Eternal Glory – Uses of the Law: To Clarify the Good News (7)

Eternal Glory

Uses of the Law: To Clarify the Good News (7)

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13

The believer’s ultimate hope of glory awaits us beyond time and history, in new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Anticipating the joy and glory that await us there, we even now press on to “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Pet. 3:14). Those who believe in Jesus prepare even now for their eternal residence with Him, and know, as they do, a foretaste of the eternal joy and glory that He is preparing for them.

Thus, the Law of God facilitates the experience of God’s presence and glory. As His Spirit teaches us the Law and convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, we grow in our understanding of the Kingdom of God and our ability to seek it consistently. Seeking the Kingdom leads to the realization of it, and this is a glorious foretaste of the eternal bliss which awaits us in the new heavens and new earth.

For in that new creation, righteousness dwells. And, as we have seen, the Law defines the terms of righteousness. Thus it is clear that whatever the Law teaches will be gladly fulfilled, from the heart, by all who inhabit that new realm. The joy that we will know there and then we can begin to experience here and now through obedience to God’s Law.

The Law of God clarifies the Good News that we have in Jesus Christ. It exposes our sin; assures us of forgiveness through Him Who has fulfilled all righteousness and satisfied all wrath on our behalf; enables us to know the precious and very great promises of God; empowers us for righteousness, so that we daily confirm our citizenship in the Kingdom of God; and gives us a foretaste of the unspeakable joy and glory which are yet to be. To omit the Law of God from the proclamation of the Gospel is thus to preach something other than the whole truth of God.

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.