Let's live considerate of all our relationships starting with our vertical one -- with the Lord who deeply loves us.
God's Top Ten List (though way different) does kind of remind me of other good rules, some etiquette, or bars of a birdcage (we believers are not really caged but are protected), or even good rules in other arenas of our society. Sure, like in a theater:
1. Refrain from talking. If something must be said, it should be whispered quickly.
2. Use good posture. Slumping in your chair or leaning on your neighbor might block thev iew of those behind you.
3. Remove hats. Ladies may keep their hats on as long as they do not disrupt the vision oft hose behind them in the auditorium.
4. Noises off. Silence cell phones and those flashlights on em, and smart watches too, or any tablet or gadgets sitting there before any performance.
5. Be mindful of the noise some snacks can make. One must refrain from raffling candy boxes ors lurping drinks.
6. Control coughing. Muffle sneezes and coughs with a handkerchief or 5ssue. If a cough isu ncontrollable, exit the auditorium.
7. Dispose of all trash please. If a spill occurs with that ginormous tub of popcorn, help out. Clean up or alert an attendant.
"Teacher (Jesus), which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' And Jesus replied to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others.’ The whole Law and the writings of the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 amp
God is totally pure and the Law reveals this. In the Bible, the Law is basically a reflection of God's righteousness and it exposes man's sin. We live under grace in this age of grace, but God's Law gives us full disclosure (at Mt. Sinai) -- through it comes the knowledge of sin.
The Law refuses to accept best-effort or any efforts as a consolation. Sinners can strive or do some humanly good things (some are philanthropic at times). The Law requires behaviors that are opposite the desires of the human heart, that are totally contrary to the sinner's nature. The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. It is proud and self-indulgent. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The Law exacts from the sinner absolute perfection of performance.. that's equal to the perfect performance of God the Father, Son and Spirit. We can't perform that thus we are under a curse and need Jesus as our Savior.
When we see Jesus the son of God who was led by the Spirit of God, we also Can tell what God the Father is like. We understand that no person of the godhead (eternity) ever violated the Law of God or the Law of Moses. Every other human has.
The law of God regarding the Sabbath day is according to the Old Testament standard and is the only Law among the Ten Commandments that is not repeated in the New Testament.
“We have no business preaching grace to people who do not understand the implications of God's law. It is meaningless to expound on grace to someone who does not know the divine demand for righteousness. Those who do not even sense their own guilt cannot possibly comprehend God's mercy. You cannot preach a gospel of grace to someone who has not heard that God requires obedience and punishes disobedience.” ― John MacArthur
"Sin is the transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4). The Bible says that whoever breaks one law is guilty of breaking all of them (James 2:10). Sin is an intrusion into a forbidden area - an overstepping of the divine boundary between good and evil. The Bible classifies us all as sinners and says that all are under sin (Galatians 3:22)." ~ Billy Graham
Generally speaking, the Law of Moses is the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch or the Torah (which is Hebrew for “law”).
“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deut. 6:8–9
Q: Is there a huge difference between the law of God and the law of Moses?
A: Not really huge, but there indeed is a big difference between accepting the Law of Moses as God’s standard of righteousness for you and I, and making that same law thee means to earning your own salvation, by the work of law-keeping. None can do that. In Romans chapter 3, Paul made it clear that none (no human) could be saved by law-keeping.
When the Apostle Paul refers to the “law” in Romans 7, he is referring to the “Law of Moses” a.k.a. to the commands of God more generally found in the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul loved the “Law of Moses.” Yes he did when it was looked upon as “God's inspired written word” and not as that set of laws that had been twisted around by the Jewish leaders into something they were never meant to be.
Again, is there a huge difference between the “Law of Moses” and the “law of God” as mentioned in Romans 7. Not really huge. The difference really is in how people have looked upon that law of Moses. When they saw it as something one must do (to keep in order to earn salvation and earn God's favor) they missed. Jesus would literally call this “your law”, and they were dead wrong in how they treated it. They saw it as a standard of righteousness they could work for.
