Friday, 27 April 2018

God's Law

Tweet

Question of the day: Why do we still need God's law? Don't we now live under grace? I thought grace trumps law?

Answer: Deuteronomy 4 is one of the truly great chapters of Torah. Of course it is in the shadow of Deuteronomy 6 (the Shema) but there are a great many jewels in Deuteronomy 4.

Deuteronomy 4:40 "For what great nation is there that has gods so near to them, as ADONAI our God is whenever we call on Him? You must keep His statutes and His mitzvot, which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land that ADONAI your God is giving you for all time." (TLV)

The tension between law and grace is false. We cannot deal with the Law without grace and grace has no relevance without Law. The Law establishes God's righteous standard. How else would we know what we have fallen short of? Salvation from what? Without God's Law, everyone could say, "I'm doing pretty good."

As we close today, please take a moment to appreciate these verses from Psalm 19:9,11.

"The precepts of ADONAI are right, giving joy to the heart. The mitzvot of ADONAI are pure, giving light to the eyes. They are more desirable than gold, yes, more than much pure gold! They are sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb." (TLV)