Pastor's Blog: A People Set Apart

Introducing Our Sermon Mini-Series:

A People Set Apart

Since September of last year, we’ve been preaching through the book of Deuteronomy in a series entitled, “Ruled by a Gracious God.” We don’t naturally think of authority and grace as going hand in hand. But they do in the kingdom of God. His authority is a marvelous, life-giving expression of his love. For in his great love, he draws his people out of the world and sets them apart for himself – to know him, to enjoy him, to serve his priorities and purposes. 

And at the beginning of Chapter 12 in the book of Deuteronomy, we arrive at a key transition point in the book. Moses has just spent seven chapters summarizing the general principles of the law, the fundamental contours of Israel’s covenant relationship with God, beginning with the 10 commandments in Chapter 5. In Chapters 12-26, he gives a third sermon on the plains of the Jordan as Israel is preparing to enter the Promised Land, fleshing out the general principles from Chapters 5-11 in the form of more specific laws, laws that marked off the people of Israel from the surrounding nations.  

The section we’re about to begin is where people often get bogged down in studying Deuteronomy and the Mosaic law in general. What in the world do details about animal sacrifices and food laws have to do with following Jesus today? We’ll dive into many of those questions over the next few months. 

Before we do, however, we want to take a quick pause to consider how the Lord marks off his people from the world today. On this side of Jesus' death and resurrection, under the new covenant, the new way of relating to God the gospel provides, how does our King set us apart from the world? In Moses’ day, you had to become part of the ethnic people of Israel. You had to be circumcised if you were a male. You had to observe the Mosaic law in every detail. Many Christians have a vague sense that something has changed. The way God sets his church apart from the world is different. But we’re not really sure what that looks like. 

Here's the good news, brothers and sisters. Our God is just as interested today as he was back then in showing the world where to look in order to see the joy and blessing of life in his kingdom, in showing the world where to look to see Jesus. He sets us apart through membership in the local church, his authorized representative on earth. We make that distinction on his behalf in an initial way through the sacrament of baptism. And we make that distinction in an ongoing way through the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. 

We need to understand the authority God has given us as a body to set his people apart from the world through the sacraments, through our practice of church membership. And we need to understand how our authority is a precious expression of God’s love, both for us and the watching world. So we’re going to take three weeks to study how church membership and the sacraments work, the foundation of how Jesus sets us apart, which will help us interpret and apply the detailed laws in the second half of Deuteronomy in their proper context. 

As an added benefit, we’ve recognized as pastors that we haven’t covered on Sunday morning some of the teaching we’ve brought in our membership class on this topic over the last couple of years. We’ve also observed that as God brings men and women into our family from different religious backgrounds, we come in with all sorts of different ideas about what baptism and the Lord’s Supper are and how they function in the life of the church. 

So allow me to make a single request. We’re going to confront cultural notions of inclusivity in a major way over the next few weeks because that’s what God’s Word does. We may even confront long-standing intuitions or beliefs you’ve had about what the sacraments are because that’s also what God’s Word does. As we do, please listen carefully, listen with a humble heart, and pray for grace to understand how Jesus wants to set his people apart from the world for our good and his glory. And where you have questions or are wrestling with someone you hear, let’s talk, because these are important matters!

Here’s our governing desire. We want to be a church that comes under the authority of God’s Word in every area of our life, including areas where Christians have disagreed. We don’t want to shy away from a topic simply because it’s controversial. Nor do we want to be ruled by what feels comfortable or easy. We want to be ruled by God’s Word. We want to build our church on God’s Word as it has been for 34 years. 

I believe that’s your heart too! And I’m really excited for how the Lord will strengthen our understanding of Scripture over the next few Sundays. I’ve asked Caleb to begin with a sermon from Matthew 16 on the church’s authority and then I’ll preach the next two Sundays on baptism and the Lord’s Supper in preparation, Lord willing, for welcoming 12 adults into membership at KingsWay on July 9.

Matthew Williams