NO FELLOWSHIP WITH IDOLATRY Having called His people to worship Him through getting into a covenant with Him, God commanded them to wipe out the inhabitants of that region. The divine commands here seem very strict, concerning the destruction of idolatry and everything related to it, including the idolaters themselves. The warning against having any connection to idolatry and idolaters was extremely firm. 1. No fellowship with idolaters 1 – 4. 2. A warning against idolatry 5 – 11. 3. Blessings for keeping the covenant 12 – 16. 4. A promise of conquest over evil 17 – 26. 1. NO FELLOWSHIP WITH IDOLATERS Here, he gives a firm warning against any relationship with idolaters. Whoever sets a fellowship with the fruitless works of darkness, will not be able to enter into a fellowship with God. The goal of this warning is to avoid having snares of evil before them. “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them” (Deut. 7:1-2) We have already dealt with the issue of war in the introduction. The goal of this commandment is to create a pure church, a holy family, and a righteous kingdom in the Lord, kept from the abominations of idolatry. We often fall into an erroneous evaluation of what came in the Old Testament, disregarding the language of time and circumstances that prevailed around the people at that time, which were totally different from what are prevailing today in the era of grace; and their concepts were different from our concepts. That is why they were in need of strict commandments that support their salvation; and which could be understood in our present life as symbols in the following ways: a. “You shall make no covenant with them” (2); means rejecting any compromise with sin, or initiating a debate with it. b. “Nor shall you make marriages with them” (3). No fellowship should be between the believer and the non-believer in matrimony; nor between light and darkness. Union between them on the level of family relationship would be realized at the expense of the salvation of the soul, and the holiness of the family. c. “You shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down the wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire” (5): means purifying the heart, the temple of the Lord, against setting other gods, like selfishness, vainglory, or fulfilling the lusts of the body. d. “You shall show no mercy on them” (2). Let the word of God be like a two-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12); that utterly separates and plainly discerns between truth and vanity. e. “You shall not be afraid of them” (18). A spiritual man is one with authority; who is not afraid of sin or of the devil; and trusts the Lord who gives victory (1 Corinthians 15:57). 7 On His side, God brings them over to the Promised Land, and casts away many bigger and stronger nations before them. God’s might is unconquerable, and the realization of His promise is unquestionable. On His people’s side, they should refrain of entering into any covenant or matrimonial relationships with them; and destroy them altogether. As far as their number is concerned, Israel, as a nation, according to human reckoning, could not confront those nations, with their long military experience, and knowledge of the strategy of the land. But God can realize the impossible. Sin seems strong; and man seems extremely weak before it. The devil, likewise, with his might, his evil experience, and wicked planning may seem to be such a serious foe for man to confront. But the believer, in whom God works with His Holy Spirit, and to whom He presents a union with God the Father in His Son Jesus Christ, bears heavenly possibilities, by which he can destroy all the energies of evil and the devil. By Jesus Christ, he can gain the spirit of conquest, can take away from Satan, his authority on the whole being of man; can deprive him of all his capabilities, and make a public spectacle of him by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:15). In our study of the writings of St. John Cassian, we saw that Origen believes that there are eight main sins in the life of man. St. Evigarus adopted the same view that spread in the writings of the fathers of the east and west. The people of God conquered Pharaoh and his army or people; and conquered as well, the seven nations mentioned here. It is as though God grants His Church the spirit of conquest over the eight main sins. God did not allow them to have any kind of relationship with the pagan nations: to have them as renters, as taxpayers, and not even as servants. He did not allow them to make a covenant with them, or to have mercy on them. Along several generations, He gave those nations enough chances to repent. Yet with the passing of time, as the successive generations came more corrupt than the ones before them, their cup of evil was completely full. In the era of grace, it turned from sinners to sin. These commandments remain living and active; we should not let a single law of the beasts of sin in our land. It is fitting for us to crucify every lust in us, and bring it to death, in order to bear the life of the risen Christ in us. No marriage with idolaters “Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, not take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from Me, to serve their gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (Deut. 7:3, 4). The goal of this commandment is purity. God’s intention is not to discriminate between different nations, but He longs for all to become one in Him. He seeks a royal generation, a special people, and a renewed humanity under the leadership of the new Adam, as one head for all the believers of the world. And as humanity was not ready yet for this holy union, He separated the believers from the idolaters, and limited their freedom of marriage. This divine law came for the sake of man’s weakness and sin, together with his ignorance