As the Israelites neared the Red Sea, Jehovah gave instructions on where they were to encamp (Exodus 14:1-2). Jehovah then told Moses of Pharaoh's reasoning and plans to pursue, which would result in two things: 1) Jehovah gaining honor upon Pharaoh, and 2) the Egyptians being convinced of Jehovah's greatness (Exodus 14:3-4).
As Pharaoh's army neared, Moses said to them, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14).
Jehovah told Moses, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” (Exodus 14:15-16).
Notice the differences in Moses' words and Jehovah's words. Moses told the people to “stand by and watch the Lord save…”; God had a different response… “tell the people to go forward…”.
How often is it that people are preached a message similar to Moses’; i.e., “do nothing; keep silent...just believe in God to do it all; sit back and let Him save; you can’t be saved by ‘doing anything’; salvation is by faith alone...”?
God has given commands to obey with the assurance that He will save us…do we believe that? THAT is exactly what happened in this story from Exodus. Their deliverance from bondage was by the Lord’s hand, yet they were not to sit idly and watch, doing nothing…they were to ACT on their belief in God to save. On the night of the exodus, they were commanded to apply blood. They were then to march as directed by the pillar of cloud and fire that HE provided. At the Red Sea, they were to march across; Moses was to do something as well. “Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it…”.
Now think for a moment on that command…did Moses, by his own power, cause the waters to divide, or was it God who caused the parting? What did this command have to do with anything…could not God part the waters without Moses doing this act with his staff? Consider also, had Moses NOT obeyed God's command, would the results have been the same?
We need look no further than another instance when God gave a command to Moses about causing water to flow by speaking to a rock, yet Moses smote the rock. Water came forth, but what effect did it have on Moses? Who caused the water to come forth? Did Moses please God, or disobey God? Did it matter? Truth is simple, we can easily see the implication that is meant from these stories…that’s why they’re there for… “our learning”; “our admonition” [Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11].
These stories are in our Bibles, so we might know for sure how God saves us from our bondage to sin. Faith in God’s power to save us is the gospel message (Rom. 1:16). The gospel calls upon us to exercise our faith in obedience to specific commands, whether those commands are relevant in our minds or not. Nothing commanded is an act of merit, nor is it understood to be robbing God of the glory due Him.
So it is with belief, repentance, confession, and immersion in water. These are commands from God. Through them God reveals the treasure in men's hearts. This is seen from the parable of the sower. "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience." (Luke 8:11-15).
Faith, repentance, and immersion in water are not works of merit. They are, however, commands from God which constitute the response to His grace. The pardoning is God's doing.
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