As Christains We Keep The Moral Law Of God

Sermon

I’d like to look at a few verses this evening.

There are some gems in it

7The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The decrees of the LORD are firm,

and all of them are righteous.

And of course the final verse

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

And in this psalm we see there are related couplets

7The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

They complement each other.

1. The Law of the Lord equates with the Statutes of the Lord.

So you can see that the Law of the Lord is perfect and trustworthy

2. Then you have the precepts of the Lord equating with the commands of the Lord

What is a precept: It is defined as a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought.

Surely that is what the commands of God are there to do?

3. And finally the fear of the Lord equating to the decrees of the Lord

What is the fear of the Lord Fearing God means to have respect for Him and to obey Him.

Aren’t we to respect God’s decrees?

But this evening I just want to focus on “The Law of the Lord”

John says this about the Law or the commands of God in 1 John 5:

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children as well.

2 Here is how we know that we love God’s children. We know it when we love God and obey his commands.

3 In fact, here is what it means to love God. We love him by obeying his commands.

And his commands are not hard to obey.

4 That’s because everyone who is a child of God has won the battle over the world. Our faith has won the battle for us.

1. One extreme interpretation on the Law of God was that of the Pharisees

They hedged God’s Law with 613 commandments or laws, which all faithful Jews should follow.

But these 613 laws were also divided into those that were “weighty” and those that were “light.”

“Thou shalt not commit murder” was one of the “Big Ten” as it was written by the hand of God on stone at Sinai, this commandment was definitely weighty.

Making a fire on the Sabbath, striking up some firelight, that was definitely a “light,” commandment and in an emergency, absolutely expendable.

That is one extreme in understanding the Law of God.

2. At the other extreme, I have heard liberal theologians say that now Christ has come we can ignore the Laws of the Old Testament.

Interestingly they go on to say that only what Jesus himself said is authentic.

So what did Jesus himself say on the matter

17 “Do not think I have come to get rid of what is written in the Law or in the Prophets. I have not come to do this. Instead, I have come to fulfill what is written.

18 What I’m about to tell you is true. Heaven and earth will disappear before the smallest letter disappears from the Law. Not even the smallest mark of a pen will disappear from the Law until everything is completed.

19 Do not ignore even one of the least important commands. And do not teach others to ignore them. If you do, you will be called the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. Instead, practice and teach these commands. Then you will be called important in the kingdom of heaven.

And in John 14:15 Jesus said:

If you love me, keep my commands

So as Christians how are we to live?

There are three types of Law in my opinion

1. The Ceremonial Law

The ceremonial Law was there to remind the people of

God that the Messiah was coming.

The sacrificing of a Lamb was a prefiguring in the Old

Testament of Jesus the Lamb of God coming to this

Earth to atone for or take away our sin.

Since Christ has come and died – Jesus has already

fulfilled the ceremonial law and so we no longer need

to carry it out.

2. The Law of those living in the Land of Israel

There were laws in Israel just for those living in the

Land of Israel.