Exodus 20.2, 3

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

Deuteronomy 5.6, 7

“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.’”

The Law of God has its source in the unchanging and eternal Yahweh, God of heaven and earth. We should expect, therefore, that, like Him Who gave it, God’s Law would be eternal and unchanging as well.

Yahweh is also a personal Deity, existing in three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the eternal Godhead the Persons of the Deity enjoy perfect glory and mutual love. It is reasonable to expect, therefore, that the Law issuing from such counsel will be intended for the same. Through obedience to the eternal and unchanging Law, God’s people learn the ways of love and live within the context of His glory.

Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the God of magnificent and precious promises which He holds out to His people as the way to partake of His very essence (Ex. 3.6; Gen. 12.1-3; 2 Pet. 1.4). The Law is thus not in conflict with the promises (Gal. 3:15-8; cf. Rom. 4.13-25). It was given as a means to aid Israel in moving toward that which God intended for them in loving Him and their neighbors. As Jesus Christ fulfills the Law, and all the Prophets (Matt. 5.17-19), so also He is the fulfillment of all the promises of God as well (2 Cor. 1.20). Thus the Law and the promises are embodied in Jesus Christ, and all the blessings and glory of each is realized only through Him.

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Exodus 20.2, 3

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.”

Deuteronomy 5.6, 7

“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.’”

Psalm 73.25; Romans 1.21-25

In this briefest of prologues, God identifies Himself as sole Giver of the commandments, statutes, precepts and rules that follow. The Law thus has its origins in the eternal being and counsel of the one true God, and this has important implications for the nature of the Law itself.

The Lord. The Law comes to the redeemed of the Lord from an eternal and personal Being, Yahweh, the great I Am. He is holy and unchanging; hence, we should expect that whatever He might ordain in the way of moral instruction for His people would be of the same character. The Law of God is and unchanging, as is God Who gave it; it is therefore also eternal.

Consequently, the Law of God is the absolute and final standard for human moral conduct. The works of the Law are written on the heart of every human being (Rom. 2.14, 15), who bears the image and likeness of God. Thus, by living in conformity to the teaching of the divine Law may any human being expect to find the fullness of God’s purpose for life.

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Failure to keep watch over our hearts will cause us to stumble.

Get ready for violence every day.

Make yourself an interesting person!

The Law of God in the Life of the Church (14)

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