The Rule of Law: First Things (4)

Click here to watch a brief video introducing this week’s study.

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10.12, 13

Learning to love God takes effort – a bit like learning to delight in a dessert you’ve never tasted, a place you’ve never visited, or a person you’ve never met. God is invisible and dwells beyond all created existence. Even for those who have come to know Him through faith in Jesus Christ, loving God – especially with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength – can be a real challenge.

So many visible and tangible things compete for our affections! We are easily distracted and only with great difficulty and constant exertion can we become sufficiently well-disciplined to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord with any consistency or depth (Ps. 27.4).

The way to the love of God is through the fear of God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; it is also the handrail along the path of love. As we seek the Lord in His Word, we discover a God Who is all-powerful, able to destroy every enemy, adamant and unbending in His opposition to sin, and exacting in what he requires of men – because His promises to us and expectations of us are so lofty and glorious. We see many examples of His terrible wrath, and the more we study and consider Him, the more we realize we are precisely the kind of people against whom His wrath was routinely delivered throughout the pages of Scripture.

We should fear what this God can do to people like us. And, as we do, clinging to that handrail of fear, we come upon His mercy toward us, expressed both in His steadfast love and faithfulness but, above all, in the sacrifice of His own dear Son, Jesus Christ, for our redemption. We fear God, because we must. But when, fearing Him, He meets us not with wrath but with love, how can we not give thanks, fall down at His feet, and pour out our heartfelt love for Him in obedience to all He requires?

The Law works to teach us love for God. Love for God equips us to love our neighbors. But love for God must be anchored in and reinforced by the fear of God; and the Law, together with all of Scripture, is able to teach us this as well.

Next steps – Demonstration: Imagine an unbelieving friend or co-worker saying, “You say you love God. Well what does that look like in your life?” How would you respond?

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.