God’s Law
Q: What is the real meaning of God’s law?
Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 22:34-46
A: The heart of God’s law is love. God wrote His ten commandments on two tables of stone. The first table (commandments 1-4) require love to God and the second table love to others (commandments 5-10).
Jesus explained this truth clearly in the daily reading. Some of the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus. The most respected rabbis (teachers of the law) in Jesus’ day differed regarding which of the Ten Commandments was the greatest. The Pharisees wanted to divide the people in their support for Jesus. If he agreed with one rabbi, those who followed another would be upset and depart from him. Jesus, however, answered the question by stating the heart of God’s law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Is the heart of God’s law the heart of your life? Above everything else, do you want to live a life out of love to God and others? If so, this is evidence that God has graciously worked salvation in your heart. Since our fall in sin, each person loves him or herself. We love that which serves and pleases me, but we do not want to serve God or deny ourselves to serve others.
While we must produce thoughts, words and actions of love to God above all and our neighbors as ourselves as the result of saving grace in our hearts, no person, not even the holiest saint, can keep God’s law perfectly. We all sin and come short. Thanks be to God that he sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus paid the debt for our sins and shortcomings and He also perfectly kept God’s law. His perfect righteousness is granted to all those who repent and believe on Him. What a wonderful truth!
Do you live for yourself or do you fight against this focus in your life? A true Christian struggles against putting him or herself first. A Christian wants to live out of love to God and others and to fight against self-centeredness. Is this your prayer and struggle? Why can this be a real internal war?