The Rule of Law: First Things (3)

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“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6.4, 5

Our day has witnessed a diluting of the word, “love,” like no generation before it. It is not uncommon to express enthusiasm for everything from one’s spouse and children, to his church, favorite food, or the latest film or pop tune by using this word. “Love” has thus come to identify a generally favorable disposition toward a great many things.

In the process, the real meaning of love, embodied by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has been all but lost to our sensibilities.

The goal of God’s Law is to train us for love, in the first instance, love for God. Jesus explained that all the Law and the Prophets – those Old Testament exponents and advocates of God’s Law – was fulfilled in the command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The general intent of God’s Law, therefore, is to define and enforce the terms of love (Matt. 22.34-40).

“What the world needs now/is love, sweet love” sang the pop star Dionne Warwick in a previous generation. The Beatles chimed in their assent: “All you need is love!” In every age the prophets and sirens of pop culture have insisted that love is the key to human happiness. “Why can’t we all just love one another?” has been the cri de cœure in every age. It remains so today.

This should give us hope that the Law of God, which is designed to teach and lead us into the ways of love, can once again provide a meaningful standard for human conduct.

But we must begin where we can, among those who accept the Bible as God’s Word and who understand the Law’s intent, and who will by their own submission to the rule of God’s Law, be able to demonstrate its power for this love, so perfectly embodied in Jesus Christ.

To submit to the rule of God’s Law is to submit to the counsels of love. How can we object to this?

Next steps – Conversation: How does the Law of God fit us to love God and our neighbors? Talk with a Christian friend about this question.

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of the Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

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