To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
God requires his people to fear him, to walk in his ways, to love him and to serve him with all the heart and soul by keeping his commandments and his statutes. Those commandments, especially the ten written by his own finger, express his character and will and the duty of humanity. They were given in love for present and eternal good, to elevate and ennoble those who keep them and to bring them into harmony with heaven. Sin weakened human power to obey and to discern right from wrong, so fallen people cannot meet that perfect standard by themselves, and the standard cannot be lowered to meet their weakness. God did not lower the requirement but gave Christ to live the law in humanity and to impart power, so that those born of God and softened by the Holy Spirit can share the divine nature and live in obedience. Keeping them is the way to life and blessing, even to prolonged life, full provision, and entrance to the tree of life and the new Jerusalem, while disobedience turns blessing into condemnation and death; this calls parents to keep them perfectly through God-given power and to teach their children to do the same, and calls all to practical godliness in mercy to the poor, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, in health, speech and daily conduct.
Context and Meaning
To keep the commandments and statutes is the completing part of what God requires, to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him with all the heart and with all the soul, and this keeping is for good. Obedience belongs within that life of fearing, loving, and serving God and walking in His ways, and it brings well-being and prolonged life in the land. God's directions are to be observed carefully, from the greatest to what may seem least, including by those carrying sacred responsibilities whose conduct and service should honor the truths entrusted to them.
The requirement was spoken through Moses in his rehearsal to Israel, including chapter 11, when backsliding Israel was about to enter Canaan, the promised land. The same requirement applied when God led Israel in the wilderness and when Christ came among them. It speaks just as truly now to each person, and to Christian churches today, and with special force and meaning to Seventh-day Adventists.
The teacher speaking through Moses was Christ Himself, who definitely instructed His people and gave them special rules to live by. With the richest blessings in store on obedience, His word to His people is not yes and no but always yes and amen. Disobedience turns what would have been the greatest blessing into condemnation.
The commandments and statutes, especially the ten commandments written with God's own finger on two tables of stone, are an expression and transcript of His character and reveal His will and man's duty. They were graciously revealed to enlighten understanding about His motives in urging obedience. Keeping them as God gave them leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem, and this requirement is to be presented to people unacquainted with God's holy law.
Keeping them means becoming acquainted with God's Word in order to obey it. It means remembering and meditating on His law and rendering unswerving obedience to it, and keeping and doing His expressed will, lest it be forgotten. The requirements in Deuteronomy 10:12-22 were to be framed into song and sung in the congregations of Israel lest they forget them.
Obedience is owed because heaven and earth belong to God, because He delighted in the fathers and chose Israel and their seed above all people, which shows how great are the privileges of the people God chose to serve Him. It is owed because He is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and terrible, who shows no partiality and takes no bribe, who executes judgment for the fatherless and widow and loves the stranger by giving food and clothing.
The words for thy good mean the law was given in love for present and eternal good, for the people's highest good — harmony with heaven — to elevate and ennoble them. Keeping it is their privilege, bringing every spiritual advantage according to God's promises. Prosperity is hidden with God in Christ and depends on humility and meekness and wholehearted obedience and devotion to Him.
Christ and the Blessing
What is asked is perfection of character through remembering and meditating on the law and rendering unswerving obedience in fearing, walking, loving, and serving with all heart and soul, yet sin has degraded humanity and weakened both the power to obey and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, so sinful people cannot by themselves meet the standard of righteousness, and the law as that standard cannot be lowered to accommodate human weakness. God did not lower the requirement but gave Christ to live the law in humanity and supply power to overcome sin. By sharing His divine nature, those weakened by sin can also live in obedience to it.
That power is given to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, who are born of God and receive of His fullness grace for grace. Their hearts are softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit as they submit to be worked by Him rather than thinking to work Him, placing themselves under God's control to do their duty. So established they stand on vantage ground, knowing where they stand, walking in the light, giving their best service, receiving grace and love, and refusing false lures by standing firmly on eternal truth. In that surrender they turn from fierce passion as grievous sin.
Prosperity is hidden with God in Christ and depends on humility and meekness and wholehearted obedience and devotion to Him. He judges service in truth and righteousness by incorruptible principles and is no respecter of persons. Diligent, obedient love and service brings promised well-being and prolonged life in the land. That includes rain in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, corn and wine and oil, and grass for cattle so they may eat and be full. Keeping the commandments as given, written with His own finger on two tables of stone, leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem.
Keeping the law is the way to perfection of Christian character and to life, while disobedience turns what would have been the greatest blessing into condemnation. Obedience means life and disobedience means death, with life and death set before parents and children and the strongest motives given to choose life. Transgression of the law brings disease as its sure result and brings God's displeasure, including in the laws of health. The fear and love of God lead to cheerful and wholehearted obedience, not only for His glory but for present and eternal good and harmony with heaven.
Obedience in Daily Life
The verse is a word to parents about the preparation they and their children must receive before admission to the heavenly family, requiring fearing God, walking in all His ways, loving Him and serving Him with all the heart and soul by keeping His commandments and statutes for their good. Parents must keep the commandments perfectly through power given by God, which is given to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, who are born not of blood nor of man but of God and who receive of His fullness grace for grace. The requirement binds parents to teach their children to obey and reverence God's law, and those who honor God by keeping His commandments and teaching them to their children are holy and sanctified.
