“You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18.5

Salvation, we know, is of the Lord (Ps. 3.8). It is all of grace, a gift freely bestowed at the Father’s good pleasure on those whom He has chosen for Himself. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of grace. Salvation is by faith.

Have I said that clearly enough?

But salvation, of course, is not of or by God’s Law. Only after God had delivered Israel out of Egypt, deposited them safely on the other side of the Red Sea, destroyed their enemies, and brought them to the safety of His holy mountain – only after all that did He give them His Law.

Israel was redeemed and free to know the Lord. Now the question was, Would they live unto Him?

Well, how could they do that unless they knew what He required? And how could He communicate those requirements to them except by words? And what better way to impart words designed to give saved people real life with God than by encoding them in Law?

The Law of God shows saved sinners how to enjoy salvation. The Law is not unto salvation, but for the sake of salvation – so that we might fully enjoy what we have been freely given. If you are a saved sinner, looking for a way to know, enjoy, and serve God, then begin here, with the Law of God.

We are wrong, therefore, if we try to make the Law, or obedience to it, a kind of redeeming act. For example, if we think bringing our nation’s laws into better conformity with the Law of God – a thing most to be desired, I believe – will somehow save our nation, we are mistaken.

By the same token, if we think we can lead redeemed and saved people to a full and joyous experience of eternal life in Jesus Christ apart from the Law of God, we’re also mistaken.

A third governing principle for interpreting the Law of God is that we should expect the Law, especially in its deeper and more important meanings (remember Paul in 1 Cor. 9), to help us enter more fully into the salvation we have received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Thus the Law helps saved sinners overcome the power of sin by learning to do what is holy and righteous and good under the tutelage and in the power of God’s Spirit (Rom. 7.12; 12.21; Ezek. 36.26, 27; 1 Cor. 2.12, 13).

T. M. Moore

Order a copy of The Law of God from our online store, and begin daily reading in the commandments, statutes, testimonies, precepts, and rules of God, which are the cornerstone of divine revelation. Sign up at our websiteto receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, written by T. M. Moore.