What is the Point?
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Our text this morning is taken from Deuteronomy 6:20-25:
“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
May God bless this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.
As Deuteronomy 6:20-25 opens, Moses wants us to imagine ourselves in a typical Hebrew home. The father has been faithfully following the commandment we looked at two weeks ago to diligently teach his children the Law of God (Deut 6:7). One evening, as the father is doing this, his eldest son interjects, “What is the point to all these commandments?”
Moses knows this is going to happen, because it happened to all of us. As a young child, we accepted without question what our parents told us was true, but at some point, usually between the ages of 12-15 we start questioning things. We no longer accept things at face value, we want to know why.
The answer to the son’s question is found in vs. 24, but before the father answers the son’s question, he wisely does something else—he tells the son what is NOT the point of the Law. Most people wrongly assume that obedience to the Law is the way we win God’s favor and earn our salvation. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In vss. 20-23, he recounts God’s sovereign election of Israel and God’s great Old Covenant act of salvation—the Exodus. God’s election of Abraham and His deliverance of Israel from slavery happened before the Law was given on Mt. Sinai!
God’s favor (that is His grace), is always free and sovereign. Moses had learned this in a very dramatic way when God’s glory passed before him and God said to Moses, “ I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Ex 33:19). In addition, God elected and saved Israel before Mount Sinai, not after! As Paul reminded the Galatians, “no one is justified before God by the law” (Gal 2:16, 3:11).
Consequently, the Law is not the way we win God’s favor, nor is it the way we earn our salvation. So, what is the Law good for? What is the point?
Having clarified what the Law cannot be used for, father gives his answer in vs. 24:
It Teaches Us the Fear of the LORD
It Guides Us Along the Good Path
It Preserves Our Lives
We Begin with the Fear of the LORD.
It Teaches Us the Fear the LORD
It Teaches Us the Fear the LORD
Proverbs 9:10 says:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
How does the Law teach us the fear of the LORD?
It does this by revealing to us the character of God. In Romans 7:12, Paul says that the commandments are “holy, righteous and good”. They are “holy, righteous and good” because God is “holy, righteous and good”. God’s laws are a reflection of Him. The more we reflect upon the holiness, righteousness and goodness of all of God’s commandments, the better we understand who God is.
Our God is a holy God. He is without sin, and He cannot abide by sin. He will judge it. Many mistaken God’s patience and mercy for tolerance. God is totally intolerant of sin and all sin will be judged. This should cause us to fear the LORD.
Our God is also righteous. That is, He is without fault in all His ways. His intolerance of sin and His judgement of it is the right thing to do. Many people accuse God of being in the wrong. Saying things such as, “If God were loving, He would not send anyone to hell.” or “If God were good, He would not allow suffering.” God is never wrong, He is altogether righteous, and the more we meditate upon God’s Law the more clearly, we can see this.
Finally, our God is good, and the commandments are a reflection of His goodness. He has no “plan B”, because everything He does and decrees is perfect. He always chooses the “best good”! Each and every one of God’s commandments is His “best good” for you. We think we are choosing a better path when we disobey God’s laws, but we are not, we are choosing a path that will eventually lead to destruction and death! To put it another way, “All roads lead to Hell, except the Kings Highway, which is His holy, righteous and good Law”!
This is why the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
The second thing the wise father tells his son is this: The Law Guides Us Along the Good Path
It Guides Us Along the Good Path
It Guides Us Along the Good Path
I already spoke of this in the first point. The Scripture teaches us that there are two ways and only two ways. Jesus said:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
How do recognize the good way?
Some people say that all we need is love. They will point to such passages as this:
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
However, upon closer reflection, Paul is clearly not saying that “all we need is love.” Romans 12-15 is full of moral imperatives, that is commandments. Why is the New Testament filled with moral imperatives if “all we need is love”?
Both the New and Old Testaments are filled with commandments, because they show us what love looks like. In the history of this world, all sorts of evil has been done in the name of love. We need to know what real love looks like and the Law of God is our Guide!
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
This brings us to the final point. The Law preserves our lives.
It Preserves Our Lives
It Preserves Our Lives
Earlier I spoke of the two ways: one way leading to life and the other way leading to death. This was not mere rhetorical flourish, it is reality! Beginning in Romans 6:1, Paul addresses those who want to use the grace of God as an excuse for living a life of lawlessness.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
This error is so serious that Paul takes two and a half chapter to address it. As he concludes he says:
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Paul is saying that obedience to God’s laws is a life and death matter. He says this not because obedience is the cause of our salvation, but the fruit of salvation. It reveals who has the Holy Spirit and who does not.
What is the “flesh” you ask? The “flesh” is our sinful nature.
How do we recognize the “flesh”? The “flesh” is anything within us that is not in obedience to God’s Law. Once identified, these things we must destroy by the power of the Holy Spirit. This verse in not speaking of moral perfection (we will not be perfected unto we are in glory), rather this passage is speaking of Spiritual Warfare. Next Sunday, when we look at Deuteronomy 7, we will look in depth at the topic of Spiritual Warfare, but let me speak briefly upon it now in order that we can understand how the Law of God keeps us alive.
The destruction of the inhabitants of the Promised Land onetime event, and it was done for very specific and unique reasons. After this event, God’s people were never again to wage a holy war against other human beings. However, this does not mean we are not to wage holy war against sin and Satan. Paul describes this spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6. There, he tells us that part of our combat “kit”the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This sword is a double-edged sword, with the promises of God on one side and the commandments of God on the other. By promises and commandments of God we identify sin within us and kill it! If we do not, sin and Satan will kill us!
So, what is the point? The point of the Law is that it:
Teaches Us the Fear of God
Guides Us Along the Good Path
Preserves Our Lives