Class Outline:

Sunday October 30,2022

 

 

 

The law of God is a frequent topic in the psalms.

 

Psa 1, 19, 119 make the law of God the object of thanks, praise, and petition.

 

They reveal to us the blessing of the law. “Your will be done.”

 

PSA 19:7-14

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?

Acquit me of hidden faults.

13 Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I shall be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Thy sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

Just as in Psa 1, in our context the law means the entire revelation from God in the Scriptures. It is the entire salvation act of God and the direction for a new life lived in obedience; something that the old self could not do.

 

ROM 8:5-8

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,  8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

Everyone, at a certain age, even if they are not taught the law of God, knows that there are things they ought to do and other things they ought not to do. How do we view these rules? We figure out that we have to keep some of these rules to be accepted as a part of our society. The rules and customs of different societies differ, but they all have the same basic rules that they inherently know are necessary. Most keep them with a little reluctance, some choose criminality. We all hope, after doing our duty, that we have some time to ourselves that is left over in order to do what we really want. That is the flesh in us all. Here is where our relationship with God comes in. And I do mean relationship (for) -

 

In order to see the law for what it is, we have to love the Lawgiver.

 

Joy in the law, actual joy in knowing and following the commands from God comes from knowing that the benefits of the law are supreme and are not exclusive. Meaning, if you need your soul restored, the law will do so. See again what Psa 19 tells us:

 

God’s law:

Restores the soul.

Makes wise.

Makes happy.

Makes discerning.

 

The law is eternal and righteous. It will never change as God is immutable.

 

Imagine if we had to figure out how to be wise, happy, and discerning on our own, and how to recharge or restore our souls from the sin we all commit. Some would claim that they knew how; all who did claim the truth would have differences; none would know how because only God knows how.

 

Here is one of the great benefits of God’s law… God has not hidden anything from us. Though we struggle with certain commands, we know that there are no secret commands, hidden ways, or encrypted instructions that would make holiness hopeless. There is no anxiety for the believer who knows what he must do, and knows confidently, that the way given is from God in heaven and not a creation of man, and therefore it is flawless, perfect, and if followed, a guarantee of blessing.

 

PRO 12:28

In the way of righteousness is life,

And in its pathway there is no death.

 

PRO 16:17

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;

He who watches his way preserves his life.

 

JER 21:8

Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.”

 

It is grace to know God’s commands. They release us from self-made plans and conflicts. They make our steps certain and our way joyful. If we find them burdensome then we don’t understand them. The solution is to understand. Commandments are the lights on the path that mark it clearly, and along the way is the repeated promise of blessing that bids us to keep going. But even with understanding, we will find our weak areas tempted in a strong way by the flesh, but with the lighted path in sight, we will find strength in the desire not to depart from it. We will find ourselves wanting to know what is around the next corner, which we will not currently see if we get off the path.

 

The way is narrow, which doesn’t make it impossible but does make it exclusive and uncompromising.

 

HEB 10:19-23 tell us that “we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” The Lord has done the work for our complete forgiveness, so that we can “draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Concluding from the finished work of the cross:

 

HEB 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

 

Rather than try and compromise the law of God, the Lord Jesus gives us the desire to follow it fully and perfectly, even though we know, because He tells us, that we will not follow it perfectly all the time. We will sin, but we are forgiven, so we grab hold of God’s law, studying it more deeply for understanding, and desiring it to the point that our prayer, “Your will be done,” is a true and real pursuit.

 

We cannot compromise the law of God. It doesn’t allow any sin, amalgamation with fleshly passions and desires, and when we stray from it we feel the misery and lowliness of fallen living, which is the corruption of the flesh.

 

MAT 7:7-14

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. 9 "Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 "Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 12 "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

 

13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14 "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

 

We so easily stray from the path as sinners, it is important to keep short tabs with God. It is important to get to work on the weaknesses in our souls that are the chief areas of sin. These are the rooms in the soul that we would rather leave alone. They are the scariest rooms, but they are the main reason that joy and wisdom eludes us.

 

PRO 20:27

The spirit [neshamah] of man is the lamp of the Lord,

Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

 

MAT 6:19

“The lamp of the body is the eye;”

 

This neshamah, the breath of God given to us, is the life of God that makes us different from the beasts. In PRO 20:27 it emphasizes our conscience, given to us by God so that we can evaluate our way in light of His law. Jesus called it the lamp of the body, which He said simply, it can either be full of light or darkness.

 

Confession becomes a key aspect of our prayer life. Knowing that we are forgiven, confession makes us sensitive to our thoughts and behavior. We also come to know our areas of weakness, for a lot of our sins are in these areas. It also keeps us humble, never forgetting that the sin which can so easily control us is always lurking under the surface.