Instruct
The Rule of Law: Government of Relationships (4)
We are all called to teach and exemplify God’s Law.
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Your shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6.6-9
This mandate to teach God’s Law to our children is not intended to restrict religious instruction to the home. The home is the foundation for spiritual edification, but living and teaching the Law of God extends into every arena where believers live and move and have their being. For we never cease to be a people whose souls are governed the Law and Spirit of God, or whose lives do not evidence the love such inward governance produces in us. Thus, we must always be ready to explain the reason for the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3.15).
Loving our neighbors includes seeking to instruct them in the ways of God, both by the ways we live and the words we speak. The notion of the Word of God on our hands, between our eyes, on our doorposts, and on our gates intends to suggest that God’s Law should pervade everything about our worldview, our demeanor, and our use of the gifts and property God entrusts to us. All our involvement with culture, and our participation in our communities and the issues of the day, must be guided by the teaching of God’s Word. By our example, in every area of our lives, we must work to “put skin” on the holiness, righteousness, and goodness of God’s Law (Rom. 7.12).
But we must also study the Law – and all the Word of God – and hide it in our souls, so that we might be able to teach and admonish our neighbors concerning the good and perfect will of God for our lives (Ps. 119.9-11; Col. 3.16). If we love our neighbors we will equip ourselves to fulfill our duty to teach them the things of God. This will mean, among other things, that we devote a portion of our time each day to careful and reflective reading and study of God’s Word, beginning in His Law.
For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.