of the eternal plan of God. Because man has lost his concept of marriage, as the establishment of a holy Church, prepared for the eternal glory; He presented this commandment. The law came harsh on idolatry and its abominations and wicked customs; 8 with the hope that the idolaters might reconsider themselves, and return to the worship of the true God. This is what verse 5 confirms; This commandment was not meant to favor one nation over another; as marriage of a believer to a non-believer, might draw the heart of the first toward idolatry, to fall under judgment. The judgment of the nonbelieving wife would also be double; as through her worship of idols, she would draw the children of God to evil. Banning her marriage to a believer might give her a chance to reconsider herself and her eternity. Some, especially those of great wealth and high positions, might seek entrance into family relationship with beautiful idolater women whom the devil used through marriage, as it happened before, when “the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh” (Genesis 6:2, 3). Many nowadays have lost their life in the Lord through their marriage with those who do not know the Lord. In his prayer and confession, Ezra the scribe, said: “The holy seed is intermingled with the peoples of the lands” (Ezra 9:2); “Should we again break Your commandments, and join in marriage with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor?”(Ezra 9:14) The apostle Paul advises us, saying: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) Because of the stronger influence of evil, the pagan spouse pushes the believer toward the wide road of evil, through persistent strong seductions; and not the other way round; because life with God is an entrance into the narrow road. “For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (Deut. 7:4). If God longs to shape His worshippers to conform to His image, and to become partners in the divine nature, the vain gods likewise, shape their worshippers to carry their nature, and become vain. Once man carries such a corrupt nature, he will not have peace until he manages to draw all around him toward vanity and corruption, and all of them will perish together. That is what is meant by saying, “the anger of God will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.” When God takes away His grace, care, and mercy, from him who persists on vanity, he, himself, will become vain. On another aspect, the cup of evil of the Jews was almost full; and they came to have a last chance: either to receive and embrace God “the Truth” by their whole heart; or to condemn themselves by themselves, to be cut off, together with those nations, whom God commanded them to cut off. God has no partiality. Like those nations whose cup of evil was full; and who brought themselves to perdition, so will be the Jews who embrace them. They would be filling their own cup as well; and would end up having the same destiny as the pagan nations. Those who marry idolaters are actually marrying their idols, and carrying their features, namely vanity, instead of the true God. 2. A WARNING AGAINST IDOLATRY It did not stop at having no marriage relationship with idolaters, but the 9 believers are commanded to wipe out every trace of the idols. “But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire” (Deut. 7:5). This command was previously issued (Exodus 23:24). It was said about king Josiah that “he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and scattered it on the graves of those who have sacrificed to them” (2 Chronicles 34:3, 4). In a like way, this has been carried out in the early Church, when the books of magic were publicly burnt (Acts 19:19). This command has been as though, for paving the way of the Lord Jesus; who, having no fellowship with the darkness. It had to be destroyed, so that men would receive the light in their life. It is indeed a very long way. Yet, our Christ, in every generation, seeks the souls that are ready to receive Him through their own will, to let Him enter and reign, and shine His light in them. Although this applies to the pagan nations, as societies that persisted on opposing the worship of the true God, and on spreading the worship of idols, yet, it was a different situation for the few individuals who came to receive faith, rejected idolatry, and got purified of all its abominations; those called ‘Proselytes’ by the Jews. To commit the people of God to respond to this warning, he gave them the following justifications: (1) God has chosen them for Himself: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6). “A holy people”: this was repeated in Deuteronomy 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9. The word “holy” has two meanings in the New Testament: the first dedicated to the service of God; and the second pure and splendid. The word “holy” refers to the dedication of man’s heart and his whole being to God; to become His own; separated from all evil. However, some believe the word to imply that man would become wholly pure from everything earthly; his being would be drawn to a holy heavenly life, to live in a fellowship with the Holy One. These two features should be combined in the people as a whole, and in every believer who enjoy the divine call. If God has granted them the honor of choosing them over all the peoples on the face of the earth, how could they offend Him by choosing the idols instead of Him?! After God intended to lift them up above all the peoples; are they willing to get themselves down to the level of joining the idolatrous nations?! After God intended for them to become His own?! Wouldn’t they intend for Him to be His own as well; with no one beside Him?! Saying “a treasured possession” implies that they would become God’s own; and they have no more right to act on their own, but according to the will of Him, who acquired them. The apostle Peter quoted this phrase from the Septuagint version, saying: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Peter 2:9). (2) Choosing them was through His free grace; with nothing in them to make them worthy of this choice. 