The End of God’s Law--Learning to love God can be difficult – 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.

The Rule of Law: First Things (4)

We should fear what this God can do to people like us.

T. M. Moore

“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, to love him…” Deuteronomy 10.12

Learning to love God can be difficult – 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, if only barely, 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 affection! We are easily distracted and only with great difficulty and constant exertion sufficiently well-disciplined to be able 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. 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, 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 with His 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.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

The General Intent of God’s Law--Our day has witnessed a diluting of the word, “love,” like no generation before us.

The Rule of Law: First Things (3)

The goal of God’s Law is to train us for love.

T. M. Moore

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

Our day has witnessed a diluting of the word, “love,” like no generation before us. It is not uncommon to express one’s 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, is 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.

“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: “Al 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 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 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?

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

The Scope of God’s Law--Before launching into a more detailed consideration of the benefits that come to those who submit to God’s Law as the rule of their lives, we should explain what we mean by this term.

The Rule of Law: First Things (2)

Jesus instituted a better covenant with better promises.

T. M. Moore

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you…” Deuteronomy 6.1

Before launching into a more detailed consideration of the benefits that come to those who submit to God’s Law as the rule of their lives, we should explain what we mean by this term. In the Old Testament, God’s Law consists of three parts: the Ten Commandments; the civil laws; and the religious and ceremonial laws, which outline the duties of priests in relationship to the spiritual wellbeing of the community.

Following the argument of Hebrews 7-10, we understand that the religious and ceremonial laws, while valid for their particular time and place, do not contain the means for removing sin. Instead, they provided for the people of Israel temporary measures of restoration and spiritual refreshment, administered for the people by the work of priests. The writer of Hebrews insists that, for the purposes of the Gospel, those laws were primarily to be understood as foreshadowing the coming of another Priest, not one from the tribe of Levi, but from Judah, and of the order of Melchizedek, who had his priesthood not by physical descent, but by virtue of an indestructible life.

Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the types and prophesies embedded in the religious and ceremonial laws. He has become a priest forever, above the Old Testament Law, and now intercedes for His people, not by elaborate rituals and sacrifices, but through His own blood. He has instituted new ceremonial laws – baptism, the Lord’s Supper, corporate worship, and the like – which look back to His work in the same way that the Old Testament religious and ceremonial laws looked forward to it.

Jesus instituted a better covenant with better promises, and He rendered null and void the old priestly laws and regulations associated with the Levitical priesthood. There is still much to learn by reading and studying those laws – about the character of God, the heinousness of sin, the necessity of sacrifice, and so forth – but believers in Jesus Christ are not bound to keep those laws in the way that Old Testament saints were so obliged.

Thus, the benefit we seek from God’s Law will come from being ruled, not by the Levitical code, but by the Ten Commandments and the attending civil statutes, precepts, and rules. As we understand and submit to these, according to the teaching of the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles, we find the truth of God that sets us free from sin and its consequences so that we may enjoy, in the power of God’s Spirit, the blessings He has in store for us through His precious and very great promises.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

Only Two Options--The idea that God’s Law should rule the lives of human beings is hardly an agreeable notion – even to many Christians

The Rule of Law: First Things (1)

Everyone is ruled by some law, either God’s or from some other source.

T. M. Moore

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them.” Leviticus 18.1-4

The idea that God’s Law should rule the lives of human beings is hardly an agreeable notion – even to many Christians. It is not difficult for our unbelieving contemporaries to find reasons why the Law of God is unacceptable to them. It might surprise us, however, to know that ignorance and indifference to the Law are widespread among the members of the believing community.

That being said, it is only fair to observe that anyone who will not submit to the rule of God’s Law will submit to some other rule of law. That may be something as simple as the whim of the moment, as flexible as the moral relativity of the day, or as rigid as Islamic Sharia law. Everyone is ruled by some law, either God’s or from some other source.

Christians believe there are many advantages to having their outlook, aspirations, priorities, and lives molded and directed by a body of Law which is holy and righteous and good, and which fosters, in its outworking, a life of loving God and neighbor, so as to edify individuals and communities, promote justice and mercy, and satisfy one’s own best interests (Rom. 7.12; Matt. 22.34-30).

On the other hand, we believe many dangers lie along the uncertain path of changing human norms or the precepts and practices of false religions. In every person’s life, how we relate to others, conduct our affairs, and organize our lives will thus be determined by one of two options: Either God, speaking in His Law and Word, or us as individuals, clinging to whatever standards and guidelines may seem to suit for the moment.

But we must not assume that living under the rule of God’s Law will automatically appear to be a thing to be desired. We must try to demonstrate this, first of all, to believers. If we can persuade the followers of Jesus Christ to take up the study and practice of God’s Law, not only will we contribute to their knowing a greater experience of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5.17-19) and a more complete walk of discipleship (1 Jn. 2.1-6), we should also expect that their way of life will draw the attention of those around them, who will observe and remark the wisdom and graciousness of their way of life (Deut. 4.5-8).

This series of In the Gates is therefore devoted to unpacking the benefits of living under God’s Law as our rule of life. We will spend the rest of this week explaining some preliminary considerations. Next week will begin to look in more detail at how the Law of God brings the blessings of God’s covenant to the lives of those who live under it.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

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