A Law For God's People
The Gospel Project • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsGod gave us the law to show us how we are to live rightly with Him and others.
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Introduction
10 Commandments Video
Tension
This morning we have arrived at everyone's favorite part of the Old Testament. Now that we have finally gotten through all those great stories full of fantastic miracles we are finally at the part of the Old Testament that we all have been looking forward to: The list of Rules!
I know right! You are so excited because we all love rules, laws and commandments - they are so much fun, that’s why I thought you would enjoy that whimsical presentation on the big 10 ten, the 10 commandments because who doesn’t love to have a long list of things they can’t do.
If I am communicating well this morning then you are all clearly hearing the sarcasm that is dripping from my lips.
The truth is that one of the most common excuses that people give for ignoring the Old Testament is that it is just full of rules that we don’t have to follow anymore.
We are New Testament Christians and so the Old Testament rules don’t really matter to us.
We are New Covenant Christians so the Old Covenant is irrelevant so why even bother reading that part of the Bible let alone spend any time studying what it has to say.
That is exactly the question that we are going to go after today. What is a New Testament Christian to do with all the Old Testament Laws? Do they matter to us today? If they do what role should they play in our Christian life.
Our Bias
Before we dive into that, however, we have to be honest with ourselves and own our bias in this topic. Because it is impossible to do any sincere exploration of this topic without first recognizing that we lean pretty heavily in a certain direction when it come to rules: We don’t like them!
We don’t like someone telling us what we can and cannot do, so our dismissal of the “rules of the Old Testament” might have less to do with the fact that they are in the Old Testament and much more to do with the fact that they are rules at all.
What would say if I told you that New Testament contains over 800 different commands or restrictions. There are more than 1,000 of them but 200 of them are repeats. Compared that to the only 613 written laws of the Old Testament. Maybe the Old Testament is getting a bad wrap? If nothing else it tells us that God has always related to his people through some kind of command, rule or law. That is a tough sell for us “Independent, American, I did it my way” mentality.
Guess what was on the mind of every dad that day.
Few of us really like lists of rules, laws or commands. There is something in us that bristles when we come face to face with a long list of things that we “have to do”.
These same dads who undoubtedly had lectured their children on how important it was to follow the rules were now sitting in the middle of this ethical dilemma of wanting to see the funny little goats tip over and yet not wanting to disobey the rules in front of their kids.
and it seems that the idea of having c maybe we are he Old Testament which only has 613 laws, maybe it is the New Testament that we should ignore. Or maybe we need to take a different perspective on God’s Law all together.
Listen to the way in which the Psalmist speaks of God’s law...
So for me at least, my “rule following” leaning doesn’t reveal an appreciation for rules in and of themselves, it only reveals my disdain for unmet expectations. Maybe some of you other “rule following” types can relate to that.
But whether you are rule follower or more of a rebel type personalily, when you get right down to it, most of us understand the need for rules, laws or commands, but that doesn’t mean that look upon them with any level of affection. This common experience makes verses like very puzzling.
It is that comman experience that makes verses like this one so puzzling: says:
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
So it makes things a little puzzling when we come upon Bible verses like
Psalm 1:1
We can roll with this, right? It is better for us to not hang out with a bad crowd. Alright, then what should we do?
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
“Delight?” When was the last time you used the word “delighted” when it came to obeying rules?
Yeah, but Psalms is part of the Old Testament. The Old Covenant. Nobody under the New Covenant would say something like that…really? Then what do we do with the Apostle Paul when he said:
We don’t have to worry about it…I think that is our bias speaking, because in the Apostle Paul said,
22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
It is a tough to argue that delighting in the law of God is just an Old Testament thing when the person who wrote the most books in the New Testament declares it for himself.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
if we know that especially ones that keep from something that we really want to do.
What are we to do with this?
Are those the words that we use when we speak of “God’s Laws”? Delightful? Daily Meditation? holy? righteous? good?
What are we to do with the fact that Bible takes something we often meet with disdain and tells us to look upon it with delight?
