The First Commandment: Statues and Precepts (27)
Leviticus 19.2
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
Matthew 5.44, 45
Obedience to the Law of God is not the way to salvation; salvation is by grace through faith alone. Rather, obedience is the way to holiness, which is but the fuller realization of our salvation, for the Law is holy, and God Who gave it is holy. His Son is holy, Who fulfilled all the righteousness of the Law on our behalf, and bore all its holy judgments against our sin. His Spirit is Holy, Who indwells those who believe and teaches us the Law of God. We are called to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1). Believers are to be holy as God’s redeemed children, and that holiness is only through obedience to the Law of God.
If we love God supremely, we will keep His Word. If we keep His Word, beginning with His Law, we will be holy as He is holy – not all at once, but increasingly, as the Spirit, working with the Law and all the Word of God, transforms us from glory to glory into the image of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 3.12-18).
T. M. Moore
The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
