The Way of Life and the Way of Death

"And to this people you shall say: 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. - Jeremiah 21:8

14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." - Deuteronomy 30:14-20

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Choose Life!

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)

7 "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." 

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry." 

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me." 

21 But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." - Romans 10:5-21

Searching the Deceitful Heart

7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 

8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." 

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 

10 "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."  - Jeremiah 17:7-10

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. - Romans 8:27

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  - Psalm 139:23

But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.  - Jeremiah 11:20

great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. - Jeremiah 32:19

For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.  - Job 34:11

and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.  - Psalm 62:12

Best Passage Ever

God put [Jesus] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)

Romans 3:25–26 may be the most important verses in the Bible.

God is wholly just! And he justifies the ungodly! Really? A just judge acquitting the guilty!

Not either/or! Both! He acquits the guilty, but is not guilty in doing so. This is the greatest news in the world!

“[God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He takes our sin. We take his righteousness.

“By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). Whose flesh? Christ’s. Whose sin condemned in that flesh? Ours. For us then? No condemnation!

“[Christ] bore our sins in his body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24)

“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)

“If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)

If the most terrifying news in the world is that we have fallen under the condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the worth of his glory by pouring out his wrath on our sin . . .

. . . Then the best news in all the world (the gospel!) is that God has decreed and enacted a way of salvation that also upholds the worth of his glory, the honor of his Son, and the eternal salvation of his elect. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

John Piper 

Are you consulting the best?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. Proverbs 1:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Several years ago the investment firm of E. F. Hutton ran a TV ad with the slogan: “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Everyone in the ad suddenly stopped what they were doing and leaned in to hear what Hutton was saying.

If only people had this respect and reverence for God and His Word! That’s the kind of ear we ought to have for the matchless Word of the living God.

If you do not incline your ear, sharpen your hearing, and tune in to God, you’ll miss something. It’s been said that God will not only hold us accountable for what we hear but also for what we would have heard if we had listened!

How important it is that we understand wisdom! You want your children to be wise. Well, it’s the purpose of our Father that His children be wise. God desires for you to be wise. The teacher of wisdom is the Holy Spirit. We are to incline our ears to Him, listening to our teacher. Jesus said He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

ACTION POINT:

Do you take notes when your pastor teaches? Maybe it’s time to start. Do you need wisdom for decisions you must make today? Do you want guidance from the One who knows everything about everything, and knows the past, present and future? Inquire of Him and tune you ears to listen.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God’s Wise Mercy

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23–24)

Over against the terrifying news that we have fallen under the condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the worth of his glory by pouring out eternal wrath on our sin, there is the wonderful news of the gospel.

This is a truth no one can ever learn from nature. The truth of the gospel has to be told to neighbors and preached in churches and carried by missionaries.

The good news is that God himself has decreed a way to satisfy the demands of his justice without condemning the whole human race.

Hell is one way to settle accounts with sinners and uphold his justice. But there is another way. God provided another way. This is the gospel.

The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God. There it is. The gospel. Let me say it again slowly: The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God.

And what is this wisdom? The death of the Son of God for sinners! “We preach Christ crucified . . . the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24).

The death of Christ is the wisdom of God by which the love of God saves sinners from the wrath of God, all the while upholding and demonstrating the righteousness of God in Christ.

John Piper 

Has your mouth gotten you in trouble this week?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Your tongue can get you into a lot of trouble. Nothing can do more damage to your relationships than your words.

Proverbs 17:27 says, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words.” Now, there’s a seeming contradiction—if you have knowledge, if you’re so smart, why wouldn’t you speak a lot? But it’s saying, “If you’re smart, you won’t talk so much.” When you do talk, bear in mind the warning, “Keep your words warm and sweet; later you may have to eat them.”

There’s an old saying I heard a rabbi use once: 

“The ears are open and out. They’re unguarded. But the tongue is behind ivory bars.”

• When you’re talking, you’re not learning.

• When you’re not learning, you’re not communicating. 

• When you’re not communicating, there will be no intimacy in your relationships.

ACTION POINT:

In what ways has your mouth gotten you into trouble this week? Confess those times before the Lord and ask for strength and wisdom to be a better communicator. And look for opportunities to listen more.

LWF Adrian Rogers

Our Good Is God’s Delight

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.” (Jeremiah 32:40–41)

God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are one and the same pursuit. God’s quest to be glorified and our quest to be satisfied reach their goal in this one experience: our delight in God, which overflows in praise.

For God, praise is the sweet echo of his own excellence in the hearts of his people.

For us, praise is the summit of satisfaction that comes from living in fellowship with God.

The stunning implication of this discovery is that all the omnipotent energy that drives the heart of God to pursue his own glory also drives him to satisfy the hearts of those who seek their joy in him.

The good news of the Bible is that God is not at all disinclined to satisfy the hearts of those who hope in him. Just the opposite: The very thing that can make us happiest is what God delights in with all his heart and with all his soul. These are amazing words: “I will rejoice in doing them good . . . with all my heart and all my soul” (Jeremiah 32:41).

With all his heart and with all his soul, God joins us in the pursuit of our everlasting joy because the consummation of that joy in him redounds to the glory of his own infinite worth.

John Piper