I would like to suggest to you this morning that the key to “delighting” in the law of God is found not in the laws themselves but in the effect of obedience to those laws. What is to be gained by obeying the commands, compared to what is to be lost if we don’t. This is something that we do on a regular basis when it comes to obeying rules.
Even if we can accept these things in principle, can we say that we opperate out of them in practice?
Let me give you an example...
I was reading this story recently about this Dad who took his kids to a petting zoo with a bunch of other dads. The staff person who was guiding their group around brought them up to a pen with a heard of little goats inside. She explained that these goats were special in that when they were excited or startled their muscles would all tense up and they would freeze up, tip over, and land on their backs with their legs in the air. Maybe your have seen this - it’s the funniest thing. So the Dads are getting all excited but as they walk into the pen there are two signs. Right next to the sign labeled “fainting goats” was another sign that said, “Please don’t do anything to intentionally startle the goats.”
tour guide that was leading them around brought them up to the next pen where there was a heard of little goats and she explained that when startled these goats had a response mechanism that would cause their muscles to tense and they would fall over. You might have heard of these little guys, they call them “fainting goats”. Well these dads were given strict instructions to not try and startle the goats.
Guess what was on the mind of every dad that day.
Seriously! What is a dad to do in a situation like this?
These same dads who undoubtedly had lectured their children on how important it was to follow the rules were now sitting in the middle of this ethical dilemma of wanting to see the funny little goats tip over and yet not wanting to disobey the rules in front of their kids.
These same dads who undoubtedly had lectured their children on how important it was to follow the rules were now sitting in the middle of this ethical dilemma. They desperately wanted to make the funny little goats tip over in front of their kids and yet they did not want to disobey the rules in front of their kids.
And it was almost completely ignored.
I don’t know what you would do in that situation, but I would have a hard time keeping myself from disobeying that second sign. I would do whatever ethical gymnastics necessary to justify my actions and find some way in which this particular rule did not apply to me. Why would I do that? Because I wanted to see those funny little goats on their backs more than I wanted to obey some sign.
The key to truly “delighting” in the laws of God is to want what obedience to those laws offer more than you want what you think disobedience will bring.
The key to delighting in the laws of God is to desperately want what obedience to those laws offer, especially in comparison to what disobedience to those laws would most certainly bring.
Understand I am talking this morning about what it takes to “delight” in God’s law, not just doing it out of duty. Any of us can just grit our teeth and do something out of a sense of duty - but duty is not the same thing as delight. Those are different motivations. When it comes to the law of God, they will not produce the same outcome even if they motivate the same action. You can still have disdain for a law, even as you obey it out of duty.
Understand I am talking this morning about what it takes to “delight” in God’s law, not just doing it out of duty. Any of us can just grit our teeth and do something out of a sense of duty - but duty is not the same thing as delight. Those are different motivations. When it comes to the law of God, they will not produce the same outcome even if they motivate the same action. You can still have disdain for a law, even as you obey it out of duty.
So how do we get to the“delight” that both the Psalmist and the Apostle Paul spoke of?
Well one of the best ways of understanding any aspect of being better at being human is to look at how the best human who ever lived did it. How did Jesus, the Son of God, the author and perfecter of our faith respond to the Old Testament Law. What did he teach about the Old Testament Law? Did he think value it or did he encourage us to just slap a “Not Applicable” sticker on them and walk away?
And I imagine I would not be alone in this. That is our bias. That is our typical response to rules that we don’t want to have to obey. So if we can take a long list of rules like the Old Testament Laws and just stamp a NOT APPLICABLE label on them, we will.
Yet both the Psalmist and the Apostle Paul said that the Law of God is a “Delight” and they were both referring to elements of the Old Testament Law.
the laws should apply
We like laws when they work in our favor, but when we don’t see them as accomplishing anything that we value then we start throwing around words like “legalism” or “They be more like guidelines” in our best pirate voice.
Never the less there are times when we operate under laws that are so ingrained in our thinking that we are barely even aware that we are following them. And when someone else doesn’t follow them we get crazy angry. Things like traffic laws it. Have you thought about how devistating it would be if the reletivity that is so prevelant in our culture creeped into traffic laws. What if that driver who is heading right towards you at 65 mph doesn’t believe in rules like stay on your side of the line?
