Christians will regularly say or sing about their love for God and Christ. Sometimes I wonder if they understand how that should look. Writing on Deuteronomy 6-8, Justin Fuhrmann gives a good solid answer to this question based on his study:
Deut 6:5 and what follows should be understood as an exposition on what it means to love Yahweh by keeping Yahweh's commandments, as demanded in the second commandment: "[for Yahweh shows] love to a thousand generations of those who love [Yahweh] and keep [Yahweh's] commandments" (Deut 5:10). In this light, the term "love" carries connotations that transcend the typical understanding of love in our twenty-first-century world. Love is more than emotion and feeling; rather, it concerns covenant faithfulness and loyalty to Yahweh through obedience to the commands, as is typical of expressions of love in Near Eastern treaty formulations. When modified by the expressions "heart," "soul," and "might," [love] "emphasizes in the strongest possible terms the total commitment and wholehearted devotion to be shown towards YHWH" (MacDonald, Monotheism 99). There is no time when the commands of Yahweh are not to be on the hearts and lips of Yahweh's children; they are to "talk about them" whether at home or on the road, from the time they wake in the morning to the time they lie down at night (Deut 6:7). . . . The covenant exclusivity demanded by the Decalogue and the shema demands drastic loyalty and love.
After reading this, can you still say that you love God? If the answer is affirmative, good. If the answer is any other, take stock of where you lack in light of the glorious redemption that is found in the gospel of Christ and respond.
Deut 6:5 and what follows should be understood as an exposition on what it means to love Yahweh by keeping Yahweh's commandments, as demanded in the second commandment: "[for Yahweh shows] love to a thousand generations of those who love [Yahweh] and keep [Yahweh's] commandments" (Deut 5:10). In this light, the term "love" carries connotations that transcend the typical understanding of love in our twenty-first-century world. Love is more than emotion and feeling; rather, it concerns covenant faithfulness and loyalty to Yahweh through obedience to the commands, as is typical of expressions of love in Near Eastern treaty formulations. When modified by the expressions "heart," "soul," and "might," [love] "emphasizes in the strongest possible terms the total commitment and wholehearted devotion to be shown towards YHWH" (MacDonald, Monotheism 99). There is no time when the commands of Yahweh are not to be on the hearts and lips of Yahweh's children; they are to "talk about them" whether at home or on the road, from the time they wake in the morning to the time they lie down at night (Deut 6:7). . . . The covenant exclusivity demanded by the Decalogue and the shema demands drastic loyalty and love.
"Deuteronomy 6-8 and the History of Interpretation", Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, March 2010, Volume 53, No. 1, 57-58
After reading this, can you still say that you love God? If the answer is affirmative, good. If the answer is any other, take stock of where you lack in light of the glorious redemption that is found in the gospel of Christ and respond.
No comments:
Post a Comment