Love the Law and Thrive

Church Family:
God has promised to give you a flourishing, thriving life by loving and obeying His Law (Ps. 1). God’s Law was given to us a loving guide to lead us away from destruction and into maximum blessing from God. God did not give His Law to make us miserable prisoners of gloom. He gave us His Law so that we would live thriving lives in this sinful world.

In Nehemiah 10, God’s people had been reading the Book of God’s Law together for hours each day over the previous twenty-four days. As they studied the Law of God, it reflected the perfect righteousness of God into their lives and revealed to them their sinfulness. They learned what pleases God and what offends Him which led to repentance. They once again became a people who loved and obeyed God’s Law giving Him honor and glory which is the chief purpose of the Law (John 14:15). What did they do next? Whatever God’s Law said, they desired to obey it. They had a whole-hearted, delightful, unreserved commitment to do what God commands them to do. They committed themselves to obedience. (Neh. 10:29).

But wait... is the Old Covenant Law binding on us today as Christians? Simply put, upon the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Old Covenant passed away. This means that Christians are no longer under its commands and laws. We are now under the New Covenant entirely. We are under a better Covenant (Heb. 8:6-7). This New Covenant comes with its own law called the Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:20-21).

What is the Law of Christ? Jesus taught that the Law of Christ is the Law of Love. Jesus summarized the laws of God are about loving God with all of our heart, soul mind and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself (Mat. 22:37-40). Jesus, Paul and other New Testament writers define loving God and neighbor by fulfilling the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant. Those laws of the decalogue (Ten Commandments) are still required for us today. They are not required because they are part of the Old Covenant but because the New Testament commands them as part of the Law of Christ.

So, we love God as Christ clarified in His Law of Love pointing back to the first four commandments of the decalogue (Ex. 20:1-11). We love our neighbor as Christ clarified in His Law of Love pointing back to the last six commandments of the decalogue (Ex. 20:12-17). Have you committed to Christ to love and obey His Law? Do you have a whole-hearted comprehensive, unapologetic, unreserved commitment to do what God commands you to do. If so, God has promised to give you a flourishing, thriving life (Ps. 1).

See you Sunday, delighting in the Law of Christ: Steve