God.  “To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God;  there is no other besides Him.”  Verse 35.

Second, Moses reminded Israel that the basis of His gracious actions for Israel was His election of Israel to be His people.  “Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them.   And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.”  Verses 37-38.  

Third, only after all of this was established, namely the power and sovereignty of God and His election of Israel to be His people, did Moses exhort Israel to obey God.  “So …”

“So” is as big as a word as “But”.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:4-7.

In other words, we obey God only through His power and His work for us.  We do not obey God through our free-will;  we were dead in sin.  We do not even obey God through our own gratitude.  We obey God, because “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:8-10.

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:26-27.

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:12-13.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:3-6.