Did God lower his standard of perfect obedience after man fell?
(Gen. 15:6; 1 Sam. 18:1-4; Eccl. 7:20; Mal. 3:6; Matt. 5:48; Acts 19:43; 1 John 5:10-11) Blog Jun. 13-19, 2021
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: God’s relationship with his people is based on a covenant. The words of God’s covenant are the Ten Commandment. God is holy and his covenant demands holiness. This was true in Eden, at Mount Sinai, and today. The trouble is that since Adam ate the forbidden fruit all we his descendants fall short of that standard both in nature and in actions. But God offers us a new representative in place of the first Adam. God gave his only begotten Son to become one of us and render to God the perfect obedience that we owe to him. In Jesus, God receives, pardons, and justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son. All those immersed into Jesus by faith are partakers of God’s everlasting covenant.
Motives to enter (Gen. 29:14-16; 31:29, 43-55; Deut. 4:37; Josh. 9:3-21; Ruth 3:9-13; 1 Sam. 18:1-4)
1. Why would a person or company desire to make a contract with another person or company? The motives for making a covenant may vary. Some companies or people desire a covenant in order to take advantage of the other party, some seek a mutual advantage, & some enter into a covenant in order to benefit the other party.
2. What covenant did Jacob and Laban make a month after Jacob arrived in Haran? Jacob & his uncle Laban covenanted that Jacob would work for Laban seven years in exchange for Rachel, Laban’s daughter.
3. Why did Laban make a covenant with Jacob after Jacob fled from Haran? Laban made a covenant with Jacob because God spoke to him in a dream, warning him not to harm Jacob or his family.
4. Why did Boaz promise to make a covenant with Ruth? Boaz promised to make a covenant with Ruth because she asked him to do so, because he recognized her kindness in not chasing other men, & because he realized that she was a virtuous woman.
5. Why did Jonathan make a covenant with David? Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved David.
6. Why did Joshua make a covenant with the Gibeonites? Because he was deceived & didn’t seek God first.
7. Why does God make a covenant with his people? God makes a covenant with his people because he loves them & desires to have an intimate relationship with them.
God’s Unchanging Standard (Gen 1:16-17; Lev. 18:5; Eccl. 7:20; Mal. 3:6; Matt. 5:48; 7:14; Acts 14:27; Rom. 2:13; Heb. 11:39-40; Jam. 1:17; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 4:17-18)
8. When God made a covenant with Adam in Eden what did it require? God’s covenant with Adam before the fall required perfect obedience on Adam’s part.
9. Did God lower his standard of perfect obedience after man fell? No, a holy God cannot accept less than perfect obedience – “he changes not.” Jesus repeated God’s standard: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect” & Paul writes that God only accepts those who do the law.
10. Name the human beings, other than Jesus, who attained God’s standard in this life: There are none. Solomon was right when he wrote that even the righteous sin while they are doing good!
11. When Peter writes that even the righteous are “scarcely saved” what does that tell us about entering into God’s covenant? That there is only one way to be part of God’s covenant. “The gate is narrow.”
12. What is that narrow gate that brings one into God’s covenant and leads to life eternal? The narrow gate, like the entrance to the tabernacle, is “the door of faith.”
The Means to Enter (Gen. 15:6, 17-18; 22:8; 1 Sam. 15:22; Acts 10:43; 14:27; Gal. 3:11, 16, 22, 26-29; Eph. 2:8; Jam. 2:18; 1 John 5:10-11)
13. How is it that faith alone gives us entrance into God’s everlasting covenant? Since God’s covenant requires perfect obedience to the Ten Commandments & none of us have this, then we must find this requirement in a Substitute & present it by faith to God.
14. Where can a person find a perfectly righteous substitute acceptable to God? God, himself has provided that perfect Substitute in the gift of his Son, for it was he who walked between the divided animals so Abraham could receive all the blessings of the covenant.
15. If, as Galatians says, all the covenant promises were made to Jesus then where must I be found in order to be part of God’s everlasting covenant? I must be found in Jesus by faith – baptized (immersed) into him.
16. If human obedience is pleasing to God, how is it produced? Obedience is the fruit of faith. Only believers in Jesus can obey God from the heart for they love him who gave all for them.17. What very tragic mistake do many make when dealing with faith and obedience? Many confuse faith with obedience. Faith is NOT obedience. True faith always produces obedience, but we should never say that we are justified (accepted by God) because of our faith. Faith is the means through which we enter God’s covenant but perfect obedience is the basis on which we enter!