To Know God’s Sanctifying Grace – The Kingdom Curriculum VIII (3)

To Know God’s Sanctifying Grace

“Remember and observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12

And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, “Above all you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.” Exodus 31:12, 13

A day sanctified, unto our sanctification

God intends the Sabbath Day as a sign. He has something important to tell us, to remind us of, and to lead us to consider. And He wants our observance of His sign to lead to specific actions. He doesn’t use hand gestures, like a sidelines coach, or semaphore, like some Navy signal officer of days gone by. Nor does He impress our souls with visions of some remote mountain. He has established a day, a whole day, to be a sign between Him and His people.

What does He want us to know? That He Himself, the Lord of heaven and earth, has set us apart for Himself, and is purifying, transforming, shaping, and molding us increasingly into the image of His own dear Son. He thinks it’s important that we get this message renewed on a regular basis, so He has set aside one entire day each week as a sign, which “above all” we are to remember and observe.

What is God saying to us by establishing the Lord’s Day? “You belong to Me. I will be your God, and you will be My people. I will bless you and make Myself known to you and glorify Myself in you.” As the Lord has set one day of the week apart, entirely for Himself, so He has set us apart, from all the peoples of the earth, to enjoy the full benefits of His saving and sanctifying grace. As we remember and guard the Lord’s Day, sanctifying it to focus on Him as our Creator and Redeemer, He sanctifies us, and prepares us, week by week, to go forth further sanctified into the week ahead, sanctifying all we do for the glory of the Lord.

Thus, the grace in which we are richly renewed each Lord’s Day works in and through us to bring God’s grace into every area of our lives, everywhere we go, all the time. It is not difficult, in the light of this, to see why “above all” we must honor the Lord’s Day, keeping it holy unto Him, and growing in His holiness as we let the sign of His Day renew us in His grace.

Get your copy of The Law of God today, and begin making meditation in God’s Law part of your daily discipline. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.