"the Word Is Near You"

The Journal of Biblical Accuracy http://www.jba.gr/

Article • “The word is near you”

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“The word is near you” In Deuteronomy 30 we find Moses bringing the people of Israel in covenant with the Lord, mentioning the blessings that they would have by obeying Him as well as the curse that would bring to them a possible disobedience. It was the verse 14 that drew my attention when I was reading the relative passages. To take the context into account, let’s start reading from verse 9: Deuteronomy 30:9-10 “The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” The Lord would bless abundantly His people, if they obeyed His word, His commandments. And he continues: Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “For this commandment which I command you today is not mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' BUT THE WORD IS VERY NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART, THAT YOU MAY DO IT.” It was this last verse that attracted my attention, as it was this verse the Spirit of God, hundreds of years later, brought to the hand of Paul this time, speaking not to the people of Israel but to the church of Jesus Christ:

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Romans 10:6-10 “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, `Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or," `Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The Lord in Deuteronomy speaking of His commandment He said that it is not far nor it is mysterious. It is not something difficult to determine and which nobody knows its meaning. His Word is not a puzzle. They didn’t have to go up to the heaven or over the sea to find it. They didn’t have to become ponderous or professors of theology to understand it. It was very close, in their mouth and heart. And these are the words, the Spirit of God uses to speak about the faith in the incarnate Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not need to turn heaven and earth upside down to find the salvation. You do not need to go over the sea. You do not need to become heavy with much knowledge in order to understand what you should do. The Word of God is near you. In your mouth and in your heart. And this is summed up in the following phrase: “THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH THE LORD JESUS AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED” The word of salvation is simple, as simple as the above phrase. There is no need for heavy studies, for pursuits in theology and religions. There is no need of knowledge of special things for which only some have the key and you have to go out and search for them. None of this is needed. It is simply you and God. God has called you. He has called you to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that He has raised Him from the dead. You now have to make a decision whether you will follow, you will

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believe, this so near word of faith. These are not things far or difficult or mysterious. They are very near you. The salvation is so near you as your heart for the faith and your mouth for the confession. And as the Word of God exhorts: II Corinthians 6:2 “BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.” And as Hebrews 3:15 says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” Today, now, is the accepted time. Today, now, is the day of salvation. And if you decide to accept the so near you word of faith, today, now will be the day of salvation for you also! “THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH THE LORD JESUS AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED”

Tassos Kioulachoglou

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