How Does God's Law Apply to Me? (Crucial Questions)

by R.C. Sproul

why Christians don’t have a greater appreciation for God’s law.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Jesus viewed His entire life as a mission to fulfill every single point of the law and to achieve perfect obedience to the commandments of God.

Antinomianism is the belief that the law of God—or at least the Old Testament law—is in no way binding or relevant to the Christian life today.

The fundamental problem in our lives is the problem of sin, and sin and evil are both defined in light of the law.

Therefore, there is no law outside of God that imposes obligations upon Him.

The actions of God are always in conformity to the law of God’s own nature and character, which is inherently righteous and eternally holy. All of His actions come forth according to who He is.

This is significant because when we are called to obey the law of God, that means that we are called to obey Him.

And good is defined by His nature; He is not bound to a standard of goodness outside Himself.

it is a law that comes from and reflects His own character.

What is right and what is wrong is not a matter of relativity. Instead, the ultimate standard is the character of God, and this character is manifested in His law.

First, the law functions as a mirror; second, it functions as a restraint; and third, which Calvin saw as the most important, the law functions as a revealer.

We compare ourselves to others, look at human laws, and give ourselves a high score. But once we look into the perfect mirror, once we examine the law of God, we are devastated, because we see the darkness of our sin against the standard of perfect righteousness.

The mirror of the law of God is bad news, but until we look at ourselves in it, we will never understand the goodness of the good news.

If the only reason we obey the law is out of fear of punishment or dread of the consequences, and not because our hearts are inclined to please God, we are no better in the sight of God than the person who, with reckless abandon, violates His standards and His law.

There’s something inherent in our depraved natures such that we take delight in breaking laws just for our own pleasure and amusement.

In reality, idolatry takes place when any attribute of God is stripped from His glory, and we replace the biblical God with a god that we create in our own image. For

Do we look forward to Sunday not because it’s the day we can sleep in and go to the beach, but rather because we get a time of refreshment from normal commerce and can have our souls refreshed by corporate worship and can be in the special presence of our Creator and Redeemer?

Not only must we refrain from bearing false witness against others, but we also need to learn how to respond when we are the victims—by following the example of Christ.

Jealousy reflects a heart that does not trust in God and is not satisfied with the hand of God’s providence.

But even the revelation of our sinfulness that we see in the mirror of the law is mercy and grace, because it has the effect of pointing us to Christ.