Reminder of Wrath – The Law of God: Question and Answers

Reminder of Wrath
The Law of God: Question and Answers

The Law reminds us of the power and wrath of God.

Question: Why is the Law of God so harsh?

“You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm….” Deuteronomy 11:1, 2

The short answer to this week’s question, as I have been suggesting, is that the harsh aspects of the Law of God are included in the Law, for a season, in order to spur the people of God on to obedience. By obeying the Law of God they did not earn salvation from the Lord; rather, they found their way into the promised blessings of the Lord and were able to realize their calling as a people redeemed for an economy of justice and love.

By remembering God’s discipline, the justifiably harsh punishments He is able to inflict on rebellious sinners, they would be encouraged to persevere in His Law and in their calling to love Him and their neighbors.

Even today, under the Gospel, we are urged to consider the discipline of the Lord, to know that He is able to bring unpleasant and even harsh circumstances to bear against those who believe, in order to move them back onto the path of righteousness for which they have been redeemed and saved (Heb. 12:3-11). I’m certain there are believers today who would regard such an idea about God our heavenly Father as not consistent with His loving character. But they have Scripture, and not just me, to contend with in denying that God can be harsh with us, albeit always for our good.

The historical, cultural, and spiritual circumstances under which God may bring His discipline to bear against us today differ from those in which ancient Israel was urged to fear the Lord. Nevertheless, God’s way of dealing with us is unchanged. We are saved by grace through faith, and sanctified as His holy people by grace through faith.

Although sometimes His grace can present to us in unpleasant, and even harsh, ways.

Got a question about the Law of God? Write to T. M. at tmmoore@ailbe.org, and your answer might appear in this series of In the Gates columns.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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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.