Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 30:15-30.  My next devotion, God willing, will be on Monday, December 22, 2014 after I return from a one week cruise vacation.

“15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;  16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.  17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,  18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish.  You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.  19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him;  for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”    Deuteronomy 30:15-30.

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Life does not come through the Law.  Life does not come through good works nor through a wise free-will choice.  We were dead in sin.

Rather, life comes as a gift from God Who makes us alive when we were dead in sin and Who irresistibly draws us to faith in Christ.

“… For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.  But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”  Galatians 3:21-22.

“Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident;  for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”  However, the Law is not of faith;  on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”  Galatians 3:11-12.

“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”  Galatians 2:19-21.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life;  it is these that testify about Me;  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”  John 5:39-40.

“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.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.

“… I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10.

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has the life;  he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”  1 John 5:11-12.

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;  and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us;  and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  Colossians 2:9-15.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 30:1-14.

“1 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.  4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.  5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.  7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.  8 And you shall again obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;  10 if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.”

11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.  12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’  13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’  14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”   Deuteronomy 30:1-14.

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Today’s Scripture gives the promise of restoration based on God’s work:  “the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again”.  Verse 3.  “The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you .”  Verse 7.  “Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand”.  Verse 9.

But, there are those of other doctrine who focus only on themselves and the word “if” as in “if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.”  Verse 10.

Reformed Doctrine sees the conclusion of this Scripture (verses 11-14 above in bold italic) and how it properly puts the focus back on God and remembers the following Romans 10:5-11 (which is similar).

“For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.  But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”  But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 29:19-29.

“19 It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’  20 The Lord shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.  21 Then the Lord will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant which are written in this book of the law.

22 “Now the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say,  23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’  24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land?  Why this great outburst of anger?’  25 Then men will say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.  26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them.  27 Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book;  28 and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”  Deuteronomy 29:19-29.

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There are secret things such as the time when our LORD and Savior returns.  For example, see Acts 1:7:  “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;”

But, Reformed Doctrine is not one of those secret things.  We have seen it taught throughout Scripture from “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace” to “Preservation of the Saints” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

We have seen Reformed Doctrine summarized as “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” and “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

We have seen the contrast with other doctrine simplified as a focus on man, man’s alleged goodness and wisdom, and man’s alleged free-will.

We have seen the warning.

“Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.”  Jeremiah 17:5.

We have seen the harsh consequences of trusting and boasting in mankind, so vividly displayed, such as in today’s Scripture (Verses 19-28) and in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 that we recently read.

We have grown to understand that despite all the promises, warnings, and call to duty, there are those who simply do not have “eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”

Thus, it should not surprise us that they think that these things are secret and so easily dismiss them as secret from “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace” to “Preservation of the Saints”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

But, Reformed Doctrine is not secret and it is revealed to us and “belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”  Not that we can turn back and obey the law in our own strength, but realizing our weaknesses, we seek the LORD more urgently, trusting Him to give us all that we need.

“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.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”  2 Peter 1:2-3.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:3-6.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 29:10-18.

“10 “You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 “Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, 15 but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;  17 moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them);  18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations;  that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.”  Deuteronomy 29:10-18.

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We know that Israel received promises through the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  We know that Israel also received practices (that they were to perform) through the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  These promises and practices were sometimes difficult to understand;  they were clues or “shadows” as to glorious things that would come.  These promises and practices pointed Israel in the right direction.  “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”  Hebrews 10:1.

So to speak, we do not see a photo (of doctrine as may be more clearly taught in the New Testament), but rather in today’s Scripture, we see a French impressionist painting of the promise of “Preservation of the Saints”, the “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation through verses 16 to 18: Israel traveling from Egypt through “the midst of the nations through which you passed” and Israel having seen “their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them”, and yet “there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations;  that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.”

This promise is not only for the Israel standing there that day.  See verse 15.  “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”  Acts 2:39.

This promise points all of us to “Preservation of the Saints” a/k/a “Perseverance of the Saints”, the “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  We too will travel through the midst of temptations, trials, troubles, and tribulations, but God will preserve us to salvation.

Article 3.  By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and the temptations of sin and of the world, those who are converted could not persevere in a state of grace, if left to their own strength. But God is faithful, who having conferred grace, mercifully confirms, and powerfully preserves them herein, even to the end.  FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Perseverance of the Saints.  Canons of Dordt.  