John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace,” could write, “Ignorance of the nature and design of the law is at the bottom of most religious mistakes.”
In the middle of His famous Sermon on the mount Jesus said:
And what of Jesus. The Messiah. The Son of God. The author and perfecter of our faith. What did he teach about the Old Testament Law? Did he think that we could just lable them them “Not Applicable”? In the middle of His famous Sermon on the mount Jesus said:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17
Jesus said that we will need the law until the end of time! Not one scratch of the pen, one iota, will be removed. It has purpose for all time, so it must be preserved and taught.
Laws are gifts not punishments when you see how they are bringing you something that you want - >Right relationship with God and others.
19 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.
Traffic Laws are such a gift -
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 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.
We are not to even “relax’ one of the commandments. It doesn’t sound to me that Jesus is ok with ignoring the Old Testament Law. In fact, He seems to be saying that it is an essential aspect of the kingdom of heaven! Those who obey the law and teach other to do the same will be “called great in the kingdom of heaven.” There doesn’t seem to be any room in Jesus’ mind for the idea that we can just ignore God’s law. He is calling us to teach it isn’t he?
So that is what we are going to do. We are going to teach at least a section of the Old Testament Law today, but just as we have been doing for months now, we are going to look at it through the eyes of the Gospel. What role does the Law play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do this we will be going back and forth between the Old and New Testament to see the places that the very things that the Old Testament Law proposes are intentionally re-affirmed in the New. To begin with though we will be in Exodus Chapter 19, which is page 60 in the Bibles in the chairs.
So that is what we are going to do. but just like everything we have been teaching here at Friendship Church over the past several months, we are going to specifically look at through the lens of the message of the Gospel. What role does the Law of God play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the “Good News” the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So that is what we are going to do. We are going to teach at least a section of the Old Testament Law today, but just as we have been doing for months now, we are going to look at it through the eyes of the Gospel. What role does the Law play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do this we will be going back and forth between the Old and New Testament to see the places that the very things that the Old Testament Law proposes are intentionally re-affirmed in the New. To begin with though we will be in Exodus Chapter 19, which is page 60 in the Bibles in the chairs.
We need to teach it, but in teaching it we have to What role does the Law play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do this we will be going back and forth between the Old and New Testament to see the places that the very things that the Old Testament Law proposes are intentionally re-affirmed in the New. To begin with though we will be in Exodus Chapter 19, which is page 60 in the Bibles in the chairs.
what we are going to do. We are going to teach at least a section of the Old Testament Law today, but just as we have been doing for months now, we are going to look at it through the eyes of the Gospel. What role does the Law play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do this we will be going back and forth between the Old and New Testament to see the places that the very things that the Old Testament Law proposes are intentionally re-affirmed in the New. To begin with though we will be in Exodus Chapter 19, which is page 60 in the Bibles in the chairs.
So we need to teach it, but just like everything we have been teaching here at Friendship Church over the past several months, we are going to specifically look at through the lens of the message of the Gospel. What role does the Law of God play in the lives of New Testament people who have dedicated their lives to the “Good News” the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To do this we are going to have to flip back and forth from the text in Exodus and several different texts in the New Testament. So go ahead and open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 19 &20 (p. 60), but just know that I will be referencing many other New Testament verses that will be up on the screen for you and you can find their references in the program if you want to look back at them later in the week.
Let me pray and then we will get started in these texts.
will be going back and forth between the Old and New Testament to see the places that the very things that the Old Testament Law proposes are intentionally re-affirmed in the New. To begin with though we will be in Exodus Chapter 19, which is page 60 in the Bibles in the chairs.
So if you will open up your Bible there with me, I will pray and we will get started in the text.
