Teaching the Law of God in the Church (1) – The Law of God in the Life of the Church (13)

Teaching the Law of God in the Church (1)

The Law of God in the Life of the Church (13)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1, 2

We have seen that the Law of God is indispensable to a healthy, growing Christian life, as well as to the nurturing of a healthy, growing local church. The Law of God is the curriculum of God’s Spirit whereby He intends to form the believer and the congregation into the image of Jesus Christ. The fashionable neglect—or worse, despite—accorded the Law of God by contemporary Christians would seem to be an unwise posture and course. Instead, we should seeking ways to be more firmly grounded in the Law of God, until we all, as individuals and congregations, delight in that Law and in the use the Spirit of God makes of it in our lives.

How then shall we set about to restore a proper place for the Law of God in the teaching of the Church? First, we must understand the place of the Law in the canon of sacred Scripture. In one sense all of Scripture is the Law of God, in that all of Scripture reveals the norms and standards and guidelines whereby God intends His people to know and serve Him. The Law of God, given through Moses, acts rather like a cornerstone for the rest of Scripture, giving shape and direction to the life of faith and manifestation of God’s glory in love to God and neighbors.

And at the heart of the Law of God—the nucleus of the Law, as it were—as well as its end, is our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is both symbolized and foreshadowed in the Law, and the end toward which obedience to the Law of God carries us.

Thus, we must not teach the Law of God apart from the Gospel and our Lord Jesus Christ. Only in Him can we expect to gain true understanding into the use of the Law in the life of the Church today. Whatever else we do in teaching the Law, we must always teach it in its proper relationship to Jesus Christ.

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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.