Relationship and Rules

I noticed something in Exodus 19:3-6 I've never seen before. Isn't that how reading God's Word usually is? I like to tell people the Bible is like an ocean: You can dabble your toes in it, or you can wade out so far into the deep that you'll never touch the bottom! Let's keep going deeper!

So here's what the Lord showed me in Exodus 19:3-6. His relationship with us always preceeds His rules for us. You know, this is so important. If we're not careful, we can allow our relationship with Christ to deteriorate into a laundry list of "Thou shalt's" and "Thou shalt not's." But in in Exodus 19:4-6a - the chapter just before God outlines the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20) - God says this to His people: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation" (HCSB).

Did you pick-up on the order here? I think it's crucial. The Lord first tells Israel: "I carried you on eagle's wings." Wow! What a beautiful image, right? Next, God tells Israel: I "brought you to Me." It's clear that the Lord is emphasizing how His relationship with Israel began with HIM. He's the One who took the initiative to form a relationship with His people.

Now, in light of this relationship God created, He calls them to obey Him. So Israel's obedience to God's rules don't form their relationship with God. No. Rather, their obedience to God's rules give evidence of their relationship with God. I like the way Jesus put this same truth in the New Testament: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15, NIV).

It's obvious: Love is the basis for obedience. A relationsihp is the basis for rules. Try thinking of it like this: I didn't walk outside one day, pick out a couple of kids, give them a list of rules, and after they obeyed them for set probation period say to them, "Okay, you guys have been on parol for a few months and now that you've obeyed me, I'm going to call you my sons, Joseph and Joshua!" No, indeed. God brought them into my life - He created our relationship. Now I'm seeking to teach them. Our relationship isn't created from a set of rules. Instead, the rules reveal the relationship already exists!


God loves us, Friends. This is why He gives us His rules. We don't obey to earn our relationship with the Lord. This would mean our works create our relationship with Him, but this isn't the case at all according to Scripture. The Biblical truth is that if we've repented and placed our faith in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection as provision for our salvation, then we're saved by grace through faith alone (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Of course, if we're truly saved, then our faith will bear fruit in the form of works which demonstrate we're God's children (see James 2:14-26).

So here's the bottom-line: Obedience doesn't create your relationship with God, but it does substantiate that your relationship with God is real. Thank God for His grace which creates our relationship with Him, and our response to His great mercy to is "offer [our] bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is [our] spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1b, NIV).