Nehemiah 10
Intro
Message
The Signatories
The General Oath of Obedience
So if you’re a married person, let me invite you to renew your commitment to the accurate display of the love between Christ and the church in your marriage. If you’re not married, I call you to commit yourself to marrying only someone who is united with you in the worship of the one true and living God by faith in Christ. Prepare yourself for that by relating to other single people in ways that will lay a foundation for a marriage that displays the gospel.
Keeping the Sabbath is evidence of faith. This commitment to keep the Sabbath is not about legalism. It is a declaration of trust in Yahweh. An old covenant Israelite could only keep the Sabbath by trusting the Lord. A man could not keep the Sabbath apart from faith because there would always be something he would like to be doing
Forgiving debts required the Israelites to believe that God provides; God makes rich. Resting the land required them to believe God’s promise to cause the sixth year to produce enough for three years (Lev 25:21–22).
If an Israelite didn’t trust God, he wouldn’t keep the Sabbath, wouldn’t release debts in the seventh year, and wouldn’t let the land lie fallow.
These commitments were not about legalistic obligations, nor is the covenant we enter into when we join a local church today legalistic. These commitments and obligations that we take upon ourselves are things we do to enjoy the good pleasure of our God.