10 If “In a multitude of people is a king’s glory” (Proverb 14:28); yet God the King of kings did not care for such multitude. “The Lord did not set His love on you nor chose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples” (Deut. 7:7). When God chose them, He actually chose one person – Abraham; and when they started as a nation in the land of Egypt, they were about 70 souls. After saying, “Of His fullness we have all received,” he added, “and grace upon grace” (John 1:16), as by grace, the Jews were saved. The Lord chose them, not because of their great number, but for the sake of their fathers (Deut. 7:7). They were not chosen because of their good works, but by God’s grace, they got that honor. We, as well, will be saved by grace; yet not in that same way, nor for those same goals; but for what is greater and more exalted. The grace in us is not like that in them. We were not just given the forgiveness of sins (as like them, we have all sinned); but we have also been granted righteousness, holiness, adoption to God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, in a more glorified and abundant way1. St. John Chrysostom St. Ambrose wrote to Emperor Theodosius pleading to him to submit to God, his Creator, and to become like Him. God, in His love, and with His free grace, forgives the sinners and extends to them his blessings; not for the sake of their worthiness, but for the riches of His grace. The emperor should likewise, wash the feet of others, in order to become the subject of God’s pleasure and the joy of the heavenly creatures. Therefore, O Emperor, I address my words, not only about you, but also to you. As much as you became glorified, it is fitting for you to submit completely to your Creator. It is written: ‘When the Lord your God brings you to a foreign land, and eats the fruits of others, do not say: It is because of my strength and righteousness, that God granted me this; but it is the Lord your God who did.’ As it is the Lord Christ, with His mercies, who granted you all this, for the love of His body; namely the church, offer water for His feet; Kiss His feet! It is not enough to forgive him who committed a sin, but, for the sake of your love for peace, try to mend them and give them comfort. Pour oil over Christ’s feet, in order that the whole house where He dwells, would be filled with your sweet fragrance, which will give pleasure to all present, namely, you should honor those humiliated, so that there would be joy for the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10), for the apostles and for the prophets2. St. Ambrose (3) He chose them out of His faithfulness to His covenant with their fathers; saying: “But because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deut. 7:8, 9). “But because the Lord loves you”: His divine love is free. According to the 1 In John hom. 14:2. 2 St. Ambrose: Letter 50:26. 11 prophet Hosea: “I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4). He loves because He so desires. “Because He would keep the oath”: He Keeps His word, which carried exalted covenants; counting Himself in debt for everything He promised and swore to consummate. He has actually realized this by bringing them out of Egypt, despite their unworthiness. This exodus was realized “with a mighty hand;” demonstrating here the role of the Word of God, the second Person, called ‘the divine Hand.’ St. Athanasius the Apostolic says: [Just as the hand is in the bosom, so is the Son, is in the bosom. The Son is the Hand, and the Hand is the Son, by whom everything was done, according to the Scripture: “For all those things, My hand has made” (Isaiah 66:2). He brought His people by His hand (Deut. 7:8); namely by His Son1.] The Son, who brought the people out of Egypt through Moses, the leader of His people, is He who incarnated to bring by Himself, His believers out of the bondage of Satan. As God is faithful to His promises, it is fitting for His own, to be faithful to Him; not by writing poetry, filled with vain eloquence; but through faithfulness in keeping His commandments; not glorifying Him by words, but by illuminating works. “For a thousand generations:” He is the faithful fountain of love through the generations. (4) He allowed for the chastisement that seems harsh, for the sake of the faithful few; God does not desire the perdition of anyone; but He is faithful and loving. “And He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them” (Deut. 7:10, 11). It is the love outpouring along the generations; Yet, those who persist on rejecting it; those who hate the truth; they actually hate themselves; as they lose love; and become submitted to the divine wrath; which is, unlike the human reactionary anger, is actually a deprivation of the soul of her enjoyment of the source of her life and peace; casting herself by herself into eternal perdition. He is the Keeper of the covenant, the Faithful and the True in His promises; the Grantor of life to those who attach themselves to Him; whereas those who give Him their backs and not their faces, they are getting themselves into perdition and death instead of life. The idolaters and God-haters are incapable of causing God any harm; but are bringing it upon them; as, according to the Psalmist: “Your hand will find all your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate you. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger. The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath. And the fire shall devour them. Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth; And their descendants from among the sons of men. For they intended evil against You. They devised a plot, which they are not able to perform. Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready their arrows on Your string toward their faces” (Psalm 21:8-12). God often allows the wicked to taste the bitterness of their transgression; as “For the wicked there is no peace; so my God says.” And the wise Solomon says: “If 1 Discourses Against the Arians, 4:26. 12 the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner?” (Proverb 11:31) We do not deny that God may allow some wicked to attain authority, power, riches, or temporal success etc. God may grant them these things in this world; either for the sake of justice, because of their temporal strife; or for the sake of provoking them to repentance. Yet they will never enjoy the inner peace or the true joy; the pledge of heaven, as long as they walk in their evil ways and their rebellion. Having referred to God’s care for His people; presenting to them and their fathers true divine promises; yet this divine discretion does not imply licentiousness; as, according to the apostle: “Do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh” (Galatians 5:13). This is what the book of Deuteronomy confirms whenever it refers to the choice of God of His people. 3. THE BLESSINGS OF KEEPING THE COVENANT Having called them first to keep the covenant, as a positive reaction to His keeping His covenant with them, despite their unworthiness, revealing to them the serious consequences of breaking it and diverting to idolatry and its abominations; He does not stop there; but He also presents to them the positive blessings of faithfulness in keeping the covenant. “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord Your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you” (Deut. 7:12, 13). Together with God’s choice of us, out of His exalted divine love, He gives us complete freedom, to receive or to reject His righteousness; to keep or to reject His commandment. And in case we chose to keep it, He would grant us the possibility of execution if we ask for His help. God, the Merciful, on His side, initiated to proclaim the covenant, to give the promises, and to present His exalted grace, it remains, on our side to respond to Him, in order to enjoy the continuation of His pouring graces and gifts. (1) The first blessing of keeping the covenant is our realization of His love. “He will love you” (13); namely, our entrance into the circle of the divine love, which fulfills the soul, not as something He has not previously done, but which He will reveal to us and will let us enjoy more. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins” (1 John 4:13). He loved us first, but we shall not realize this love, and He shall not reveal Himself to us, unless we practically respond to His love. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me, will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). (2) “And bless you” (13); As a fruit of the mutual love between God and man, the believer will enjoy fellowship in the blessed life; namely, he will experience the heavenly life that knows nothing, but the perpetual joy in the Lord. This blessing, the believer enjoys in the present life as a pledge for the coming life. “Your grain, your new wine, and your oil” (13), which was repeated in 11:14; 12:17; 14:23; and 23:51, These are the main crops of Palestine; referring to abundance, joy, and spiritual success (Genesis 22:17). (3) “And multiply you”(13). The increase in the fruit of the womb, in crops, 13 and in possessions (Genesis 1:28; 9:1), were of the divine promises to men of the Old Testament, corresponding to the stature of the believer at that time. (4) “You shall be blessed above all peoples” (14). When man separates himself from the world to become God’s own; dedicated to His service; he would bear features, different from those of others. God would lift him up to enjoy what others do not, to become “above all the peoples.” That is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, as well as in the life of everyone of its members; setting out of the church a congregation as though of angels; with special spiritual possibilities; Their law of life becomes the Law of Christ, which seems to others as something humanly. Impossible! The spiritual man, in his meekness and humility, becomes great, awesome, and one of inner authority. (5) Perpetually spiritually productive, in his inner life and in drawing others to faith; as it is said, “There shall not be a male or female barren among you (namely, bears the fruit of the Spirit) or among your livestock (namely, bears the spiritual fruit of the body) ” (14). He who is faithful in his covenant with God, will not know barrenness; but will become like a productive mother who gives birth to many with the Spirit of the Lord. He enjoys adoption to God; and catches many souls for the Lord, by sanctifying the soul and also the body (the cattle). (6) The well being of the soul, the mind, and the body. When man’s heart and mind are purified from every worship foreign from the Lord, the Lord purifies his whole being – even his body – of every possible ailment. “And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you” (Deut. 7:15). Notice here how Moses quotes his memories of his experiences in Egypt. (7) A master and not a slave: as when man bows to sin for the sake of its pleasure, he would become its slave, and would not practice the right of authority granted to him by God; who says to him: “You shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you” (Deut. 7:16). Thus God provided man with everything to have authority on, and to eat, not to be enslaved and be eaten. Although God set man a master upon everything, yet he worshipped the stones, the wood, and the evil spirits that became snares to him. He became a slave to those over whom he was meant to have authority. 