The Greatest Good--We note here how Jesus combined the teaching of the Law and the Prophets, under the authority of His own Word, to conclude that the essence of what it means to do good is summed up in the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (2)

T. M. Moore

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22.37-40

We note here how Jesus combined the teaching of the Law and the Prophets, under the authority of His own Word, to conclude that the essence of what it means to do good is summed up in the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor. With this the Apostles all concur (cf. 1 Cor. 13; 1 Jn. 5.1-3).

A couple of very important guidelines for doing good emerge from this, and are firmly rooted in the Law of God. First is that doing good is a spiritual obligation and therefore must arise from within us, from the depths of our souls. If we do not love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will not be able to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Law of God serves us by exposing sin that yet resides in our souls and, in the skillful hands of the Spirit of God, by molding us heart, mind, and conscience to love in a manner consistent with what the Law requires.

Second, since the commandments outline the parameters of good works and of love, they teach us how we may actually put love into practice in concrete, everyday situations. They teach us how to do good toward God and to love Him by worshiping Him exclusively, not taking His name in vain, and honoring His Sabbath. They teach us to do good to our neighbors and to love them by honoring them, looking out for their wellbeing (rather than murdering them), honoring the bounds of human sexuality which God has defined, being content with our own possessions rather than stealing or coveting those of others, and always dealing truthfully with and about our neighbors. The many civil laws which elaborate and illustrate the various commandments of God help us to think in more specific and practical terms about how to practice good works of love each day.

Good works not motivated by love lack something intrinsic to the very idea of “good.” Thus, if we are to allow the Law to guide us in doing good, we must submit to the Spirit’s teaching as He shapes our souls into the image of Christ, and follow the express teaching of God and Jesus Christ as this is declared in God’s Law and explained by the Prophets and Apostles of Scripture.

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.