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 29:1-6.

“1 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.

2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land;  3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.  4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.  5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness;  your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.  6 You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the Lord your God.  7 When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us for battle, but we defeated them;  8 and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites.  9 So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”  Deuteronomy 29:1-6.

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The blessings of disobedience and the curses of disobedience were vividly and repeatedly presented to Israel.  Remember how hard it was for us to read the curses of the last chapter!

And, the duty to obey was simply and clearly and repeatedly presented to Israel.  “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”  Verse 9.

Yet, we know that Israel did not obey.  Israel suffered the curses of disobedience.

Why would Israel not obey???

Today’s Scripture explains why, despite all these blessings, curses, and duty, Israel did not obey.  “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”  Verse 4.

We likewise read similar language in the commission that the Lord gave to the prophet Isaiah.

“8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  Then I said, “Here am I.  Send me!”  9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
12 “The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”  Isaiah 6:8-13.

We further read similar language in Jesus’ teaching about his parables.

“10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”  11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.  12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance;  but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.  13 Therefore I speak to them in parables;  because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see;  and your ears, because they hear. ”  Matthew 13:10-16.

Finally, we read similar language in Romans  11:7-8.

“7 What then?  What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;  8 just as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes to see not and ears to hear not,
Down to this very day.”  Romans 11:7-8.

In summary, tying all these Scriptures together, we begin to understand that God chooses those whom He will give eyes to see and ears to hear.  God chooses those whom He will grant to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  God chooses those whom He will save.

Other doctrine may bristle against this Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  Paul understood it when he stated:  “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?  For who resists His will?”  On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?  The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”  Romans 9:19-24.

But, Reformed Doctrine boasts in the LORD.  “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

Today’s Scripture comes from Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

“15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18 “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20 “The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.  21 The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.  22 The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. 23 The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.  24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 “The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.  26 Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

27 “The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;  29 and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you.  30 You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her;  you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.  31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it;  your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you;  your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually;  but there will be nothing you can do.  33 A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually.  34 You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.  35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.  37 You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the Lord drives you.

38 “You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it.  39 You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.  40 You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.  41 You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.  42 The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.  43 The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.  44 He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him;  he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.

45 “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.  46 They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.

47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;  48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

49 “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.  51 Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.  52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.  53 Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.  54 The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55 so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns.  56 The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57 and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears;  for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.

58 “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.  60 He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.  61 Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed. 62 Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the Lord your God.  63 It shall come about that as the Lord delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you;  and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.  64 Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth;  and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.  65 Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot;  but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.  66 So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.  67 In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’  And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.  68 The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’  And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

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“But I will warn you whom to fear:  fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell;  yes, I tell you, fear Him!”  Luke 12:5.

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation;  And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”  Isaiah 13:9.

“2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
The Lord is avenging and wrathful.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
In whirlwind and storm is His way,
And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
He dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither;
The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
5 Mountains quake because of Him
And the hills dissolve;
Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,
The world and all the inhabitants in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation?
Who can endure the burning of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire
And the rocks are broken up by Him.
7 The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And He knows those who take refuge in Him.”  Nahum 1:2-7.

“10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”  Psalm 2:10-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

“1 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  2 All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

4 “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.  8 The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.  9 The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.  10 So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.  11 The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, 14 and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”   Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

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Some may wrongly think that this Scripture leads us back to focus on our own alleged ability and our own alleged free-will to obey the Law.  But, this Scripture does not negate the blessedness of those who trust in the LORD.  It rather should be correctly understood as making a vivid spectrum display of the blessings that the LORD gives.  We get the total understanding from the following Psalm 84:11-12.

“11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

We can obey only because God gives us grace to obey (and walk uprightly):  “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood:  May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.”  1 Peter 1:2.

We read in a recent devotion.  “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.

But, what immediately follows these verses?

The same type of blessings that we read in today’s Scripture!

“You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers;  so you will be My people, and I will be your God.  Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness;  and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.  I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.”  Ezekiel 36:28-30.

So, let us not wrongly receive these Scriptures as motivation to turn from our simple trust in the LORD to focus on our own alleged ability and our own alleged free-will to obey the Law.

Let us not turn from looking up to the LORD to looking down inward.

“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?  This is the only thing I want to find out from you:  did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”  Galatians 3:1-5.

