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Uses of the Law: To Clarify the Good News (6)
T. M. Moore
“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6.9, 10
The Gospel that Jesus and the apostles proclaimed is the Gospel of the Kingdom (cf. Matt. 4.17, 23; Acts 20.25). It heralds the astonishing news that a new epoch has begun in human history, in which God has enthroned His King Who is advancing a dominion that reaches to the hearts of men and is spreading out to overcome all nations and reconcile all things to God (Dan. 2.44, 45; 7.18; 2 Cor. 5.17-21).
Jesus taught His followers to pray for the coming of this Kingdom, that it would make progress in and through them as they take up the good works for which they have been redeemed. That Kingdom, Paul explained, is a spiritual realm in which righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit obtain and prevail among men. It is the first and highest priority of every believer to seek this Kingdom and its righteousness (Matt. 6.33). And we cannot take up this high and holy calling apart from the Law of God.
The Law of God defines the patterns and practices of righteousness which mark out the boundaries of the Kingdom of God. Obedience to that Law, which is the work of the Spirit of God within us, leads to peace with God and men and joy in God’s presence, which nothing can take from us. Jesus calls all those who have believed in Him to pray for the coming of the Kingdom. Can we believe that He would instruct us to pray for something that He did not intend to fulfill? And if we know how He intends to fulfill it, can we seek that Kingdom in any other way than by obedience, in the Spirit of God, to his holy and righteous and good Law (Rom. 7.12)?
To sinners, therefore, we proclaim not just the gift of heaven, but life in an entirely new realm of experience, where favor with God and men comes through the indwelling power of God’s Spirit as we pursue righteousness and peace and joy in Him (1 Cor. 4.20; Rom. 14.17-19).
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.