My Life and Books (13) God’s Law is Enough

God created humans and all the world, so he knows and understands us perfectly. This puts him in the best place to design laws that work effectively.

For the LORD is our judge,
The LORD is our lawgiver,
The LORD is our king;
It is he who will save us (Isaiah 33:22).

God has infinite wisdom, so his laws will be perfect for us.

Paul understood that the law is a tool for dealing with people who disrupt the peace of society. This is a crucial verse.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers (1 Tim 1:7-9).

The law is used properly when it is used to restrain the evil that harms society. The law is not for the righteous. It is not for Christians. We must understand that the law is for thieves, murderers, adulterers and perjurers who would disrupt the peace and harmony of society. The righteousness of Jesus cannot deal with these people while they are hostile to him. Until they are transformed by the love of Jesus, laws restrain their evil and prevent them from harming other people.

God’s law provides a way of restraining the harm that is caused by people who are willing to harm others. His law is the best for every human society. What could be better for the functioning of society than a set of laws that are holy, just and good (Rom 7:12)? Any other laws will be suboptimal. They will be partly unjust and not always good. Why would any society want to have suboptimal laws? God’s law is the best because he is God.

God’s law is good. He is just and good, so his law is the best basis for a harmonious society. This was an amazing discovery. I was surprised to discover that God has provided the law that every society needs.

Purpose of Law
Going into the land, the people of Israel needed to know how to live together in close proximity with each other. They did not need guidance for living while they were slaves in Egypt because Pharaoh’s taskmasters controlled every aspect of life. The situation would be different once they had a land of their own, with no emperor to control them. Several things should be noted about the guidance that God gave them.

• An executive branch was not established in the Law. This means that there was no one to enforce the laws. Obedience to the law was fully voluntary.

• No legislative assembly was established in the Torah. God provided the laws that his people needed. His laws are better than human laws. He has given us his laws, so we do not need a legislative assembly to create human laws.

• Judges emerged from amongst the people. They were not appointed. They emerged as the people took their cases to the wise people in their midst. Those who did well were eventually recognised as judges.

• Crime - the main problems would be theft and violence. The law provided restitution and exclusion as tools for dealing with these crimes.

• Economic/social issues – God gave Guidance for Economic Life. These guidelines were voluntary. No one had authority to enforce them. They would be fulfilled as an outcome of love.

• Defence – military leaders were temporary, and participation in defence was voluntary.