by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
The nature of typology shows that God is a God of patterns. Without even going through a process of trying to “establish” authority, God shows through His overall record that He is a God of patterns. This is evident right from the beginning when God made a pattern for creation that He later replicated in the workweek of Israel. The Sabbath was a pattern that they were to follow (Exodus 20:11).<\/p>\n
The Law was clear enough. God’s people were to follow it, not turn from it to the right or left, and diligently obey it. Passage after passage shows this.<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 6 makes it clear that the people were to diligently keep the commands “that it may be well with you.<\/em>” They were to “listen and be careful<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 6:1-3). Yet, notice that it is in this very same context where the greatest commandment of all is given: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart…<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6).<\/p>\n A significant principle can be derived from this: there is no inherent contradiction between loving God with all the heart and diligently being careful to obey. In fact, the two are so intertwined that one cannot love God without being careful to obey. Even Jesus said,\u00a0“If you love Me, you will keep my commandments<\/em>” (John 14:15). Those who find a contradiction in this have misunderstood either what obedience to God is about, or what it means to love Him, or both.<\/p>\n I’ve seen arguments that pit careful adherence to obedience over against loving God. Arguing as if the Old Covenant was about strict obedience while loving God with all the heart is what living for Jesus is all about, some fail to connect the fact that such strict obedience under the Old Covenant was closely tied to their need to love God. Never has there been a time when God did not want or expect His people to love Him with all their hearts. Never has God accepted cold, rote rituals in lieu of loving Him. God has always wanted people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8), and never has any of this contradicted the need to be careful in diligently obeying Him. Christ did not come to free us from patterns or obedience. He came to free us from sin. He didn’t change the context or the concepts inherently involved in loving God with all the heart. He strengthened them.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer The nature of typology shows that God is a God of patterns. Without even going through a process of trying to “establish” authority, God shows through His overall record that He is a God of patterns. This is evident right from the beginning when God made a pattern for creation that He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65,54],"class_list":["post-37861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67342,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-give-us-a-pattern-to-follow\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":0},"title":"Does God Give Us a Pattern to Follow?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The total evidence of scripture is that God is a God of order and expects us to follow the pattern of sound words in everything we do (II Timothy 1:13; Colossians 3:17; ICorinthians 14:33ff). God's Patterns Noah had a pattern to follow in building the ark\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-god-of-patterns\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":1},"title":"A God of Patterns","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer God is a God of patterns. This means there is order, method, and sequence to His expression and will. To deny patterns is to deny order, to accept that God's will is disorderly and not subject to method, arrangement, and sequence. Is God's will so chaotic? When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70940,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/revisiting-bible-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":2},"title":"Revisiting Bible Authority","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Plain Bible Teaching It is good and necessary to revisit certain topics from time to time. We do not want to \"drift away\" from what we have previously learned (Hebrews 2:1). Some topics are so foundational that they affect what we believe, teach, and practice -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23759,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-put-a-yearning-in-our-hearts-for-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":3},"title":"Does God put a yearning in our hearts for Him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God place a yearning for him in our hearts so that we seek Him?\u00a0\u00a0Is this yearning\u00a0misunderstood by us and we start trying to fill this void with worldly things?\u00a0 Why is\u00a0it that some people know early in life what that yearning is, and seek Him right away while\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-genocide-accusation-against-the-bible-and-why-it-fails\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":4},"title":"The \u201cGenocide\u201d Accusation Against the Bible\u2014And Why It Fails","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. Every semester, thousands of college students sit in classrooms where the Bible is ridiculed or reduced to a caricature. One of the most common accusations they hear is this: \"If God is real, why did He command genocide?\" For many young Christians, that question lands like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36958,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-as-a-type\/","url_meta":{"origin":37861,"position":5},"title":"The Sabbath as a Type","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 4:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul, in arguing that the Old Law was not in effect, concluded - Colossians 2:16-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were reasons why the Israelites were to worship as they did. 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