God's Love and The Law

So much of the Old Testament reveals a lot of 'people stuff'. People will be people. As I finish up the book of Numbers, I realize there is nothing new under the sun. Much of what is addressed in Corinthians reflects the same thing. Human behavior is really very predictable.

God provided the law in the Old Testament to help His people live more abundantly. Our traffic laws make a great illustration why laws are given. There are more than 25 million cars on the road today in the United States. If there were no laws, it would be mass chaos.  The primary purpose of the laws is not to catch, fine and jail people who violate the law. The laws were set down to keep people safe. The world is treacherous.

The law brought down from Mt Sinai eventually expanded when well-meaning men or not so well-meaning men got a hold of it and fine-tuned God's simple list of 10. They added regulations, rules, oral law and legal traditions.

In the gospels, Jesus Christ simplified the law by providing two categories: love God and love your neighbor. Looking at the first 4 commandments in the Old Testament, the context together is evident: loving God. In examining the last six, how we deal with fellow humans in the light of loving God is spelled out. It is a list with two main ideas, that of loving God first and loving your neighbor. I really don't think the purpose of this list was to make each one an end in itself, or manage and control a wayward people. God wanted to help people live more abundantly.

Ultimately, through the faith of Jesus Christ, true righteousness is available to any believer. As a result, our lives will not be dragged down in guilt and condemnation in trying to live up to the law. In the heart of our hearts we are truly free to handle life and our relationships with others without pressure when we trust God and His loving grace.