But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
The commandment is not hidden or far off, not in heaven so that someone must go up to bring it down, and not beyond the sea so that someone must go over to bring it, but is very near, in the mouth and in the heart, so that it may be heard and done. It is the voice of the Lord to be hearkened to by keeping His commandments and statutes written in the book of the law and by turning to Him with all the heart and with all the soul. It was spoken to Israel who had chosen to serve God, in the setting of return from exile when the people were called to turn back to God and obey Him with all the heart and with all the soul.
The same call comes to those living in 1897, urging those who have backslidden to return without delay, to return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments. Doing the near word means hearkening to the voice of the Lord by keeping His commandments, statutes, and judgments written in the book of the law, loving the Lord, walking in His ways, obeying His voice, cleaving to Him, and turning to Him with all the heart and with all the soul. The command is within reach and can be consistently kept, for God gives no command that people cannot keep, and His law imposes no meaningless customs or burdensome restrictions.
To this obedience belong life and good and blessing against death and evil and cursing. The Lord gives life and multiplication, makes His people plenteous in every work of the hand and in the fruit of the body, cattle, and land for good, rejoices over them for good, and blesses them in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with heaven and earth recording the choice of life that they and their seed may live, for He is life and the length of days. Turning away of heart, refusing to hear, and being drawn away to worship and serve other gods brings sure perishing, death, and loss of days in the land, so the people are urged to choose life, obey God's voice, and remain faithful to Him.
Paul applies this nearness to the word of faith: salvation comes through personal faith in Christ, believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth. This genuine faith is more than intellectual agreement; it embraces Christ as one's own Saviour, gives the heart's affections to Him, and leads to a life shaped by the Holy Spirit and marked by love, and the nearby promise that God circumcises the heart explains that He enables people to love Him with all their heart and soul. The word's principles must be present in the heart and carried out in practice and character, not merely known outwardly, so taking up the truth without conversion does not fulfill the verse.
When the Lord tells parents what He requires He means they shall be obedient, for God has given His law to all the world to govern human intelligences, and parents must obey His Word and diligently instruct their children to love and fear God, to become acquainted with the law, and to obey all the commandments of God. Disregard for the laws of God, despising of His Sabbath, and transgression of the law from generation to generation puts the world in rebellion against God and in controversy with Him and kindles His wrath against its teachers, leaving the world in its present terrible state as in the days of Noah. Israel was instructed to put these commands into song so they would not be forgotten. God provides helpers for His school who keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgment, with His Word in their hearts and in their mouths so they may communicate it to others, and those who have the Word in this way will not call right wrong or light darkness. The Word is the living oracles of God, perfectly adapted to all circumstances and wants, making known the decisions of the highest intelligences about man's duties to God and to his fellow man in practical lessons that cannot be learned elsewhere.
The commandment is not hidden or far off, not in heaven so that someone must go up to bring it down, and not beyond the sea so that someone must go over to bring it, but is very near, in the mouth and in the heart, so that it may be heard and done. It is the voice of the Lord to be hearkened to by keeping His commandments and statutes written in the book of the law and by turning to Him with all the heart and with all the soul. It was spoken to Israel who had chosen to serve God, in the setting of return from exile when the people were called to turn back to God and obey Him with all the heart and with all the soul.
The same call comes to those living in 1897, urging those who have backslidden to return without delay, to return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments. Doing the near word means hearkening to the voice of the Lord by keeping His commandments, statutes, and judgments written in the book of the law, loving the Lord, walking in His ways, obeying His voice, cleaving to Him, and turning to Him with all the heart and with all the soul. The command is within reach and can be consistently kept, for God gives no command that people cannot keep, and His law imposes no meaningless customs or burdensome restrictions.
To this obedience belong life and good and blessing against death and evil and cursing. The Lord gives life and multiplication, makes His people plenteous in every work of the hand and in the fruit of the body, cattle, and land for good, rejoices over them for good, and blesses them in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with heaven and earth recording the choice of life that they and their seed may live, for He is life and the length of days. Turning away of heart, refusing to hear, and being drawn away to worship and serve other gods brings sure perishing, death, and loss of days in the land, so the people are urged to choose life, obey God's voice, and remain faithful to Him.
Paul applies this nearness to the word of faith: salvation comes through personal faith in Christ, believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth. This genuine faith is more than intellectual agreement; it embraces Christ as one's own Saviour, gives the heart's affections to Him, and leads to a life shaped by the Holy Spirit and marked by love, and the nearby promise that God circumcises the heart explains that He enables people to love Him with all their heart and soul. The word's principles must be present in the heart and carried out in practice and character, not merely known outwardly, so taking up the truth without conversion does not fulfill the verse.
When the Lord tells parents what He requires He means they shall be obedient, for God has given His law to all the world to govern human intelligences, and parents must obey His Word and diligently instruct their children to love and fear God, to become acquainted with the law, and to obey all the commandments of God. Disregard for the laws of God, despising of His Sabbath, and transgression of the law from generation to generation puts the world in rebellion against God and in controversy with Him and kindles His wrath against its teachers, leaving the world in its present terrible state as in the days of Noah. Israel was instructed to put these commands into song so they would not be forgotten. God provides helpers for His school who keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgment, with His Word in their hearts and in their mouths so they may communicate it to others, and those who have the Word in this way will not call right wrong or light darkness. The Word is the living oracles of God, perfectly adapted to all circumstances and wants, making known the decisions of the highest intelligences about man's duties to God and to his fellow man in practical lessons that cannot be learned elsewhere.