What does the LORD require of you? (Micah 6:6-8)

This is the most consistent doctrine preached from Genesis to Revelation. Sadly, it is missed by many so-called Christian sects and denominations. What does the LORD require of you? We don’t have to guess. God told Adam what he requires, Moses told the children, the prophets told the nation, Jesus told the world, and the Apostles told us. Abraham learned it, Solomon learned it, the Apostle Paul learned it, and you can learn it.

What does the LORD require of you?

The answer to the question is not some deep, hidden, difficult, arcane, secret. It is the simplest thing ever asked of anyone. It is beautifully given in all it’s simplicity in this challenge from YWHW, the almighty El Shaddai, to the most-powerful man on earth…

And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews,  How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?  let my people go, that they may serve me. (Exodus 10:3)

And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to  fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,  To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

Does God want more religion?

If you read the Old Testament, you will see a cycle of people forgetting God, and being warned by prophets, and suffering punishment and judgment, then remembering God and returning to him. What did all these prophets remind the people? Did God want more religion from them? Did he want more rules and regulations? Did he want more sacrifice? No, he wanted them to serve him with their hearts.

Now therefore  fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth:  and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14-15)

This is what the LORD says:  “Maintain justice and do what is right,  for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed. (Isaiah 56:1)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place,  and with the oppressed and humble of spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.  (Isaiah 57:15)

Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to  do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?  (Micah 6:6-8)

To  do righteousness and justice  is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:3)

When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this:  Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Does the LORD require you to make yourself righteous?

If you think you can meet what God requires on your own in your own strength by yourself, please read all of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy to understand the full scope of perfection that God requires. This requirement for perfection is so ultimate it is completely beyond human comprehension. The Apostle James said, “If you keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, you will become guilty of all.”

But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him,  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40)

Or, humble yourself before God and do what he requires. Accept the substitutionary life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lived a life I could not live and died a death I could not die to deliver me from a death I do deserve and give me an eternal life I do not deserve. His life, his death, and his resurrection have been put to my credit. Therefore, through Jesus Christ, my substitute, I was born of a virgin, lived a perfect law-abiding life, was baptized in the Jordan river, suffered with him, died with him on the cross, was delivered from hell with him, and raised to new life with him, to dwell in heaven with him forever. What does he require of me?

Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. (Psalm 116:12-13 WB)

Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrews 13:15-16 WEB)

• What is the gospel?
• What should I do to inherit eternal life?
• The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart