I want to try to vindicate Moses from this misunderstanding by giving you a biblical theology of the law in a nutshell. The past event of the exodus is a sign of God's willingness to help Israel in the future. Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God." The law does protect us. I think we can illustrate the way this works by our present situation here at Bethlehem. That is legalism. Jeremiah 29:11 by type shows us how God commits to his promise to save and the hope of the resurrection and entrance into the true Promised Land. If it feels like God has withheld good from you, remember that your Father knows your needs even better than you do. First published in Tabletalk Magazine, an outreach of Ligonier. Thus, the law was only temporary, and pointed forward to the new covenant, when sin would be restrained, the penalty paid, the Spirit poured out, and the progress of evil reversed. From Genesis to Revelation we read of normal people that received the promises of God. The law which God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai a few months after bringing the people out of Egypt has been the victim of some very bad press in the past several hundred years. Christian citizenship expands far beyond the country on our passport. The second point was that love only comes out of faith in God's promises. The proper function of the law is to put before us the right way of living before God. Only in Jesus Christ can these things be gained, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 ESV). Here are the key passages: Galatians 5:6, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love." So the first point in our nutshell theology of the law is that the law is fulfilled in us when we love our neighbor. The path on which the Spirit comes to us is faith in God's promises; and when he comes, the fruit he produces is love. First came promise, then law. Knowing the fall made us stubborn enough to believe we can get right with Him by doing enough good works to “outweigh” our bad ones, God gave the Mosaic law to Israel in order to refute this belief. It can be used to review one promise each day. Now I know that hardly anyone says that God saved people differently in the OT than he does today. Promises of God – Which ones are for me? So I invite you to read these words anew, words … This week focuses on the rainbow and God’s promises. This will keep us from giving such bad press to the Mosaic law when really it is the legalistic distortion of law that should get the bad press. Rather, the law was designed to show the way for redeemed people to please God. The law of Moses simply spells out the way Israelites will live if they genuinely feel their future is secure in God. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. There are three significant decisions we will probably make by the end of January: whether to buy the house next door for future expansion or parking, whether to amend the church covenant, and whether to call an assistant pastor for educational and young adult ministries and a children's worker in September 1982. It was designed to show us our sins and point out our need for a savior. You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2, 3), God meant: "Remember how I demonstrated my love for you and my incomparable power on your behalf! THE PROMISE TO DAVID In the Psalms David says that God had made a special promise to him. Therefore, the faith God aims to produce through the exodus is a confidence that God will do for us in the future what he has done in the past. . . (Romans 7:12). system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties2 Remember Peter and the walking on … God’s law is important to us today for several reasons. not of works lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Yet some people become discouraged because they fail to see results after asking for His assurance. We follow the law by obeying it but we can only be truly free when we believe in Christ who is the law Himself. We’re on a mission to change that. God gave us the law . We can avoid frustration by understanding how Scripture teaches us to claim His promises. Make good use of God’s law as you live your life coram Deo. The difference, they say, is this: in the Abrahamic covenant and New Covenant salvation is promised freely to be received by faith apart from works of law. Part of our confusion is caused by the simple fact that the word "law" in the New Testament has at least three different meanings when used in different contexts. That is, virtually everyone agrees that anybody that was justified in the OT was justified by grace through faith; it was a gift of God. Today, the law teaches us that Jesus is the foundation of all the laws, His life and His teaching are the fulfillment of God's love for humanity. The Law “was added because of transgressions” (Gal. Its function is completed. I feel like the future is taken care of. The crucial text here is Romans 13:8–10. 3:19) to imprison “everything under sin” (v. 22). Where there is no faith uniting the heart to God, there is no true love. Many of you might have one of your own. So how do we become loving people? The letter kills; it is the Spirit that gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise” (v. 17). well, because sometimes it isn't as obvious as it should be. On the contrary, we uphold the law.". Paul has established that Abraham and his children, including the Gentiles, are saved by faith in God’s promise. Someone may ask, "Well, if you can die for someone and not have love, what in the world is love?" I must buttress my faith with some promises. So Exodus 14:31 says, "And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord; and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.". The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes . And is peaceable, gentle, open to reason so I invite you to read these words anew words! 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