Almost as an Old Covenant Great Commission,
Moses explains to the people of Israel what is required of them in response to
God’s giving of the Law. Their response is to be obedience with all of their
heart:
Deut 26:16, “This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.”
There is a clear link with the second verse in Matthew’s
Great Commission, where Jesus commanded His disciples to observe all things
that He commanded them and to make that the focus of their teaching ministry:
Matt 28:20, “‘teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
The idea of “the whole heart” or “all the heart,” as found
in Deuteronomy 26:16, is used to described the love that is due God from
mankind in Deuteronomy 6:5. Jesus quoted this same verse in Matthew 22
and Mark 12 in response to the question about the greatest commandment in
the Law of Moses. Also, a certain lawyer quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 in Luke 10
to describe the Old Covenant approach for gaining eternal life. These three verses
also contain “the whole heart” language of Deuteronomy 6:5.
However, in Acts we find a fourth New Testament use of “all
your heart.” It is used in the context of a conversation between the Evangelist
Philip with the Ethiopian Eunuch. Rather than emphasizing a complete obedience
as in Deut 26:16, and rather than a complete emotional commitment to God
as in Deut 6:5, Acts 8:37 emphasizes salvation by faith alone:
Acts 8:37, “Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’”
So, in Acts 8:37 we find believing with “all of your heart”
as the cornerstone of salvation. And further, the locus of that faith is the
person and work of Jesus Christ.
So as the only verbal formula for baptism in the New
Testament, Acts 8:37 includes several remarkable concepts:
- The baptismal candidate taking the initiative to request baptism (Acts 8:36);
- The evangelist requiring a belief with all the heart prior to baptizing;
- The baptismal candidate verbally stating in his own words what it is that he believes.
And upon this simple profession of faith, Philip baptized
the Ethiopian Eunuch.
So, as Deuteronomy 26:16 is compared to Acts 8:37,
there seems to be a remarkable shift in what is required for salvation. This
change is made manifest as one from obeying the commandments of God to that of
volitionally and emotionally fully believing in Jesus.
