Content, Practice, and Four Bible Passages

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
— Luke 24:44-47
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
— Exodus 20:8
​​​​​​​Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly.  One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.
— Exodus 29:38,39

One of the wonderful things about God’s Word is its connection. With the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the Gospel of Jesus Christ (salvation) is revealed to us. Not only that, this same Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals to us a way of life (growth). Here are four passages that are worth connecting. Let’s do it in two parts: content and practice.

First, there is deep and abiding content found in the above Bible passages—namely, Jesus Christ! In the Luke text, Jesus is telling us the whole Bible is about him, his work, and the salvation that he brings! Paul illuminates this Gospel for us in 2 Corinthians 5:21. This content (Jesus Christ) is also found in the next two passages from Exodus. Remembering the Sabbath (Sunday) is remembering God’s finished work of creation. We, like the creation of old, are “new creations” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), so we come remembering on each Sabbath day that creative (salvific) work on our behalf. Similarly, Exodus 29’s sacrificing of lambs should immediately draw our attention to the full reality of the sacrificial system’s foreshadowing of Jesus Christ’s ultimate and once for all sacrifice for his people (Hebrews 10, especially v. 10).

Alongside this most important content is a second part: practice. Though there is no explicit command in the first two texts from Luke and 2 Corinthians, there are practices revealed in them by good and necessary consequence. If all of Scripture is about Jesus (Luke 24:44-47), and Jesus’ work allows us righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), then it seems most natural for us to desire to read, study, and ingest this content (Jesus). Exodus 20 and 29 then provide feet for the content. If we are desirous for this content (Jesus), we will then seek to remember the Sabbath, which is a particular day where we remember the content (at church!). Likewise, recognizing that we don’t sacrifice lambs in the morning and evening now does nothing to the principle of remembering God’s mercy to us in a daily format. There is built in practice that goes along with the content.

Here is my point. My initial prayer is that you hold fast to the content part of this little article. Belief in Jesus Christ is the beginning of our Christian lives—it is the content. This might be obvious to most. But what about practice? What are your “morning and evening” practices? What are your “remember the Sabbath” practices. Why do you do certain things or why not? Think on this. And as always, call if you need to talk. Blessings, Jeremiah