MONDAY February 24, 2020
The Law
“Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:19
The Law is broken down into three areas: the Moral Law, the Judicial Law and the Ceremonial law. What is the Moral Law? The Moral Law is written in Exodus 20:1-17, and it addresses people’s moral behavior. God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, but later, the Pharisees added other laws in addition to them and brought God’s people into bondage.
The Judicial Law dealt with the penalties and judgments written in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Ceremony Law related to the offerings––the peace offerings, the sin offerings, and the burnt sacrifices brought to God. Within all these sacrifices and offerings are types, pictures and shadows of Jesus Christ, found in the New Testament. The sacrifices point to the consecration of our lives, and the peace offerings are a picture of the sweet fellowship that we can have with Christ.
The Law of God is holy. We cannot keep the Ten Commandments––no possible way. The Law of God brings us to our knees––to conviction––to Jesus Christ. When we accepted Christ, He forgave us and washed away our sins; we received the grace of God––His unmerited favor. We can come to know Christ and live our lives under the grace of God.
All the way through the Old Testament Scriptures, we see the Law of God, right up to the book of Malachi, which finishes with a curse. Yet, how does the New Testament begin? It begins with Grace. Can you imagine, in the Old Testament if you sinned, you would have had to make a sacrifice. Now if we sin, we can go directly to Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16).
They [people] will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law.
~C. H Spurgeon~
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