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What Does the Lord Require of You?
Deuteronomy 10:12; Micah 6:8

I.     Introduction
       A.  The emphasis of the gospel is calling men out of sin into the kingdom.
       B.  What does God expect from those who are in covenant with Him?
            1.  What does the Lord require of you?
            2.  This question was posed in two Old Testament passages: Deuteronomy 10 and Micah 6
       C.  Let’s look at the answers found in those passages.
            1.  Let’s examine what God said to those in the old covenant.
            2.  Then we will consider: Do they still speak to us today?
II.    Deuteronomy 10 – What is required in our day-to-day life?
       A.  Israel was preparing to take possesion of the Promised Land.
            1.  They had been acting in unison with the entire camp.
            2.  What would God require of them once they were settled?
       B.  God’s requirements for their daily lives as part of the covenant nation (Deuteronomy 10:12)
            1.  Fear the Lord your God
            2.  Walk in all His ways
            3.  Love Him
            4.  Serve Him with all your heart and soul
            5.  Keep His commandments and statutes
       C.  These “requirements” were the glue that bonded them to God and His law.
III.  Micah 6 – What offering is required to please God?
       A.  What offering does it take to be reconciled to God when we stray?
            1.  Micah spoke to Israel just before their fall (725 BC)
            2.  It was a time when unfaithfulness, evil, and idolatry were commonplace.
            3.  When we find ourselves far from God, what does it take to be reconciled to Him?
       B.  God’s requirement for His people to be reconciled: Micah 6:8
            1.  Do justice
            2.  Love kindness
            3.  Walk humbly with your God.
       C.  These constituted an offering to God that pleased Him.
            1.  Rather than more and more elaborate sacrifices, God wanted their hearts to be offered.
            2.  They were to demonstrate the right attitude toward God and their fellow man.
IV.  God still requires all of these from His covenant people today.
       A.  The New Testament declares these requirements for us, as well.
            1.  We are to be devoted to God in our day-to-day lives.
                (Matthew 10:28; Ephesians 2:10; I Thessalonians 2:12; Mark 12:29-30; Hebrews 9:14;
                John 14:15; I John 2:3)
            2.  We offer to God a life devoted to loving others and loving Him.
                (Matthew 23:23; Matthew 7:12; Galatians 5:22; I Peter 5:5-6; I John 1:7)
       B.  These requirements must be our attitude in Christ.
            1.  They are not the requirements to enter covenant in Christ.
            2.  We don’t pick and choose which of these we will pursue.
            3.  All of these must be increasing in our lives.
V.    Conclusion
       A.  Are you living as God requires you to live?
       B.  Have you entered into the covenant that Christ established in His blood?

March 29, 2009
Glenn Record