Obedience is a life-or-death question, for obedience means life and disobedience means death, with life and death set before parents and children and the strongest motives presented to induce them to choose life. Parents' words and actions mold their children's characters for this life and the life to come. Where children are not diligently instructed to keep the way of the Lord the enemy occupies their thoughts, God is forgotten, and Satan stamps his image and principles upon their hearts, with evil transmitted to children's children and curses prepared for future generations. Failure to follow God's plan in the home displeases Him and causes Him to remove His blessing from parents and children, producing the irreverence common in the world, which faithful home obedience would prevent.
Keeping the commandments and statutes is for the people's own good, and God's directions are to be observed carefully, from the greatest to what may seem least. This keeping includes the laws of health, and transgressing them brings God's displeasure. It includes carefulness in speech and deportment, because carelessness, cheapness of speech, and frivolity hinder spirituality. Those carrying sacred responsibilities and connected with sacred duties must honor the truths entrusted to them, watch their conversations, put away all cheap talk and let others see no frivolity in word or work, but walk circumspectly in self-denial and the virtues of Christ's character and become intelligent workers and wise counselors. Walking circumspectly in this obedience opens the way to receive much of the Holy Spirit day by day, and the setting that heaven and earth belong to God and that He delighted in the fathers and chose their seed above all people shows how great are the privileges of the people God chose to serve Him.
Given as Israel was about to enter the promised land, the requirement is practical godliness for human good, opposing formalism and forgetting to show mercy. True religion joins wholehearted love and obedience to God with doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly. Its purpose is reflected in just treatment of others, including the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. This counsel has been repeated from age to age and is summed up in love to God and love to neighbor, on which hang all the law and the prophets.
The requirement is to be borne in mind and circulated, and when traced out and presented to people unacquainted with God's holy law it has special influence on the worker and great weight to influence many in the right way. Keeping the commandments as God gave them, written with His own finger on two tables of stone, leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem. This keeping of the law points out a denominational, distinct and peculiar people who stand free from all worldly policy and unembarrassed by confederating with those who do not discern the claims of God in His law, and who as Seventh-day Adventists represent the various features of gospel missionary work to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. It means especially much to Seventh-day Adventists, warning against going more and more after worldly ambitious display and being converted by the world and the nominal churches to their ideas, and calling to act in obedience instead of making too little of what God says.
God requires his people to fear him, to walk in his ways, to love him and to serve him with all the heart and soul by keeping his commandments and his statutes. Those commandments, especially the ten written by his own finger, express his character and will and the duty of humanity. They were given in love for present and eternal good, to elevate and ennoble those who keep them and to bring them into harmony with heaven. Sin weakened human power to obey and to discern right from wrong, so fallen people cannot meet that perfect standard by themselves, and the standard cannot be lowered to meet their weakness. God did not lower the requirement but gave Christ to live the law in humanity and to impart power, so that those born of God and softened by the Holy Spirit can share the divine nature and live in obedience. Keeping them is the way to life and blessing, even to prolonged life, full provision, and entrance to the tree of life and the new Jerusalem, while disobedience turns blessing into condemnation and death; this calls parents to keep them perfectly through God-given power and to teach their children to do the same, and calls all to practical godliness in mercy to the poor, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, in health, speech and daily conduct.
Context and Meaning
To keep the commandments and statutes is the completing part of what God requires, to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him with all the heart and with all the soul, and this keeping is for good. Obedience belongs within that life of fearing, loving, and serving God and walking in His ways, and it brings well-being and prolonged life in the land. God's directions are to be observed carefully, from the greatest to what may seem least, including by those carrying sacred responsibilities whose conduct and service should honor the truths entrusted to them.
The requirement was spoken through Moses in his rehearsal to Israel, including chapter 11, when backsliding Israel was about to enter Canaan, the promised land. The same requirement applied when God led Israel in the wilderness and when Christ came among them. It speaks just as truly now to each person, and to Christian churches today, and with special force and meaning to Seventh-day Adventists.
The teacher speaking through Moses was Christ Himself, who definitely instructed His people and gave them special rules to live by. With the richest blessings in store on obedience, His word to His people is not yes and no but always yes and amen. Disobedience turns what would have been the greatest blessing into condemnation.
The commandments and statutes, especially the ten commandments written with God's own finger on two tables of stone, are an expression and transcript of His character and reveal His will and man's duty. They were graciously revealed to enlighten understanding about His motives in urging obedience. Keeping them as God gave them leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem, and this requirement is to be presented to people unacquainted with God's holy law.
Keeping them means becoming acquainted with God's Word in order to obey it. It means remembering and meditating on His law and rendering unswerving obedience to it, and keeping and doing His expressed will, lest it be forgotten. The requirements in Deuteronomy 10:12-22 were to be framed into song and sung in the congregations of Israel lest they forget them.
