The Way of the Disciple – Law Matters: The Roadmap for Life (1)

The Way of the Disciple

Law Matters: The Roadmap for Life (1)

The Law marks out the path for discipleship.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:3-6

Among Christians in our day, neglect of the Law of God is widespread. If the righteous person is indeed the one who is rooted in the Law of God, meditates in it day and night, and brings forth the evidence of its life-giving power in his life (Ps. 1), then it should not be hard to understand why righteousness is no more conspicuous than it is today among the members of the Body of Christ.

Law matters, and it matters for many important reasons. In this series we will be considering certain matters related to the Law of God in an effort to encourage greater commitment to reading, studying, meditating in, and obeying the Law of God. The Apostle John insisted that one could not be certain about his salvation apart from walking in the commandments as Jesus did. He further declared that we cannot bring the love of God to perfection within us apart from obedience to the Law. We deceive ourselves and others if we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ and have but little regard for the commandments which He fulfilled and commended to us (Matt. 5:17-19). Abiding in Jesus entails walking the path He walked, the path of obedience to God’s Law.

Keeping the Law of God will not save us; the Law was never intended for that purpose. The Law was given to a people who had already been redeemed by grace. It came through Moses as a further gesture of grace on God’s part in order to help His people understand how they must love God and one another in order to be a holy and righteous and good people, and to serve as a light to the nations concerning the greatness and goodness of God.

Christians are those who, like the Israelites coming out of Egypt, have been redeemed by the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And, like Israel, God has freely redeemed us so that we might take up a life of good works in bearing witness to Him and His Kingdom (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 14:17-19). The Law of God—holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7:12)—provides the roadmap for our journey of becoming righteous in Jesus Christ. The Law maps the terrain that Jesus walked; thus, we who would increase in Christ-likeness (2 Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:12-18) must fix our eyes on that map and set our feet to walk in all its ways.

Law matters, as we shall see in all the matters concerning the Law which we will be exploring in this series.

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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.