Paul would call it, “the law of God” and Jesus kept this law as the perfect Son of God -- our Example and Savior. I'm talking about this law which the Holy Spirit gladly empowers / strengthens us to keep (although we do that imperfectly today, see Romans 8:4). If we view it like this then we view it rightly.
The Law of Moses is also called the Pentateuch (which is Greek for “five books”), but more strictly speaking, the Law of Moses only refers only to the 600-plus commandments and regulations in the second through fifth books of the Jewish Torah.
People often misconstrue the Ten Commandments calling them “the Law of Moses”; of course, God's Top Ten List, the Decalogue is actually the Laws of God. Of course, flawed Moses was the one through whom God gave Israel the law though they are prefect. Our perfect God is the giver of these perfect laws -- He gave us all the other inerrant Scriptures too.
The foundation of the Law of Moses is if course the Ten Commandments which is properly called the law of God (Exodus 20:2–17), and were privately dictated to Moses by God Himself on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 31:18).
Yet the “greatest commandment” from the Law of Moses, as Jesus declared, is Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Jesus said the second greatest commandment was like the first; and it is found in Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
These two are the greatest because “all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40; see also Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8).
When do we initially see the law of Moses? The Bible’s first use of the phrase Law of Moses appears after the death of Moses. The leader Joshua, who was with Moses throughout Israel’s forty years in the desert, had just led the nation of Israel into the Promised Land.
In obedience to one of Moses’ final commands, Joshua had the Law of Moses written on plastered stones (Deuteronomy 27:4–8) and read in its entirety to all the people, both Israelite and alien (Deuteronomy 31:9–13).
Now Bible scholars differ on how much of the law was inscribed and read by Joshua, but most of them agree it was not every word of all five books of the Torah.
Still, a great deal could be written easily enough on plastered stone, as shown by the use of similar techniques in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs.
The Law of Moses is often divided into three broad categories:
1.) The Moral laws, civil (or judicial) laws, and ceremonial laws: Moral laws reflected God’s holy nature, unchanging character. The moral laws included the Ten Commandments.
2.) The Civil laws were regulations on the day-to-day life of the Hebrew people. These laws governed such things as marriage and divorce, sexual conduct, and property rights and set the penalties for various crimes ranging from theft to kidnapping to slander.
3.) The Ceremonial laws related to the manner that the Israelites were to worship God. The ceremonial laws instructed on the proper way to offer sacrifices, perform rituals, and celebrate festivals. The laws governing what was “clean” and “unclean” were in this category.
The Law of Moses was an earthly copy of an eternal, heavenly, unchanging standard of holiness. It gives us a picture of who he really is. Totally righteous end upright -- consistently straightforward instead of shady or fickle.
The Bible says, “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).
Jesus The Fisher of men who came to seek him to save that which was lost..taught the unbending character of the Law of Moses: “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law” (Luke 16:17). God’s law is unchanging because God is unchanging (Psalm 55:19; James 1:17). Jesus Himself kept the law and often referred people to it (see Matthew 5:27–28; 22:37–39; Mark 3:4; Luke 10:25–28; 22:7–8).
The perfection of the Law of Moses is expressed all through Scripture, with the whole of Psalm 119 focusing exclusively on the law. And we see this description of the law in Psalm 19:7–11:
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the judgments of the Lord are true,
being altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them indeed Your servant is warned;
in keeping them is great reward (BSB).
Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses in every respect (Matthew 5:17). With the coming of Christ, the Law of Moses had achieved its purpose (Galatians 3:23–25), and now that Old Covenant of animal sacrifices is replaced by the New Covenant of faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14). “We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6). Praise the Lord, “Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10:4).
My last four posts are on God's Top Ten List. The Law is our tutor leading us to Christ. It came that our understanding of sin would increase (then we can repent). The Law kills, it brings about wrath, but Jesus Christ took that in our place on the Cross so come to Him. He loves and will forgive you. Here and now is good to get right with God.