Truth
Let’s start with a reminder of where we are in the story of God’s people in the book of Exodus. After being rescued from slavery in Egypt, God led His people through the wilderness to get back to this mountain where God first called Moses through the burning bush. Remember God told Moses that he would return to this spot and now they are finally back. It has been an incredible and challenging journey. Last week we read about how Moses recounted the wonders and challenges of their journey to his Father in Law who lived in this region. So the LORD, YHWY, hangs the weight of his commands on the power and glory of the events that the Israelites have seen so far. There experiences with the LORD already should draw them into a desire to obey His law. This is our first theme for this week is that...
So at this point in the book of Exodus the people of God have been rescued from slavery in Egypt. They have been led by God through the wilderness to get back to this mountain that God met Moses on in the form of a burning bush. Remember God told Moses that he would return to this spot and now they are finally back. It has been an incredible and challenging journey. Last week we read about how Moses recounted the wonders and challenges of their journey to his Father in Law who lived in this region. So the LORD YHWY uses the glory and grandeur of these events to draw the Israelites into a desire to obey his law. Our first theme for this week is that...
God’s Law Reveals His Love for His People ()
God’s Law Reveals His Love for His People ()
So at this point in the book of Exodus the people of God have been rescued from slavery in Egypt. They have been led by God through the wilderness to get back to this mountain that God met Moses on in the form of a burning bush. Remember God told Moses that he would return to this spot and now they are finally back. It has been an incredible and challenging journey, both in all that happened in Egypt and all that happened along the way back to the mountain of God. So the LORD YHWY uses the incredible nature of these events to draw the Israelites into a desire to have a right relationship with Him. Listen to what He says:
2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Exodus 19:
Here we see our first theme for this week:
Notice what God doesn’t say. He doesn’t say obey my law or I am going to crush you like I did Egypt. No. He says obey my law because I want to bless you even further than I have already. YHWY fought for them. He rescued them. And he didn't rescue them from one horrible existence just to drop them off in another.
So many people approach God this way. They ask God to rescue them from one horrible existence, just to drop them off in another. They experience the suffering that a life without God brings, and they ask people to pray for them that God would swoop in and rescue them back to where they were before. God doesn’t do this. He doesn’t swoop in to rescue people, just so that they can run back to the very thing that was destroying them before.
He brought the Israelites out of slavery to bring them into something so much better. He brought them out to become something beautiful - “His treasured possession among all the peoples”. Without the guidance of God’s law, the people would just become the slaves of someone else. How would that be loving? No God wants to do so much more than that. He wants them to become something that bring blessing to the entire World.
All the people of the earth belong to God, not just the Israelites, but God has singled out this group of people to be His holy nation and his kingdom of priests.
s mine, but I have chosen to have a special love relationship with you. You will be my treasured possession and through you I will point all people to me. That is meaning behind “kingdom of priest and holy nation”.
All the people of the earth belong to God, not just the Israelites.
But God has singled out this group of people to be His holy nation and his kingdom of priests.
And of course this is not the first we have heard of this. This is the continuation of the promise that God gave to Abraham and affirmed throughout the following generations. Remember that promise was that Abraham’s generations will become a people, who would have a place, and because of the presence of God in their midst they would be blessed and be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
They were being called back into that relationship with God where they would be a beacon that shined into the entire world of what a right relationship with the One True God looks like. As “Priests” they would both demonstrate and declare what a right relationship with God looks like. They would guide all the people groups of the earth towards a right relationship with Him.
This is what obeying the commandments of God will bring, and it is one of the reasons that we are still called to obey them even today.
You see we find these very same attributes being proclaimed of God’s people in the New Testament. The role of Israelites here in the book of Exodus is a foreshadowing of what God will calls every New Testament Christians into today. You and I are called also called into this kind of relationship with God. In a chapter talking about obedience to God’s Commands Peter tells the Christian Church...
6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Just like the Israelites, we were never intended to be the end goal of God’s blessing. We have been blessed to be a blessing. We are loved to show God’s love. We are meant to be the messengers who both declare and demonstrate what a love relationship with God looks like. We don’t often place those two ideas together, but God’s law is always for us because it is rooted in His love for us.
