Your Best is not Good Enough

My pastor tells the story of being confronted by a gentleman who wanted to promote that Christians were supposed to keep the commandment to obey the Sabbath Day. My pastor asked the gentleman, "How are you doing at keeping the Sabbath?" He replied, "I am doing my best." To which my pastor said, "Your best is not good enough!" You see, God doesn't require our best effort, God demands perfect obedience to His commands or to suffer the consequences. Those consequences in most cases is death. With that conversation in mind I was reading the comments of Christians in regards to Deuteronomy 13:4. That verse reads, "It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him." Albeit sad, many of the responses were simply "Amen." But, some were more disheartening:

"We must follow HIM - READ HIS WORD - OBEY!!! - serve HIM & others."

"If you love the Lord you will obey his commands! Preach it brothaa!" (sic)

"...sounds like a plan to me and try to do it every day. this should be a mission statement for all of us."

"I will try, with all my heart!"

These few responses represent the attitude of countless Christians. All of them living in the energy of their own flesh trying to be obedient to commands designed to show us that we cannot live up to them. If the nation of Israel, especially its leadership, could not keep all of the commands of God, what makes us believe we can? Human pride and the failure to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in a believers life. This is also the problem that happens when we play "scriptural hopscotch," picking and choosing what scriptures we want to use to justify our biases and beliefs. As often as you hear Christians talk about reading scripture in context, time and time again you notice a total disregard for this rule. This verse in Deuteronomy 13 is no exception.

This passage is written to the nation of Israel in the midst of a warning to them about listening to people who try to lead you into following false gods. Now, there is a general principle hear that can apply to Christians. Of course, we ought not to follow false gods. However, I notice that Christians rarely if ever keep reading in order to see what else is being said by God in these instances. In Deuteronomy 13:5, it says, "That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord..." We live in a day and age where false gods are preached and promoted constantly. Should we put to death those that try to lead us astray? Later in the chapter we read that if a brother, son, daughter, wife or closest friend tries to lead you into following false gods we are to show "him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death (Deuteronomy 13:8-9)." How about obeying this command? Will we try with all our hearts to obey God if it means killing family and friends?

The interesting thing in all of this is that the people who God is telling the nation of Israel to avoid are those who arise from within their own ranks. In other words, fellow Israelites. How many Christian teachers and pastors "prophesy" about different things that either don't come true or lead us astray into false teachings? I had a female pastor, a problem in its own right, try to tell me my future and it didn't come true. Should I have stoned her to death? According to Deuteronomy 13 I should have. Of course, I wouldn't have done it. And that is what is so difficult and impossible about the Law. In fact, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law (Galatians 3:10)." As Christians, we can verbalize all the support we want to by saying we will obey God and do what He commands, but we are just putting ourselves under a curse. We are under a curse, in many ways, because we are dedicating ourselves to living a life we can never live.

Our lives as Christians is not a life of repentance and obedience. It is not a life of trying to pick and choose what laws to obey. God is not impressed by our boasts to try with all our heart to obey him. And His commands are not a mission statement to use like a carrot to give us motivation for our lives. The Bible is clear that the "righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17)." We don't live by law. We don't live by commands. We live by faith in the indwelling Holy Spirit, who guides us from within. Our lives as Christians is a life of faith and trust as we respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ gave His life to us to live His live through us. If we are going to take the law and apply it to ourselves we must obey all of the law. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10)." Whether it is the Sabbath law, a law surrounding the worship of other gods or any other law, we are obligated to obey the entire law or face its consequences. Thankfully, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law so that we can rest from our righteous works of trying to obtain or maintain our right standing before God. Let us believe this truth and rejoice.