The Rule of Law: First Things (10)

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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…” Deuteronomy 6.4, 5

Just as nowhere do we find the Scriptures speaking explicitly concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, neither do we find it addressing the components of the soul conveniently all together in one place. The nature and function of the soul must be deduced, like the doctrine of the Trinity, by comparing Scripture with Scripture from various places as the Holy Spirit leads and enables (1 Cor. 2.12, 13).

While the Hebrew word for “mind” does not appear in Deuteronomy 6, it is sufficiently well implied, so that, when in other places the “renewing of the mind” is called for (cf. Rom. 12.1, 2), we should have no problem in anchoring such work to this text. The soul, we have seen, consists of heart, mind, and conscience. Only the heart is specifically mentioned in this text. We may assume, therefore, that the term “soul” intends to embrace the other two components.

This seems evident from the fact that the Law of God consists of certain intellectual content which is to be taught and discussed (vv. 6, 7). Moses anticipates that children will have questions about the Law beginning to form in their thinking, and that they will turn to their parents for further elaboration and to clarify their understanding (vv. 20-25). We are to love the Lord and be ruled by His Law in all our minds, just as in all our hearts.

In the soul, the mind performs the various functions of thought: it receives, analyzes, processes, and stores information, it puts together ideas and plans, it employs the protocols of reason and logic to draw inferences and conclusions, and it recalls data and prepares it for orderly presentation or use. All these functions, and all the information on which they act, are to be subordinated to the Law of God. Only thus can the mind fulfill its intended function of bringing us to the blessings of God (cf. Rom. 8.5-9).

To submit our minds to the rule of God’s Law we shall have to apply ourselves to reading, study, and discussion of the Law, so that we become persuaded in our thinking, as well as in our hearts, that this rule is, indeed, the way to blessings.

Next steps – Preparation: Today, as you pray through the Ten Commandments, let the Spirit search your thoughts (Ps. 139.23, 24) to discover any lingering or unidentified ideas, notions, or views which are not in line with love for God and your neighbors.

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.