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; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalms 1:1-2)
As part of an exposition of Psalm 1 on Sunday afternoon, the wonder of the Law of God came up in Pastor Michael Jones' sermon. A lot of Christians kind of spit out the word "Law" like it is some kind of dirty word, something distasteful that has no part or place in a church under grace. Many pastors, even ones that pay lip service to the Law never dare speak it from the pulpit except in contrast to grace. But what do we know of grace outside of the Law? Saved from what, saved by what? Why do we need to be saved anyway? The Law stands as a stark reminder of who God is and who we are and just how far we are from His standard of perfection.The law is not a bunch of capricious, burdensome rules but are a reflection of the very nature of God and His attributes of holiness, justice, mercy, perfection. If God has not changed, then neither have the laws that reflect His nature.
Who should strive to follow God’s commandments and laws more than His people? The idea that as Christians we have been redeemed and therefore have no interest in following the moral laws of God seems backwards. We are not condemned by them but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek to obey them, seeing that they are a reflection of our just and holy God. Too often we saw the Law as something that we are free to ignore and disregard, when we ought instead to be even more in tune with and aware of it. Unlike the unredeemed, His sheep should be the first to strive to keep God's commandments.
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