Christ’s Heavenly Oath and Earthly Confirmation
10/29 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 10; 2 Timothy 1; Hosea 2; Psalm 119:97-120
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10/29 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 10; 2 Timothy 1; Hosea 2; Psalm 119:97-120
Psalm 119:106
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep Your righteous rules.
OATH
Truly, the only one who can swear to perform and confirm to keep God’s righteous rules is the Lord Jesus Christ. At His famous Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do not take an oath at all… Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Matthew 5:34, 37
While a Nazarite vow was commanded in the Law (Num 6:1-21), we have no ability to swear an oath or pledge a vow in and of ourselves. We need a power from outside the weakness of our flesh to keep even the smallest of God’s commands. Today’s verse was prophetic of Christ Jesus, fulfilled by Him in His earthly ministry and ultimately confirmed by His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Twice yearly (and sometimes more often), when we read this verse through our McCheyne Bible reading plan, we should be reminded of the Son of God, who swore in eternity before His incarnation, to keep God’s righteous rules as sinless, perfect Man. He confirmed it during His ministry, or as the KJV expresses it, “will perform it.” Does this mean we do not have to keep God’s righteous rules and judgments? God forbid! Because of Messiah Jesus, because of His atoning sacrifice, because of His amazing grace and mercy to save us from the penalty of sin, and because of His sending the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the power of sin by the life-transforming power of grace and faith, we can keep God’s commands as much as a sinner saved by grace is able. Is God’s Law cast aside because it was fulfilled by Jesus? Certainly not! For it would be evil and faithless to depart from loving truth, doing good, and pleasing God since His…
…law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12
When we are truly saved by God’s grace, obedience to God springs forth joyfully from our lives to love Christ, to honor Christ, to please Christ, and to be conformed to Christ’s character by the providential good God working together for those who love Him (Rom 8:28-29). This is why…
…His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3
God’s commandments inform us how we may please Christ and gives us direction on how we can express our love and gratitude to Jesus for saving us from sin and death. Hallelujah! What a life-changing Savior!