Deuteronomy 10.12, 13

“And now, Israel, what does the LORDyour God require of you, but to fear the LORDyour God, to walk in all His ways and to love him, to serve the LORDyour God with all your heart and all your soul, andto keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD…”

We have seen that the Biblical worldview which the Law of God presents is not confined to some narrowly “religious” aspect of human experience. It speaks to all of life, including how we worship and relate to God.

But the Biblical worldview – like all worldviews – is religious in its essential character. What do we mean by this?

The worldview of God’s Law is religious in that it intends to teach us how to enjoy the fullest benefits of a relationship with the living God. “Religion” means “that which binds us back” to whatever we regard as the greatest or highest good we might know. The worldview of God’s Law is anchored in avision of Good – God Who isgood and the good lifefor which He has redeemed us. The Law of God is not, in the first instance, about how to be free or moral or secure or prosperous. It is about knowing and loving God and enjoying a right relationship with Him Whom we know to be supremely good. The blessings of obedience to God’s Law are first, foremost, and above all realized not in temporal circumstances or material things – which, like the branches of a bush, can entangle and snare us – but by entering the fiery glory of God and dwelling there in His presence, within His favor.

Second, the Law of God explains the disciplines of life which are essential if that glory-filled relationship is to be sustained and improved. As we have seen, every worldview prescribes a code of ethics and practices which adherents pursue in hopes of realizing whatever may be the vision of good they seek. We may not approach God in just any old way. There is a way first to enter the presence of God – through the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb, His Son – and a way to maintain and enlarge that experience, by faith and obedience to His Law.

Finally, the Law of God is religious in that, like all religions, it manifests in outward appearances of an inward vision and discipline. The Biblical worldview of God’s Law comes to light in justice, which is expressed in love for God and for neighbors. The vision to which we long to be bound, closer and closer, becomes a lived reality in our everyday lives as we pursue, through daily discipline, knowledge of and obedience to Him Who has called us out of the darkness of sin into the fiery light of His Word and presence.

As believers we do not apologize for the religious character of our worldview. Every worldview is religious in nature, in that every worldview is a faith venture in which proponents and adherents seek to be bound to an ultimate good. The Biblical worldview of the Law of God, however, has the distinct advantage of being pure and undefiled religion, as all know who have entered and begun to follow it.

Act: All worldviews are religious in nature? Really? How can you see that this is so? Talk with a Christian friend about what it is that makes every worldview a kind of religion.

T. M. Moore

Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God – another primary theme of Scripture. Order a copy of The Gospel of the Kingdomfrom our online store, and learn how you can become more effective at proclaiming this wonderful Good News.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In the Gates
Foundations of a Worldview

Deuteronomy 5.29

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”

Believers who are skeptical about the continuing validity of the Law of God tend to see the Law as oppressive, merely external, and a hindrance to Christian joy. Such a view can only be described as idiotic – self-referential merely, rather than derived from the plain teaching of God’s Word.

God holds out the blessings of His Law as attainable for all who keep them, “that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” Unless we believe that God delights in taunting or lying to us, we must embrace the notion that the good He promises to those who keep His covenant can actually be theirs, now and forever.

But obedience to God’s Law, and the realization of all it promises, begin in the heart. Unless God works in our hearts, to cut away the heart of stone and give us a heart of new flesh, we can never realize the full benefits of the Biblical worldview of His Law (cf. Deut. 30.1-10; Ezek. 36.26, 27). Unless God “enlarges” our heart – increases our love for Him and His Word – we shall have no inclination or ability to do what is pleasing to Him and beneficial for ourselves (Ps. 119.32; Phil. 2.13).

Living within the blessed worldview outlined in God’s Law is thus, first of all, a matter of what we most earnestly desire. If we do not love God supremely, and love His Law as His gift of love to us, then we will only delude ourselves by thinking that we can know His blessings by any other means. No amount of participation in Christian worship, church programs and ministries, daily devotions, or fellowship with other believers will produce for us the full blessings which obedience to His Law, from the heart, holds in store.

Jesus is the key. He came from beyond our time, by the grace of God, to redeem us and bind us back to God, give us a new heart, indwell us by His Spirit, teach us all His truth, and make us willing and able to do what pleases God. Through Him, through His righteousness and work within us, we may expect to know ever-increasing measures of full and abundant life, covenant blessings, and greatness in His Kingdom, as we learn, practice, and encourage one another in the Law of God (Matt. 5.17-19; Heb. 10.24).

Gaining the benefit of the Biblical worldview, which begins to be revealed in God’s Law, thus depends supremely on knowing, seeking, and following Jesus Christ. His true disciples will, in His power, walk the path of obedience He Himself walked (1 Jn. 2.1-6).

Act: Review the Scriptures cited here. Why does it make sense for one who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ to have his worldview rooted and grounded in God’s Law?

T. M. Moore

Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God – another primary theme of Scripture. Order a copy of The Gospel of the Kingdomfrom our online store, and learn how you can become more effective at proclaiming this wonderful Good News.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.