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The focus of this passage is fellowship with a holy God. To have that, we must be pure. Purity is not something that we can obtain on our own, nor is it natural to us since the Fall. God, in his great grace, has paid the price of our admission, by sending his Son, Jesus, to make us pure.

When it comes to virtue, we really must pay attention not only to what we we ought to do but to why we ought to do it. Virtue for virtue's sake is a fruitless endeavor. To really see why virtuous living is right, we need to start with its source. In this passage, Moses gives us a list of rights and wrongs. They all have to do with reflecting the heart of God in how we live and act towards one another.

God cares about His creatures, and He cares about what we do. As judge of all the earth, God will hold us accountable for what we do. The primary purpose of the law, besides showing us right from wrong, is to show us that we are all guilty. In this passage, God addresses the issue of sexual immorality, showing us how serious it is and calling our attention to its consequences. At the same time, this passage prepares us to see God's solution for our sin, His Son, Jesus.

As our Creator, God is Lord of our ways. In this passage, God gave specific commands to Israel about how they were to love their neighbor and care for their wellbeing. Taking each of these commands into account, we see that God calls his people to love their neighbor by regarding their life and wellbeing, by embracing God given distinction and definition, and by embracing and loving holiness.

The Bible is grounded in reality. It recognizes that the world is not what it should be, and it helps us to understand why that is. The Bible also tells us about God's plan to redeem and restore creation through the saving work of Christ. Deuteronomy 21 is a chapter aimed at teaching Israel how to handle certain situations where the corruption of sin is seen, but it also points us forward to Jesus Christ, who tells us he is making all things new.

God made life, and He loves His creation. In this passage we see how God gave certain commands to protect life in Israel. We also consider how we are meant to adopt this same culture of life in loving and caring for our neighbors.

God calls His people to come and worship Him. The commands He gives concerning worship provide structure for right worship, even as the fellowship He designs for worship produces praise from the hearts of His people that is pleasing to Him. In this passage, we take a detailed look at the 'why' of worship.

God calls his people to give with glad and generous hearts. He does this for many reasons, four of which we consider in Deuteronomy 14. A) We Give Because We Have Glad Fellowship with God B) We Give Because Giving is an Exercise of Faith to Trust in God to Provide C) We Give in Gratitude to Support God’s Kingdom Work D) We Give Because God Means For Us to Reflect His Own Gracious Heart in Love to Others

God’s commands in Deuteronomy 15 are driven towards a similar goal. As Israel’s King, God shows regard for the poor and the vulnerable among his people, passing laws to protect the poor. These commands teach us to put others over our personal gain.

Cloven hooves? Chewing the cud? Owls and vultures? No pork? What are all these food laws, and why do they matter? In this sermon, we explore the details and the purpose of clean and unclean foods in the Law of Moses. We explore God's plan to set His people apart from the nations, and we look at how Christ has made the unclean, clean through his work on the cross.