Deuteronomy 7:1-8 – The Same Message – Bible study

Deuteronomy 7:1-8 The Same Message Some people think that the Bible is a split book. They think the message of the Old and New Testaments are different. I have met someand they were good Christian peoplewho believed that the Old Testament taught one plan of salvation, one of works, while the New Testament taught another, one of grace. This morning, I would like to use two passages of Scripture to dispel that thought. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Notice this Bible passage points out a privilege given by God and a responsibility to be performed by men. 1. The privilege which God gives is His love and salvation. 2. The responsibility of men is to believe. Please note that division and the privilege and look with me at Deuteronomy 7. Read \#Duet 7:1-8\. Now my time is limited but I want to point out the privileges that God offered in the Old Testament. I will hit on the responsibilities of the Jews, but I will not be able to elaborate on it as much as I would like for the sake of time. Please notice that both of the passages is giving essentially The Same Message. What are the privileges God offered? I. God offers to LOVE. A. \#7,8,13\ 1. \#7\ God tells us why He will NOT love us. 2. \#8\ God tells us why He will love us. 3. \#13\ God tells us how He will love us. B. \#7\ Why God will not love us. Deut 7:7 The LORD did NOT set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people: 1. God does not love us because of WHO or WHAT we are. 2. God is not impressed by how cute you are, how strong you are, how smart you are, or how wealthy you are. C. \#8\ God loves us because He had promised to love us. 1. God loved the Jews because He promised Abraham He would. Deut 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers. 2. But God made a promise to you too. John 3:16 D. How does God love us? 1. God answered that in \#vs 13\, but I will get to that verse in a moment. 2. Apart from that text, let me share that God loves us in two ways. a. God loves us with an emotional love. (1) I often say that love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling. And it is not. (2) But love is an emotion and God has feelings for you. (3) How do I know? Because we are made in Gods image and we have feeling for the people we love. (4) I think the reason we dont want to think about God feeling something for us is that we dont want to feel obligated to have feelings for God. (5) What do you feel for God? (a) appreciation and gratitude (b) loyalty (c) devotion (d) love (6) Be careful because there is a test to find out. b. God loves us with His actions. (1) Love is not just an emotion. It is also actions. (2) Gods demonstration of love is revealed in John 3:16. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (3) You say that you love God. (a) What actions have you made as a result of that love? (b) The first two are to repent and believe. (c) Others are outlined in this text in the responsibilities that God listed. II. \#6\ God offers to choose you. Deut 7:6 the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. A. The Bible clearly states, both in the Old and New Testament, that God chooses His people. 1. That has caused some false teaching to re-arise in the church in recent years. 2. It is called Calvinism. 3. Calvinism was taught in the church a lot during the 1600-1800s. 4. Calvinists would say that we turned from the truth when the church turned from Calvinism. I would say that we started reading our Bibles instead of listening to men. B. Calvinism is the belief that God randomly chooses some for heaven and some for hell. 1. That is not what the Bible says. 2. If you believe in Calvinism, you do not believe in the Gospel (the good news). a. There is no good news if God randomly selects some for heaven and some for hell. b. Even if you are selected for heaven, you wont know it because it does not matter what you believe or do, it will be up to God when you get there. c. And it certainly is not good news if you are not one of the selected. 3. There is no contradiction is Gods sovereignty and mans ability to repent and accept Jesus as their Savior. C. God chooses His children much like I chose mine. 1. When Kathy and I got married, we chose our children. s. We did not know their names or personalities then. b. We did not know that they would be the most beautiful children ever to be born. c. We did not know that they would be the most talented children ever to be born. d. We did not know that they would parent the best grandchildren to be born. e. We did not chose them to be ours because of WHO they would be but of HOW they would be born. f. They would be ours because they would be borne by the union of us. 2. Neither did God chose His children based on WHO they were. a. He tell us that in \#7\. b. He chose who would be His children not on WHO they were but HOW they would be born. c. God chose those that would repent of their sins and believe on His Son, Jesus, to be His children. 3. I heard a story years ago. I do not know if it has in basis in fact or not, but it illustrates the point. a. Wealthy man and woman have one son whom they love immensely. He is killed in the war and they never get over it. Eventually the wife dies and the husband writes his final will before his death. There is to be an action of his treasures and the proceeds would be distributed according to the will. The auction is set and the first item to bid is a portrait of his son. No one wants it until the lawyer said, "If no one purchases this picture, the auction will be cancelled." Someone bids $1 another $5, then an old man stands and bids $100. He was the masters servant, was there when the son was born, and loved him. He bid all that he had because he could not bear the picture to be disregarded. No one else made bid. The lawyer said the auction was complete and everything would go to the servant. When asked why he explained, "The father did not know who would bid for his son, but he degreed anyone who loved his son enough to purchase the portrait, could have all that he had." b. God has not picked who will be saved. He picked how they would be saved. They would be saved by loving His Son. c. If you will be sorry for your sins and trust what Jesus did on the cross, you have been chosen by God! III. \#8\ God offers to redeem you. Deut 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. A. We dont use that word "redeemed" much anymore but it is a great word. 1. It is used over 100 times in the Old Testament and more than 20 in the New. 2. It means to buy back. The idea is that it was yours, but is not, and you want it back enough to pay for it again. B. In the Old Testament, you could redeem land, houses, even clothing. C. The problem with redeeming an object is twofold: 1. It may be overpriced. 2. It may be substandard quality. D. The reason most people redeem an object is because the object has a sentimental or personal value. E. God is offering to redeem us. 1. We are definitely overpriced and of substandard quality, but God loves us. 2. God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus to die for us on the cross. 3. That was the payment for our redemption. 4. By making that payment, God has offered to buy us out of hell, away from sin, and from the devil. 5. That is why we work so hard to get so many boys and girls to VBS. We want them to know God wants to redeem them! F. Your chief responsibility is still to repent and believe. IV. \#13-15\ God has offered to bless you. A. God promises health, wealth, protection, and peace. B. I do not have time to go into any more of the responsibilities that God expects from us, but notice that the privileges are pretty much the same. It is the Same Message.