This week in church, we looked at three facts concerning God’s law. Our focus was upon the Ten Commandments. What was God’s reason for giving them to Israel, and by extension, to us?
First of all, we need to understand the law was not given to provide a means to salvation. Salvation was promised to Abraham as a result of his faith in God’s promise (Genesis 15:6); the Law came along some four hundred years later.
So, if the Law does not provide salvation, what is its purpose? Deuteronomy 10:12-13…”What does the Lord ask of you but to fear the LORD your God…and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
The Law is given for our own good. It provides guidelines for living. It is not a fence to deny us freedom. It is there to give us the freedom to live as God wants us to live.
The Law was given in love, because God loves and protects His people. The Law demands perfection, but due to the sin problem, we cannot be perfect. Jesus Christ took care of that on the cross, and His love empowers us to exhibit that same love in our relationships with other people.
The commandments concerning adultery, murder, stealing, and covetousness and… “Whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
To sum it up; the Law was given in love. The Law demands perfection. The end of the Law is love.
In His love,
Pastor Jerry
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