Because God is love, He is the only one who can rightfully say:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
You and I can be “loving” at times but we are never the full embodiment of “love”. God is love so when he says to do something it is alway out of His love. That is the only way God can ever respond to anything. God has never done anything that is “unloving”, even though He has been accused of it. It is an impossibility for God to do anything that is unloving because He is Love. If he does it then it is loving, He cannot operate outside of love because He IS love.
In contrast to that we are sinful. When we tell someone to do something, it may or may not be the most loving thing for them to do. In fact, when we hear someone else say “If you love me then you will do what I tell you” hopefully we see that for the dangerously unhealthy demand that it is.
It would venture to guess that it is experiences like this that give us such a bias against rules. It’s hard to imagine that rules could be something to “delight” in when so many of our experiences with them are based on a selfish agenda. As always, God ways are so far above our ways. “God Is Love” so every one of His laws are given in perfect love. Understanding that is the first step toward “delighting” in God’s Law.
Remembering that “God Is Love” so every one of His laws are given in perfect love is the first step toward “delighting” in God’s Law.
But even as Jesus made this true statement : “If you love me you will keep my commandments”, He knew that he was setting up an expectation that his listeners would never be able to keep. On our own we do not have the power to even “do” let alone “delight” in God’s law. So Jesus promises to send help...
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Without the Holy Spirit we do not have the ability to delight in God’s law, and God’s plan has always been to send Him. We see evidence of this even back in the Old Testament. Even Moses pointed God’s people to the hope found in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
John 14:16
Moses longed for the Spirit of God to be placed on all of the LORD YHWY’s people. It was not to happen until after the Messiah, but Moses understood the significance of this day and longed for it. The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied that a day will come when we would interact with the law in an entirely different way because of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
This is not some isolated, hidden prophecy that no one has ever heard about either. The author of Hebrews, a New Testament book written to the Jews, mentions this significant verse in two different places. ( and 10:16).
The written law of the Old Testament is God’s law, but The fullness of God’s law is not limited to these 613 items. God’s law has always been active in guiding mankind into what He created them to be.
The fullness of God’s law is not limited to the written Old Testament Law. God’s law is His guidance of man into what He created him to be.
Think back for a moment to our study of the beginning of Genesis. Was God’s law present in the garden of Eden? Of course it was!
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
Only one law in the beginning. “The one commandment”. Do not eat from that tree. Why was his law present even from the beginning? Because He created us, breathed life into us, and He wants us to have a loving relationship with Him based on trust in his goodness, power and glory. The presence of this “one commandment” gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to live in that kind of a relationship. Would they trust God’s Word, that eating from the tree would bring death, or not.
It’s like God is saying “I created you in such a way that we can have this incredible life together, and having this one commandment is an important piece to establishing that relationship, but if you disobey the “One Commandment” then that relationship will be broken and you suffer things I never wanted you to have to suffer.” Do you hear God’s love there?
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden before Eve listened to the Serpent, but they lived for at least some time in the perfect harmonious rhythm of life with God. So to be right with God all it took was just that one command.
But after sin, mankind spiraled away from God in utter sin and rebellion. Things got so bad that God said He was sorry that He had even created man. That is how far from our intended glory and goodness we had become in our sin. So God began again with the descendants of Abraham all the way down to Moses’ generation and here they are at the base of God’s holy mountain, a tangled mess of pagan idolatry and selfish priorities to the point that no one could even see clear to the image that God originally created for them to display.
And so as a gift of grace and guidance, God gives them the written law to show them how far they had come from their original glory. They had no idea how to get back to God and so God showed them the path in the law. Do you want to have a picture of what living rightly means in this world - here it is. My Law.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Obviously we are not going to go through all of the 613 laws this morning. With the little time we have left I wanted to quickly go over the first 10 as they are really a summary of the rest of God’s law.
Much like in our country the Constitution gives us a summary of our governing laws, there are then 53 volumes of laws, that are as they say on the books. Did you know that we have more laws in this country than anyone has ever been able to count. There are more than 20,000 laws on gun ownership alone! But God is able to show his people how to be right with him with only 613.
