Unique and Only – Uses of the Law: Make Known the Character of God (2)

Unique and Only

Uses of the Law: Make Known the Character of God (2)

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” Exodus 20:2-5

In His Law God reveals that His people are to worship Him only. He is their Redeemer and Lord. They are not to seek other gods to worship; they are not to honor the gods of other peoples. God only is worthy of their devotion and obedience, for He alone is God.

In the Law God emphasizes His uniqueness in various ways: by vanquishing the false gods of Egypt, frustrating the purposes of those who serve other gods, overthrowing the cities and kingdoms of pagans and destroying their idols and places of worship, and forbidding His people to pursue other gods or to worship Him according to the manner in which pagans worship their gods.

God alone is God; He is Creator of all that is and rules it as sovereign. He sets His love on whom He will, distributes His blessings as He will, makes known His will and, and defines the terms by which He is to be worshiped. There are no other gods besides the LORD God; His people must know and serve Him only and always.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Bookstore, then Church Issues.

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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.