Where the rubber meets the road, part II

No, I'm not shopping for a new vehicle or new tires . . . we are talking this week about when we put our hopes of spiritual renewal to the test. When we really apply the Word of God to our lives, and are determined to make the changes needed to truly live for Him.
We are camped out in the tenth chapter of Nehemiah. Yesterday, we noted that we need to be willing to act as examples for others.
Today's post kinda dovetails in with that -- we need to be an example of personal holiness, based on our understanding of the Word.
Let's look back at Nehemiah 10:

The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand— 29 all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord. (v. 28-29)

That sounds strange to our ears today. We don't do a lot of "binding with a curse and an oath" do we? (Grin) The people joined the leaders in taking on themselves a curse and an oath to obey all of the commandments that God had made known in His law. The law, as set out in Deuteronomy, included blessings for following it, and also cursings for not obeying it fully.
It's a lengthy passage, but you can get a sense of what we are talking about it you turn to the twenty-seventh chapter of Deuteronomy and read from verse fifteen to the end of the chapter. The following chapter gives even more blessings of keeping the covenant, and also more curses that would fall upon those who ignored it.
Some people get pretty anxious when they talk about this. It makes them wonder if Christians are under God's curse if we disobey Him . . . are they?
Well, no.
And yes.
Clear as mud?
Well, it's "no" because if we have trusted in Christ Jesus as our Savior, we do not need to fear God's eternal judgment if we sin.

 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, (Galatians 3:13a)

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

BUT while all of that is true, being "under" grace does not do away with the concept of sowing and reaping!

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

God will discipline His children who disobey Him in order to teach us to fear sinning, and to bring us back to a right relationship with Himself.

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

That is why we strive to be holy:

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

So with an oath and a curse, they are going to make specific commitments.
It's also significant that they are making these commitments, this covenant, along with their kinsmen. It can be very helpful to be part of a group of believers; we can help hold each other accountable in our walk with God. Our Father made us to function as Christ's body, and Paul told us that independent body parts can't function very well all alone (I Corinthians 12).

Lastly, it's significant that they committed themselves to a high standard -- no low expectations here! They said they wanted to "walk in God's law, which was given through Moses....and to ....observe all the commandments of God...."  They affirmed here that they believed in the inspiration and the authority of Moses' writings. They equated them with the Word of their God, YAHWEH. And they were obligating themselves to obey it all.
There are some folks today who reject the fact that the Bible is God's inspired Word. They sit in judgment on it. Some talk about how the Bible was copied and re-copied by men, and translated by other men, etc, etc. Some of them say that certain portions were just Paul's outdated ideas - they don't apply to us today. But I think there is a lot of danger in picking and choosing the parts that we like and pushing aside the parts that we don't like or don't understand.
Absolutely, I will agree with those who say that to apply the Bible correctly, we must interpret it correctly. And that's where the Holy Spirit comes in, as well as our openness to learning and maturing in our discernment and wisdom. Once we do interpret it, and we ask the Spirit to help us understand, then we must obey what is revealed to us SO FAR. We may disagree with others on controversial topics like the roles of men and women in the church, the doctrine of "once saved, always saved," and even pre-destination. But we must compare the Bible with the Bible, and we must pray and ask Him to show us His truth. Then we must obey what He has shown us - and leave the rest for Him to reveal to us in the months or years to come!

We'll talk more about their commitment to God tomorrow.