This is similar to how the laws are laid out here in the United States of America. The Constitution of the United States is only 4 pages long, but there are 53 volumes of law that stem from these 4 pages. It’s crazy to think that some people thing that the “Old Testament is all about laws” when in our own country we have more laws than anyone has ever been able to count. There are more than 20,000 laws on gun ownership alone!
But God is able to show his people how to be right with him with only 613, and these 613 can be summarized in the first ten, which are really aimed in two different directions.
All 613 of these laws are summarized in the first ten, which are really aimed in two different directions.
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
In the first 4 we see that,
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
God’s Law reveals how to worship and honor Him ()
God’s Law reveals how to worship and honor Him ()
3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
You can see how each of these first 4 commandments are aimed at our relationship with God. This is how we are to respond to God and his holy nature. Understand that it is not just that God doesn’t want to play second fiddle, there better not be another fiddler in the room!
God will not share the loyalty of His people.
He will not share the glory of His image
He will not share the power of His name
He will not share the significance of His day
He will not share these things because no one else deserves them. To give any of these things to another is to deny his supremacy and you can read how God does not take such things lightly.
The last 6 commandments are aimed at showing us that...
God’s Law reveals how to love one another ()
God’s Law reveals how to love one another ()
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
These last 6 are very practical regulations that few people would disagree with. Even those who object so fiercely to the idea of posting the 10 commandments in public areas would agree that these last principles are good moral guidelines. Their objections are aimed at the part with God’s name on it. Of course it is those first 4 that give the last 6 any meaning at all.
The truth is that much of our American legal system is based on these God given laws in what has been labeled “The Judeo-Christian ethic”, but this was not true for the Israelites standing at the foot of that mountain. Their forefather Abraham did have obey the LORD, YHWY but their ethic had been all but entirely pagan, so these laws were more freeing then they were restricting.
“Now we know how to please God. We never had that before.”
“Everything was trial and error and it may or may not work.”
“Now it is written down and delivered directly from God himself.”
What a gift of love from the God of Love.”
“ Now we know how to love God and Love others like we should.”
Gospel Application
And as we talked about last week, early on God’s people had a deep appreciation for His law, they recognized it for the gift that it was. As time went on, however, it became more about routine and ritual than relationship. They cared more about catching people violating their own twisted interpretation of the law than anything else. Throughout the Old Testament we see them cheating on God with other false gods and then at times abandoning Him all together. They only obeyed the parts of God’s law that suited their selfish gain.
By the time Jesus came down to earth the religious leaders had turned the practice of God’s Law into a series of competitive events where they would argue for hours down these rabbit trails that led them far from the original 613 laws of God. So every rabbi, lawyer and religious leader had their “team” that they argued for. So one day Jesus was asked about which team he aligned with. And this is how it went:
Jesus gave us two laws - love God and love one another - there are already on the list -
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
We already talked about how Jesus valued the law - but it was the law as God had given it to Moses. Not the law as it had been made into that day. Some people say that in saying this Jesus was replacing the Old Testament law with a new one, but that is not the case. In fact, even the wording of these two laws are taken right the the written Old Testament Law. You can find them in and .
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
So Jesus was not trying to set up a new law, but point the people back to the root of God’s law. This is the same root that we can see in the two parts of the 10 commandments. We are to first and foremost to love God, and out of that love we will love our neighbor.
Moses wants everyone to have the Holy Spirit with the laws written on their hearts. Law of Moses can command but it cannot empower
Great Illustration: MRI from Matt Chandler
The Gospel of Grace is not against “effort” but against “earning”
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace,” could write, “Ignorance of the nature and design of the law is at the bottom of most religious mistakes.”
This question is at the heart of our study today. Do the Old Testament Laws, including the 10 commandments, apply to us today and if they do in what way do they?
- how we don’t like laws (signs that say don’t scare the goats)
- how we approach a holy God (goats vs. lions)
Truth
Truth
Contract between 2 parties of somewhat equal standing and power. (, , )
Suzerainty Covenant The “suzerain” (dominant) party demands the greater benefit. (;)
The “suzerain” (dominant) party demands the greater benefit. (;)
Divine Covenant God is infinitely more powerful than we are and yet we receive the greater benefit.
