The First Commandment

The First Commandment

Deuteronomy 10:14-16

“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.”

What is His motive in this? Nothing that inheres in the creatures; rather, God’s motive in giving this Law for our good is that He loves us. Of His own free will He set His love on our forefathers, entering into His covenant with them and fulfilling all the terms of the covenant through our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). In Jesus Christ we attain to God’s precious and very great promises, and, through these, actually participate in the very life of God–the life sketched out in His Law.

Thus, God’s covenant love, redemptive purpose, and sanctifying intent come together in His Law, for the good of His people whom He loves.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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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.