Step by Step – Interpreting the Law of God (26)

Step by Step

Interpreting the Law of God (26)

Learn the Law one step at a time.

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. Psalm 119:59

Because the Law of God is a body of legal code, we might tend to think that the primary application of the Law is to be within a system of courts, or in law-making bodies of some sort. Certainly that is important if the blessings of the Law are to accrue to any people. But this is not where the interpretation of God’s Law begins.

Remember that the purpose of the Law is to equip us with the character of Jesus Christ, so that we might love God and our neighbors. Every believer is responsible to learn the Law and to work hard at understanding how to apply it—but not just in social or political issues. The Law of God is for daily living. We are working to hide the Law in our hearts—to delight in so that the Spirit can use us to bear His fruit, exercise His gifts, and wield His power—in order to be ready for each opportunity for loving God or our neighbor that comes our way.

The psalmist, like Paul (Eph. 5:15-17), counsels us to pay attention to our footsteps throughout the day. Whenever, piqued or prompted by the Spirit, we discern that we are not walking in the path of righteousness that Jesus walked (1 John 2:1-6), we need to refocus our minds on what the Spirit requires and how He would lead, and take the steps necessary for getting back into the path of God’s Law and Word.

Miss Manners was once asked by a young woman going to her first prom how to walk in high heels. “Right foot, left foot; right foot, left foot” was the reply. That’s how we learn to apply the Law, so that we discover the delight of meeting Jesus on our path, walking with us in the power of His Spirit, equipping us to love God and our neighbors: Step by step, one step at a time.

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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.