The New American Commentary: Exodus Excursus: The Exodus-Leviticus Covenant
Only four of the six covenant ingredients are found in Exodus, mainly in what is usually called the Covenant Code (20:1–23:32). This is because Exodus is only the first portion of the full covenant that continues on in Leviticus and receives supplemental stipulations in Numbers. Moreover, the Sinai Covenant is only the first statement of the full Pentateuchal or Mosaic Covenant, which finally concludes at the end of Deuteronomy. Nevertheless, already in Exodus the essential elements of the covenant are obvious: the revelation of who God is and what he wants of his people5 and obedience to God as the path of covenant loyalty and thus of its blessings.
God is infinitely more powerful than we are and yet we receive the greater benefit.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Contract between 2 parties of somewhat equal standing and power. (1 Sam 23:17, 20:8-16 , Mal 2:14)
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Suzerainty Covenant
Deut 6:5
The “suzerain” (dominant) party demands the greater benefit. (2 Kings 3:4;17:3-5)
Divine Covenant
God is infinitely more powerful than we are and yet we receive the greater benefit.
Gospel Application
6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
God’s Law reveals how to worship and honor Him ()
God’s Law reveals how to worship and honor Him ()
God’s Law reveals how to love one another ()
God’s Law reveals how to love one another ()
Gospel Application
This question is at the heart of our study today. Do the Old Testament Laws, including the 10 commandments, apply to us today and if they do in what way do they?
This question is at the heart of our study today. Do the Old Testament Laws, including the 10 commandments, apply to us today and if they do in what way do they?
Landing
Jesus was encouraging that lawyer and even us today to make sure that we don’t loose the essence of the law for the detail. There were many details of the Old Testament law, and we have talked before about how it is best divided up into the moral civil and ceremonial law and only the moral law is still binding on us today, but the religious leaders in Jesus day had added so many new aspects to the law. They “interpreted” the law in such a twisted way that is abandoned it original purpose.
Here is what is so important to remember. God’s loving commandments have always been a part of His relationship with us, from Adam to Moses to Jeremiah to Jesus to Paul to You and to me. And in speaking of our time right now God says:
“ I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
You cannot “delight” in God’s law if it is not written on your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Some of you have been wriggling in your minds ever since I started talking about the law. Our focus on God’s law has created this tension in you that you are really hoping that I relieve. Let me do that as we close, because the truth is we do relate to the law in a different way today then they did in the Old Testament, even though we are to value it just as much.
When God gave the law is so important for us to take notice of. He did not send Moses with the law to the Israelites as they were still in slavery in Egypt. He didn’t say, “Here is my law, if you can get it right then I will come and rescue you!” No. He rescued them first, and then as a free people God gave them the law to teach them how to live rightly with Him and with each other.
The same is true of the message of the Gospel. Jesus said that those who do and teach the law will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven, but He did not say that this is how you get in. We don’t obey God’s commands to be right with him, we obey them because we already are. We first recieve the free gift of salvation, we are rescued from our sins by the work of Jesus, and then we work to obey God’s commands in response to the freedom that He has given us.
So before you even worry about how you are doing obeying God’s commands, you need to ask yourself if you have been freed. Do you have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ? If not then today is a great day. You simply confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and then you will be saved.
Then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, He will write God’s law on your heart, and you can say with Paul and the Psalmist that Law of the Lord is your “Delight”.
Communion
Is this true of you? If it hasn’t then
It’s original purpose was to be a gift to God’s people to show them how to love Him and How to love each other. It still serves that purpose for us today. The question is: Do you want to do that?
The only way to truly want to do this is to be born again. You cannot “delight” in God’s law if you are still operating out of your sinful nature. How incredible is it that God said,
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my peopleyou have t oThe only path to this kind of relationship with God and His law is to “have the law of God written on your heart”.
Do you want to abandon your s
God’s commandments have always been a part of His relationship with us, from Adam to Moses to Jeremiah to Jesus to You and to me. And speaking of our time right now God has said
“ I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Is this true of you? If it hasn’t then
Gospel: Laws come after deliverance - Rules come after the rescue