Obedience is owed because heaven and earth belong to God, because He delighted in the fathers and chose Israel and their seed above all people, which shows how great are the privileges of the people God chose to serve Him. It is owed because He is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and terrible, who shows no partiality and takes no bribe, who executes judgment for the fatherless and widow and loves the stranger by giving food and clothing.
The words for thy good mean the law was given in love for present and eternal good, for the people's highest good — harmony with heaven — to elevate and ennoble them. Keeping it is their privilege, bringing every spiritual advantage according to God's promises. Prosperity is hidden with God in Christ and depends on humility and meekness and wholehearted obedience and devotion to Him.
Christ and the Blessing
What is asked is perfection of character through remembering and meditating on the law and rendering unswerving obedience in fearing, walking, loving, and serving with all heart and soul, yet sin has degraded humanity and weakened both the power to obey and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, so sinful people cannot by themselves meet the standard of righteousness, and the law as that standard cannot be lowered to accommodate human weakness. God did not lower the requirement but gave Christ to live the law in humanity and supply power to overcome sin. By sharing His divine nature, those weakened by sin can also live in obedience to it.
That power is given to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, who are born of God and receive of His fullness grace for grace. Their hearts are softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit as they submit to be worked by Him rather than thinking to work Him, placing themselves under God's control to do their duty. So established they stand on vantage ground, knowing where they stand, walking in the light, giving their best service, receiving grace and love, and refusing false lures by standing firmly on eternal truth. In that surrender they turn from fierce passion as grievous sin.
Prosperity is hidden with God in Christ and depends on humility and meekness and wholehearted obedience and devotion to Him. He judges service in truth and righteousness by incorruptible principles and is no respecter of persons. Diligent, obedient love and service brings promised well-being and prolonged life in the land. That includes rain in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, corn and wine and oil, and grass for cattle so they may eat and be full. Keeping the commandments as given, written with His own finger on two tables of stone, leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem.
Keeping the law is the way to perfection of Christian character and to life, while disobedience turns what would have been the greatest blessing into condemnation. Obedience means life and disobedience means death, with life and death set before parents and children and the strongest motives given to choose life. Transgression of the law brings disease as its sure result and brings God's displeasure, including in the laws of health. The fear and love of God lead to cheerful and wholehearted obedience, not only for His glory but for present and eternal good and harmony with heaven.
Obedience in Daily Life
The verse is a word to parents about the preparation they and their children must receive before admission to the heavenly family, requiring fearing God, walking in all His ways, loving Him and serving Him with all the heart and soul by keeping His commandments and statutes for their good. Parents must keep the commandments perfectly through power given by God, which is given to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, who are born not of blood nor of man but of God and who receive of His fullness grace for grace. The requirement binds parents to teach their children to obey and reverence God's law, and those who honor God by keeping His commandments and teaching them to their children are holy and sanctified.
Obedience is a life-or-death question, for obedience means life and disobedience means death, with life and death set before parents and children and the strongest motives presented to induce them to choose life. Parents' words and actions mold their children's characters for this life and the life to come. Where children are not diligently instructed to keep the way of the Lord the enemy occupies their thoughts, God is forgotten, and Satan stamps his image and principles upon their hearts, with evil transmitted to children's children and curses prepared for future generations. Failure to follow God's plan in the home displeases Him and causes Him to remove His blessing from parents and children, producing the irreverence common in the world, which faithful home obedience would prevent.
Keeping the commandments and statutes is for the people's own good, and God's directions are to be observed carefully, from the greatest to what may seem least. This keeping includes the laws of health, and transgressing them brings God's displeasure. It includes carefulness in speech and deportment, because carelessness, cheapness of speech, and frivolity hinder spirituality. Those carrying sacred responsibilities and connected with sacred duties must honor the truths entrusted to them, watch their conversations, put away all cheap talk and let others see no frivolity in word or work, but walk circumspectly in self-denial and the virtues of Christ's character and become intelligent workers and wise counselors. Walking circumspectly in this obedience opens the way to receive much of the Holy Spirit day by day, and the setting that heaven and earth belong to God and that He delighted in the fathers and chose their seed above all people shows how great are the privileges of the people God chose to serve Him.
Given as Israel was about to enter the promised land, the requirement is practical godliness for human good, opposing formalism and forgetting to show mercy. True religion joins wholehearted love and obedience to God with doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly. Its purpose is reflected in just treatment of others, including the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. This counsel has been repeated from age to age and is summed up in love to God and love to neighbor, on which hang all the law and the prophets.
The requirement is to be borne in mind and circulated, and when traced out and presented to people unacquainted with God's holy law it has special influence on the worker and great weight to influence many in the right way. Keeping the commandments as God gave them, written with His own finger on two tables of stone, leads to right to the tree of life and abundant entrance into the new Jerusalem. This keeping of the law points out a denominational, distinct and peculiar people who stand free from all worldly policy and unembarrassed by confederating with those who do not discern the claims of God in His law, and who as Seventh-day Adventists represent the various features of gospel missionary work to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. It means especially much to Seventh-day Adventists, warning against going more and more after worldly ambitious display and being converted by the world and the nominal churches to their ideas, and calling to act in obedience instead of making too little of what God says.