About to cross the Jordan River into the promised land God commanded His people to build an altar to help them remember and to teach future generations the gracious redemption of Jehovah for His people. The stone monument was to be covered with plaster, and the law He had given them was to be inscribed on it (Deuteronomy 27).
Moses declared a solemn pronouncement of Israel’s identity: “Keep silence and hear, O Israel, today you have become the people of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:9). You are who God says you are, and that carries with it implications for life and behavior.
The leaders of Israel were called to make pronouncements over sinful behaviors. These pronouncements declared that when one practices attitudes or actions contrary to God’s character and purpose, they put themselves on the path of disaster. Another way to put it is, sin makes you stupid and is self-destructive.
Eight sinful practices are listed in this chapter alone: fear and discontentment can lead you to idolatry (15), dishonoring parents flows from ingratitude (16), disregard for a neighbor’s boundaries is a result of greed (17), exploiting a neighbor's disability is cruelty (18), perverting justice betrays condescending partiality (19), sexual perversion comes from uncontrolled urges (20-23), hatred – indifference for another’s life – is murder (24-25), and lastly, moral indifference will lead to disaster (26). The monument, the declaration of their identity, and the pronouncements (Deuteronomy 27-28) were a constant call to God’s people to remember who they were, what God had done, and the inferences for their behavior.
Thankfully the progression of God’s revelation discloses to us the fulfillment of this covenant, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Now in Christ there is a new altar, “My law written on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 10:16), says the Lord. And the declaration of God is that in Christ we are justified, we are acceptable before holy God because we have received Christ’s righteousness. In this reality the implication on the believer’s life and behavior is “so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).
Even in this freedom and rest there remains for us – under the sun – a battle against the distractions of sin through our affections, appetites, and attitudes. This compels us to live at the altar – the reminder of who we are in Christ, and what He has done to make it possible. The altar is not a thing or an event, but a Person – a relationship with the benevolent Sovereign who loves us and gives Himself to us (grace). Living at the altar means a pursuit of that Person.
Unfortunately, we have recently been made aware – yet again – of the moral failure of a high-profile Christian leader. A highly sought after conference speaker, author, and church preacher, this man was on the road a lot. It was discovered and confessed that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a woman for an extended time meaning much of his preaching had been done in deceit and hypocrisy. The news dismayed many young pastors and seminarians who admired this leader.
Among the responses from influential leaders, one said, “You won’t have sex with a woman not your wife if you are never alone in a room with a woman not your wife.” While this is true, it is little more than sin management. External boundaries have their place in our fight against temptations as Paul stated, “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). But external rules (sin management) are an incomplete answer. Paul also said, “they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23). So, one might ask, what resource and ability does the Christian have to keep from getting trapped in stupid sins?
Think about it – this admired author, pastor and conference speaker was very busy for God, but he was not walking with God. He was not living at the altar – in a passionate pursuit of God, delighting in Him so that his wandering heart would be bound to the One who alone is our highest good and deepest satisfaction. Too often, Christians mistake their busyness for God as their walk with God. They are not the same.
Paul makes it clear that our position has profound implications for our affections and attitudes. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1–2). An altar is a place of communion and sacrifice. For the one who belongs to God it is a habitual space in your life of undisturbed communion where you seek God and delight in him with all your heart & soul. You draw near to God.
When you draw near, the loving Father speaks to you through His self-disclosure. You contemplate His words and meditate on them. And you respond to Him with adoration, confession, and thanks, surrendering yourself to Him anew each time. Even more, He has promised that when you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you! Living at the altar will captivate our heart, binding it to Him (See John 14:23). Out of this, the practical daily good thing for us in the battle is cleansing our sinful hands and purifying our double-minded hearts (James 4:8).
Practicing the presence of God in this way will find us abiding in Christ. Jesus invites His followers to abide in him like a branch abides in the vine drawing fruit-producing life from it (John 15:5). John’s striking statement is, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin” (1 John 3:6 NKJV). The apostle – with an absolute negative – is pointing out wo mutually exclusive activities, practicing sin and abiding in Christ. You cannot do both at the same time. Jesus left us an example so we could walk in His steps, encourages Peter. As we pursue Him, we become like Him. Then we will practice the qualities that reflect His character, and in practicing these qualities, he asserts, we “will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).
When you are drawing near to the Father and walking in Jesus’ steps you are walking in the Spirit. When you walk in the Spirit you “will not gratify the selfish desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Jesus said that His Spirit “will teach you and bring to remembrance all that I have said” (Jn. 14:25). He illuminates God’s self-disclosure to us, and the Holy Spirit in us is our ability to follow Jesus and abide in His word which frees us from being crippled in bondage. The Spirit of God works with the word of God informing and transforming our affections (what we love) and attitudes (how we think), so we can practically affirm in our life experience what the Psalmist expressed, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
What is more, “His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” and by Him we cry out, “Abba, Father!” Such a cry expresses the satisfying sense that we are fully loved, supplied, and protected. We shall not want.
Romans 8:13-14 summarizes it well: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Yielding to the lure of selfish desires comes from feeding out of the dumpster of self-preeminence. Count on the fact that it will end in disaster.
But living at the altar offers us a banquet for our highest good and deepest satisfaction. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). In Christ, we have the selective power of what occupies our hearts (affections) and minds (attitudes). Paul Tripp accurately states, “Sin is a battle of the heart and is won or lost there.” Living at the altar – delighting in the Trinity – must be where we are labor-intensive. It means we never lose the wonder of a passionate pursuit of God. This will bind our wandering hearts to Him.
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