It seems like an easy question to answer. The Law of God is referenced throughout Scripture and is hailed as the standard of God throughout Christian history. Yet, when discussing the law itself many seem to be confused regarding what God’s law is. Some may say it is the Ten Commandments, others will say it is the two greatest commands that Christ affirms in Matt. 22:37ff (cf. Luke 1027ff), to love God will all your heart, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Others may say it is consists of all five books of Moses, yet, others may contend that it is the entire 66 book canon. So, what exactly is the law of God? The truth is that all of the above answers have truth to them.
Most Christians are well aware of the Ten Commandments (also known as the Ten Words). In the United States, the Ten Commandments hung in most schools, courthouses, and government buildings until quite recently. These commands were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and were written by the finger of God (Ex. 20:2ff). These Ten Commandments were not an exhaustive list of commands for Israel to follow but were the foundational list that would govern the relationship between God and His people and between the various individuals that belonged to the covenant. In other words, how are we supposed to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves? The Ten Words are the outline for such conduct.
Although Israel states that they will keep the commandments of God (Ex. 19:8), they later reject the covenant altogether (14:1-10) so God says He will give the Covenant to the next generation and Israel is led into the wilderness to wander until the generation that rejected the covenant had died off. When the younger generation is finally led back to the land they are given a renewal covenant. This is the book of Deuteronomy which contains the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5) but then uses each of the commands as chapter headers for the rest of Deuteronomy.
In 1979, Stephen Kaufman suggested the structure of Deuteronomy was based on the Ten Commandments and showed how each command could be viewed as a chapter heading for a section. This is how he saw the structure:
Beyond the structure of Deuteronomy, we see a huge amount of laws pertaining to the sacrificial system in Leviticus. All of these laws were given to point Israel to Christ and the work He would accomplish on the cross. They were also given to teach Israel about substitutionary atonement and help them realize the weight of sin.
It is in this line of reasoning that we can see the moral conduct of Israel is given throughout the entire first five books of Moses. The following commands throughout Scripture (both the Tanach or what has been called the “Old Testament” and the Apostolic Scriptures, also known as the New Testament) are the commentary on the covenant regulations.
It is the foundational document for citizens of the Kingdom. If we were to give an analogy, it would be something like this:
The Law of God is not simply a list of rules that we have to keep. It is the governing documents for the Kingdom of God and its citizens. I often think of the patriotism that is displayed by many when they hear the national anthem. Many will think of how much they love this country, some will even shed some tears. When we see how many people love the constitution and believe it is the greatest document this nation has, and the thing that makes this nation great, it makes me think of the Kingdom documents that we as Christians have. We may be sojourners in this world waiting to be taken home, but we still have our governing documents, and this is what the Law of God is. All 66 books, every dot, and every line. None of it is better than the rest, it is all the direct mandate of our King who sits on the thrown and will come to judge this world. The Law of God is what we live by because it is the documents of our King.
Photo by cottonbro
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