The Law of God: What is its value for us?

 

The Law of God declares the glory of God (Mt.5:48); it displays the demands of God upon our lives (Ex.19:5>1 Ptr.2:9); it defines, exposes, and even incites sin (Rom.3:20, 5:20, 7:5-13; 1 Jn.3:4); it shows the blessings of obedience and God’s wrath for disobedience; it drives us to Christ for salvation (Gal. 3:24); it can restrain the spread of evil (1 Tim.1:10 & Rom.13:4); it guides the sanctification of the believer (1 Jn.2:3-6; Jms.2:12); it provides the “royal” standard for perfect justice (Jms.2:8). 

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Jesus and His Teachings about the Law

 

• Mt.5: 17-18- “I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it”

• Jesus responds to His temptations by quoting from Deuteronomy

• Mt.22:40- all the commandments hang from the 2 laws of love (cf., even stoning!) 

• The Sermon on the Mount (Mt.5-7)– Jesus does not introduce a new ethic contradicting the Law of Moses, but rather clarifies the personal dimension of that social fabric.

• The woman caught in adultery of John 8- Jesus applies the Law of Moses in dealing with her case.

 

How do the moral details of God’s Law apply to us as New Covenant believers (Christians)?

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• Jesus’ example of self-sacrificial, servant love becomes a “new command” beyond the requirements of the Law (1 Cor.9:21; John 13:34).

• Now the Law is written on human hearts, as the Holy Spirit indwells us to teach and lead us and apply the principles of His Law to our lives in today’s world; not just as dos and don’ts (cf., Jer.31:31-34>Heb.8:8-12, Ezek. 36:25-27)

• “The law with its commandments and regulations” was abolished by the Cross (Eph.2:14-16) We are not “under the Law” (1 Cor.9:20-21; Gal.3:24-25, 5:18; Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:8,16-17, 20-23), but its principles have continuing value for us (“the law is good, if anyone uses it lawfully”-I Tim.1:9); Paul “delights in the Law of God”- (Rom.7:22); “keep the Royal Law”-(James. 2:8). See also the practical application of a principle of the Law-“do not muzzle the ox treading grain” in 1 Cor.9:9 and 1 Tim.5:18.

• The Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, pointing back to Lev. 17 & 18, identifies four points of obligation for New Covenant believers which remain.

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