What’s the purpose of the religious laws of the Old Testament?

“The LORDwill establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORDyour God and walk in all his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. And the LORDwill make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORDswore to your fathers to give you.” Deuteronomy 28.9-11

The blessings of God’s covenant, which He bestows upon us as we are faithful in worship, are not exhausted inworship.

Many people come away from a service of worship filled with delight and feeling very much like they have been in the presence of the Lord. But their lives throughout the rest of the week scarcely reflect any awareness of their calling to be the salt of the earth and to live out the covenant mandates unto holiness.

We can know that we have worshiped God in a way that pleases Him when the blessings of His covenant are flowing to us not just during our time of worship, but throughout all aspects of our daily lives. We are truly renewed in God’s covenant when we go forth from worship to be the salt of the earth, guarding the world against the corrupting power of sin and savoring the world with the winsome flavor of Jesus Christ.

If our worship does not thus renew us in God’s covenant, then our worship, no matter how much we “enjoy” or “get out of it”, is falling short of what God intends for it.

God is working to sanctify us, to set us apart for all to see as a people holy unto Him. He sends us forth from worship to bear witness to the lost world, to do the works of His Law in the power of His Spirit so that we might touch others with the Kingdom reality of the risen Christ, and prosper in all our ways as agents of grace and truth in the world.

We will know that our worship is doing what God intends – and, thus, that we have brought our worship to God as we ought – when witness, service, and the glory of God are visible in everything we say and do

For a fuller study of the pattern of worship revealed in Scripture, order the book, The Highest Thing, by T. M. Moore, from our online store. These studies and brief essays will help you to see how the pattern of sound worship, which began in the Law of God, comes to complete expression in the rest of Scripture. Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe.