The Content of the Law – A Kingdom Catechism

The Content of the Law

A Kingdom Catechism

The Law is more than the commandments of God.

Q 4: Of what does the Law of God consist?

A 4: The Law of God consists of commandments, statutes, precepts, rules, and testimonies revealed by God through His servant, Moses. (Deut. 4:44-5:21; Matt. 5:17-19)

The Ten Commandments are to the Law of God like the United States Constitution is to all the other statutes on all the law books of the various states and communities. The commandments mark out the divinely appointed parameters of love for God and neighbors, while the various statutes precepts, rules, and testimonies “put flesh on the bones” of God’s Law.

It is not clear, nor does it appear to be of great significance, what the difference between these terms might be. These various subordinate laws can be clustered around the Ten Commandments to provide illustrations of how God intends His people to apply His Law unto love for Him and their neighbors.

The Law of God—His commandments and statutes—are to the rest of Scripture as the acorn is to the oak. All of Scripture looks back to the Law and builds on it; all the Law points the direction and trajectory for the rest of divine revelation.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.