James and the Law – The Kingdom Curriculum I (4)

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James and the Law

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The Kingdom Curriculum I (4)

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

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Unless there is some other “law of liberty” besides that which Paul refers to as given by Moses (2 Cor. 3:12-18), the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ must have been under the assumption that the Law of God is the Christian’s code of conduct. He instructed his readers not simply to be readers of that Law, but doers of it, for it is in doing the Law, James insists, that we find the blessing of God (Jms. 1:22-25).

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And this is just the kind of language God Himself used in giving His Law to Israel: “‘…keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good…’” (Deut. 10:13. “‘Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you…’” (Deut. 6:3). “‘You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD’” (Lev. 18:5).

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God gave His Law to a people He had liberated from slavery so that they might live in the liberty of blessings and the favor of the Lord by walking in the way of life. He did not give His Law to Israel in order that, by keeping it, they might be saved. He gave His liberated people the Law so that they could unpack the full extent of their liberty in obedience to the One Who loved them enough to deliver them unto Himself.

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James appealed to the Law to denounce those readers who trusted in their riches rather than their liberty-granting God, and who oppressed those in their debt by failing to treat them with the justice the Law of God requires (Jms. 5:1-6; cf. Lev. 19:13). It seems quite clear that, like the Apostle Peter, the Apostle James understood that Christian conduct leading to life and blessing is directly linked to careful attendance in the Kingdom curriculum our Lord Jesus prescribed – the Law of God.

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Order your copy of The Law of God today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, Publications, Waxed Tablet, to place your order and take up the Kingdom curriculum of our Lord.

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is 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.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.