Let us cling to Christ.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  Romans 8:32.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 27:11-26.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+27&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’  And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

17 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

18 ‘Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

19 ‘Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

20 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

21 ‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

22 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

23 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

24 ‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

25 ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

26 ‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”   Deuteronomy 27:15-26.

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“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”  Galatians 3:24.

“5 Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:5-8.

“10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse;  for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.”  11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident;  for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”  12 However, the Law is not of faith;  on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”  13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”  Galatians 3:10-14.

Which doctrine is more consistent to trusting in the Lord? 

Other doctrine which continually focuses on man and man’s alleged free-will?

Or, Reformed Doctrine which continually focuses on God and God’s work from “Unconditional Election”, “Limited Atonement”, “Irresistible Grace”, and “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation?

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 27:1-10.

“Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today.   So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.  So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.  Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones;  you shall not wield an iron tool on them.  You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God;  and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God.  You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, O Israel!  This day you have become a people for the Lord your God.  You shall therefore obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”   Deuteronomy 27:1-10.

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We have repeatedly seen through Scripture that God required certain things to be done in order to point to a future hope.  In today’s Scripture, it seems to me that God would be pleased if Israel would meditate on this difficult, nearly impossible, task of writing all the words of the law on stones and if Israel would humble themselves and think:  “We have stony hearts!  If only God would Himself write all the words of this law on our stony hearts!!”  

And, this is exactly what God said and did.

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it;  and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  Jeremiah 31:33.  See also Hebrews 8:10 and Hebrews 10:16.

“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.

Other doctrine is proud.  It looks inward to its alleged free-will and claims:  “We are good and wise.  We can know, remember, and obey this law.”

But, Reformed Doctrine is humble as shown by its first point “Total Depravity” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  In essence, when Reformed Doctrine proclaims “Total Depravity”, Reformed Doctrine humbly proclaims:  “We have stony hearts!  If only God would Himself write all the words of this law on our stony hearts!!”

“My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.”  Psalm 34:2.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 26:12-19.

“12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.  13 You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me;  I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.  14 I have not eaten of it while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God;  I have done according to all that You have commanded me.  15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.’

16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances.  You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.  17 You have today declared the Lord to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.  18 The Lord has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments;  19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.”  Deuteronomy 26:12-19.

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“Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”  Psalm 100:3.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;  you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  1 Peter 2:9-10.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:3-6.

Other doctrine portrays a god with arms folded and waiting to see who will be good enough or wise enough to choose him.

Reformed Doctrine shows the electing and creating God of Scripture Who chooses “His people, a treasured possession” and makes them alive from being dead in sin and makes them holy and blameless and preserves them to salvation.  See “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

From the beginning, Heidelberg Catechism teaches that we belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ, and that because of this relationship as His people, He does everything necessary for our salvation.

Q. 1.  What is thy only comfort in life and death?

 A.  That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ;  who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;  yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.

Likewise, the Canons of Dordt shows an electing God Who does everything necessary for the salvation of His elect.

For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father; that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death;  should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing;  and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.  Article 8 of Head II:  Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby.

Likewise, the Belgic Confession shows this election was made “without any respect to their works”.

Article 16:  Of Eternal Election.

 We believe that all the posterity of Adam being thus fallen into perdition and ruin, by the sin of our first parents, God then did manifest himself such as he is; that is to say, merciful and just:  Merciful, since he delivers and preserves from this perdition all, whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel of mere goodness, hath elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without any respect to their works:  Just, in leaving others in the fall and perdition wherein they have involved themselves.

Likewise, the Westminster Larger Catechism shows His special love to His elect which is not motivated by anything in them.

Question 67:  What is effectual calling? 

Answer:  Effectual calling is the work of God’s almighty power and grace, whereby (out of his free and special love to his elect, and from nothing in them moving him thereunto) he does, in his accepted time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ, by his Word and Spirit; savingly enlightening their minds, renewing and powerfully determining their wills, so as they (although in themselves dead in sin) are hereby made willing and able freely to answer his call, and to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed therein.

Why are we hesitant to embrace this blessed doctrine?  Is not the Almighty Creator able to do such things?

“8 “Drip down, O heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
And righteousness spring up with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.

9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”
11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.”  Isaiah 45:8-11.

—

“15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?  For who resists His will?”  20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?  The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.  25 As He says also in Hosea,

“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”  Romans 9:15-26.