Which if a man do, he shall live in them— That the primary sense of these words refers to that temporal life and prosperity which God promised to the Jews as the consequence of their obedience, there can be no question; see Deuteronomy 30:15-16; Deuteronomy 32:47 compared with Proverbs 3:2; Proverbs 3:35. That they have a secondary sense of a sublimer import, referring to spiritual life, there can also be no question with those who consider in what manner they are used in the New Testament. See Matthew 18:8-9; Matthew 19:17. Luke 10:28. Romans 10:5; Romans 10:21.
REFLECTIONS.—The moral precepts are binding, though the ceremonial are abolished. Such are the injunctions here given. God, as the Lord, has a right to command obedience: as our God, reconciled in Jesus Christ, has every reason to expect it. They were going into a land as idolatrous as that out of which they came; and as they were but too prone to their old practices, they had need of repeated solemn warnings. Note; Because sin has such deep hold on our hearts, and old habits are so hardly eradicated, we have need of line upon line, and precept upon precept. God charges them to remember his commandments to do them, and promises a happy and long life to the obedient. They, who in simplicity follow God, will find themselves no losers thereby.