Exodus 20.2, 3

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

Deuteronomy 5.6, 7

“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.’”

The Law, which God gave to His people upon their deliverance, was intended as an administrative means by which the people of the covenant could know the blessings of the covenant in fellowship with the God of the covenant and His people. The Law, therefore, is, like the deliverance of God, a gesture of His covenant love, given to Israel entirely by grace and wholly for their good and God’s glory.

Consequently, the redeemed of the Lord are not their own; as Israel belonged to God Who delivered them from captivity in Egypt, so believers belong to God Who redeemed them through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6.19, 20). We have been redeemed by grace through faith so that we, belonging to God, might do the good works which God has before ordained for us in His Law (Eph. 2.8-10).

Thus the Law of God, written on our hearts as the image-bearers of God (Rom. 2.14, 15), is now being re-written on our hearts by the indwelling Spirit of Christ (Ezek. 36.26, 27). We should expect, given the presence of the Spirit and the changes wrought in God’s relationship with the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that certain aspects of the eternal Law of God would need to be adjusted and adapted to this new age of grace.

The triumph of the Gospel and the reality of salvation by grace does not negate the Law of God (Rom. 3.31). The Law remains holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7.12). Thus we need to understand the intent of the Law as it relates to us today as the redeemed people of God.

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