“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, 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.”

 Ephesians 5.15-17; Colossians 4.6

The Lord our God is one. There are no other gods. Nothing else must be allowed to command the devotion, attention, commitment, or energy which God commands from His people toward Himself. We only show that we deny the uniqueness of God and prefer our own wit and ways when we look to created things to provide us the meaning, purpose, and happiness only God can provide (Rom. 1.18ff).

Bringing His people to the true knowledge of Himself was the purpose of God’s redemptive work in delivering Israel from Egypt. In the same way, Jesus came to bring us life eternal, which is the knowledge of the living God and of His Son (Jn. 10.10, 17.3). The end of redemption is the knowledge of God. The response of those God has redeemed must be to love Him. The manner in which they demonstrate their love for Him is by obeying Him in all His Word.

 This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.