4. A PROMISE OF CONQUEST OVER EVIL When God called Joshua to take over the leadership as a successor of the prophet Moses, to cross with the people over the River Jordan, and to bring them into the Promised Land, His commandment to him was always, “Do not be afraid” (Joshua 1). Fear is a denial of faith in the Lord; of His care and love; and a disregard of the Almighty God. If the believer looks back at the past history of the church, as well as at his personal life, he will find continuous confirmation and practical experience of God’s care, might, fatherhood, and wisdom. “You shall not be afraid of them; but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt; the great trials which your eyes saw; the signs and the wonders; the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid” (Deut. 17:17-19). It is fitting for the believer not to fear; He should not say: ‘My enemy is stronger than I am; How can I overcome him?’ but he should say, together with the 14 prophet Elisha: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16); and as it was said: “Let the weak say: ‘I am strong’”(Joel 3:10). As through our Lord Jesus, a believer gets the spirit of strength, not that of defeat and failure, we should not get disturbed before trials, afflictions, and sins. The sources of his conquest are: (1) The believer does not depend upon his own energy in his spiritual war, but upon God who fights on his behalf. It is said: “Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornets among them, until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed” (20). The Lord fights on our behalf in our spiritual war. Yet, for the sake of our spiritual peace, He will not end the battle instantly, lest we fall victims to pride; and the beasts of the field (haughtiness – selfishness – pride) would attack us: “And the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once; lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you” (22). (2) God does not just support His believers, but He defends them through His presence among them: “You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you” (Deut. 7:21). The greatest thing that the believer enjoys in his spiritual battle, is not gaining conquests from the hand of the Lord, as much as feeling His presence in his depths. (3) God’s wisdom and His plan for His people. Although He promised them a complete conquest, yet He grants it to them gradually, lest they may fall in pride, or because what is easily gained, may be lost through the spirit of haughtiness; that is why it is said: “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the fields of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed” (Deut. 7:22, 23). It is not difficult for God to wipe out those nations, all at once, to let his people take over the land. But, in this case the Promised Land would probably turn into a wilderness in which the beasts roam, and the fertile field would become barren. So it is fitting for us in our spiritual life, as well as in church ministry, to have faith in God’s wisdom, who always works in the fullness of time, in the right time, and with the way He sees fitting. (4) Salvation will be final and definite: “And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them” (Deut. 7:24). If the main issue of the whole book is the divine covenant, the book concentrated on the Person of God as its center, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire; a jealous God.” (5) It is a conquest of holiness and not out of greed. The goal of our struggle is to live holy like the Holy One; to be purified of every uncleanness, to enjoy the righteous of Christ and the sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and not to have a material goal. “You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is upon them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be 15 snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it; but you shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing” (Deut. 7:25, 26). He warns them against the spirit of greed and every abomination, because the inner enemy is far more dangerous than the outer one. He intends to grant them authority to reign in place of the nations. He seeks from them to bear authority in their depths, that of being liberated of every inner abomination and evil lust. “You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire” (25). This commandment, like other commandments, remained alive in spirit in the New Testament, as we are committed to destroy every source of sin without delay or slothfulness. And as the Lord Christ says: “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29- 30). God does not accept half solutions, but seeks complete sanctification, that is why the commandment came repeating: “Do not touch; Do not taste anything unclean.” 16 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY (Chapter 7) HOW COULD I FEAR AN ENEMY? You have granted your people conquest over Pharaoh and his hosts. And now, You long to grant me conquest over Satan and his angels. You have fought with and by them seven nations. Grant me strength to conquer all sins. I made a covenant with You. How can I make a covenant with any sin?! You have received me a member in the heavenly family. How can I unite with any evil? You have set an altar in my depths. How can I leave an altar for the idol in my heart?! You made me a soldier in Your salvation army. How can I fear or be terrified of an enemy?! I will not cease to strive by Your grace. For You counted me as your own son. A member in Your holy congregation. Who has the right to enjoy Your true and faithful promises. You loved me before I know You. Let me pay You back by my love and obedience. Grant me to keep Your covenant. You are amazing; O Keeper of the promise. Let me keep it, in order to enjoy the blessed life. To bear the fruit of a spirit that will never dry up. To enjoy the peace of the soul, the mind and the body. To enjoy persistent conquests.
Welcome