The Way to Kingdom Greatness – The Law of God: Questions and Answers

The Way to Kingdom Greatness
The Law of God: Questions and Answers

Jesus commended keeping and teaching the Law of God.

Question: What did Jesus teach about the Law of God?

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19

Obedience to the Law of God is not merely an outward thing. That’s how the scribes and Pharisees “obeyed” the Law (Matt. 5:20, 23:23). Theirs was a kind of “feigned” obedience, such as we saw earlier (cf. Ps. 81:15).

Real obedience goes beyond the letter of the Law into the Spirit of the Law, where, by the power of the Spirit, we understand the mind of Christ, increase in the heart of the Spirit, and come to delight in God’s Law and love it. The Spirit makes us willing and able to do whatever brings us into the pleasure of God, even those expressions of love which are not explicitly written in the Law of God but which definitely refract the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus. The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) provides a perfect example of how a man, going beyond the “letter” of the Law (which the priest and Levite doubtless fancied themselves as doing), showed the true Spirit of the Law and of love for his neighbor.

Jesus warned His followers about wanting to be “great,” to be seen to be someone important or superior in some way (Make 9:33-35). This is what the scribes and Pharisees did continually. Anyone who wants to be “great” as in the eyes of the world is setting himself up to be a fool.

But Jesus commended the kind of greatness one finds in the Kingdom of God—greatness in righteousness and love. We should all want this and strive for such by following the example of our Lord in serving others (John 13:1-15).

And, in order to serve them well, we must understand the ways of love. And the ways of love, as we have seen, are encoded in the Law and all the Word of God.

Aspire to Kingdom greatness, Jesus urges us; and keep and teach the Law of God as you do.

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.