Good Enough for the Apostles – Interpreting the Law of God (4)

Good Enough for the Apostles

Interpreting the Law of God (4)

The Apostles loved the Law; shouldn’t we?

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. James 2:12

Jesus taught that a day is coming when all people will be evaluated by the works they have done, whether for good or evil. Good works don’t save us; they simply validate the salvation we have received. Without those good works, for which we have be redeemed (Eph. 2:8-10), the faith we possess is simply dead (Jas. 2:26).

Good works are defined by the good Law of God. Paul said the Law taught him the difference between his sinful behavior and the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:7). He said the Law radiates the glory of God and, in the hand of God’s Spirit, can transform us into the very image of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 2:12-18). All the Apostles learned and taught the Law and appealed to it in helping the churches in their care to find the true path of love and Kingdom greatness.

Do we assume that, somehow, we are more “enlightened” than the Apostles, that we do not need to read, study, ponder, and apply the Law of God in our own lives? Yet we have become so ignorant of the Law that we are actually guilty of neglecting it, thereby allowing true love to grow cold in our hearts, churches, and nation.

If we are to be judged by the law of liberty—the Law of God that sets us free from sin rather than yokes us to it, as some suppose—then we must learn that Law and seek the best ways of applying it to every aspect of our lives (Ps. 119:59, 60). But we must make certain that we understand the Law as God intends, and not according to false interpretations of the Law foisted upon us by unbelieving politicians and pundits and unfaithful ministers of the Word.

Unless, of course, it makes no difference to us whether or not our faith is the same as that of the Apostles.

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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.