The First Commandment

The First Commandment

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?”

Fifth, the Lord requires that we keep or guard His commandments and statutes. This is the way to be righteous and blameless before Him (Luke 1:6). There is more to this “guarding” the commandments and statutes than just “walking” in them. That is certainly implied, but it has already been covered in the list of things God requires.

To “guard” the commandments is to preserve them from corruption, from whatever might cause us to compromise, neglect, or transgress them. Adam’s failure to “guard” the garden of Eden brought about the fall into sin (Gen. 2:15). He failed, first, to recognize the threat to God’s plan. Then he failed to resist it once the serpent began to deny the Word of God. Thus we also must be vigilant against every temptation that would encourage us to set aside or neglect the Law of God.

Moreover, we must teach that Law to the generation to come, guarding the pure teaching and obedience of God’s Law by imparting and entrusting it to our children and grandchildren (Deut. 6:4-7; Ps. 78:1-8). We must make every effort to teach the commandments and statutes of the Lord to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2). We will more readily and eagerly guard the Law when we have begun to obey it and serve God through it in every area of our lives.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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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.