In the foregoing message we pointed out that we keep the law of God by loving Him. Furthermore, we keep God’s law by becoming one with Him. Such oneness is related to the fact that the law was an engagement paper, a covenant of espousal. God’s goal in giving the law was to make His chosen people one with Him as a wife is one with her husband. The law would then impart God’s substance into them, usher them into God, and unite them with God in life and nature. This union of God with His people in life and nature is portrayed by the type of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:18-24. All this indicates that God’s law can be kept only by those who love God and are one with Him in life, nature, and expression.
The Bible truly is a book of courtship, and our God is a courting God. Some people may disagree with the statement that God is a courting God. But unless we disregard the Bible, we must admit that this is the truth. The Bible clearly reveals that God is courting man.
A number of gospel songs speak of the Lord’s calling, and many preachers say that the believers are a people called by God. This, of course, is true. However, God’s calling of sinners to Himself is His way of courting them. His calling is His courting of His seeking people not only to be saved, but also to be His bride loving Him in an affectionate way.
It is of the Lord’s sovereignty that the Song of Songs is included in the Scriptures. However, some so-called Christians disagree with the inclusion of Song of Songs in the Bible, viewing it as a secular book, not as a sacred one. But in fact Song of Songs is the most sacred of books. In this book the seeker says, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (6:3). If we did not have Song of Songs, we probably could not have such an expression regarding our relationship with the Lord. The hymn “Loved with everlasting love” has a line in the chorus which says, “I am His, and He is mine.” This is a reference to Song of Songs. To say that “I am my beloved’s” does not mean that He is the Master possessing us as His servants. It means that we are His love. This relationship is not that between master and slave, but the affectionate relationship between husband and wife. Song of Songs is the most romantic book ever written. Yet this book is concerned with the loving relationship between God and His chosen people. It presents a portrait of the married life of Christ and those who love Him.
I would remind you that the subject of this message is keeping the law of God by loving Him and His word and becoming one with Him. Keeping the law of God has very much to do with loving Him as a wife loves her husband. We have pointed out repeatedly that in giving the law God was wooing His people. Since the law was given as an engagement contract, we should not try to keep it apart from loving the Lord and being one with Him.
Some Christian teachers think that in the New Testament God has abandoned the law. This is far from the truth. The content of the law along with redemption may be considered an abstract of the entire Bible. Furthermore, concerning God’s law, the content of the New Testament is essentially the same as that of the Ten Commandments. For example, throughout the Bible we are told not to have a god other than the one true God. God is a jealous God, and we should not have any god in addition to Him. Paul refers to God’s jealousy in 2 Corinthians 11:2, where he indicates that we should be a chaste virgin to Christ. The Lord must be our unique Beloved. This is taught not only in the Ten Commandments, but throughout the Scriptures.
The whole Bible teaches that we should not worship idols. This charge is not limited to the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, the entire Bible teaches us to use the name of the Lord properly and never to take it in vain. Once again, this commandment is not limited to the law.
In principle, not even the fourth commandment, concerning keeping the Sabbath, is restricted to the law. Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God’s people were to have a memorial day as a sign that they belonged to the Lord. In the old creation this day was the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. But in the new creation it is the eighth day, the first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection. As those living in the new creation in resurrection, our memorial day is the eighth day, no longer the seventh. Although the day has changed for us in the new creation, the principle has not changed. During the millennium, restored humanity will continue to observe the seventh day (Isa. 66:23). Based upon this fact, the Seventh-Day Adventists argue that believers in this age should continue to observe the Sabbath. However, in the coming millennium the Sabbath will be observed not by God’s regenerated people, but by restored and preserved, yet unregenerated, mankind. Although they will be restored to man’s state at the time of creation, they will not have the divine life in resurrection. Whereas they will be people of the seventh day, we are those of the eighth day. But in either case the Bible teaches that God’s people are to have a particular day as a sign of their separation unto the Lord.
We have seen that the first four commandments are upheld throughout the Scriptures. The same is true of the last six commandments concerning honoring parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness, and not coveting. If we abandon the law, we lay aside the whole Bible.
Although we must not abandon the law, we should be careful not to abuse it, nor to misuse it. Both the law in particular and the Bible as a whole should be used in a proper way. If we try to keep the law without contacting God, we shall abuse it. Likewise, if we approach the Bible without touching the Lord, we shall misuse the Scriptures. The Judaizers made the mistake of trying to fulfill the law without contacting God. Thus, they did not become His counterpart, those who keep His law by loving Him and being one with Him. In principle, many Christians are making the same mistake today. Although they read and study the Bible, they do so without contacting the Lord Himself. While they teach others the knowledge of the Bible, they do not encourage them to contact the Lord in the Word. Therefore, they become today’s Judaizers, abusing and misusing the Word of God.
We in the Lord’s recovery appreciate pray-reading the Word. We do not want to read the Bible without contacting the Lord in a living way. We must beware of reading the Bible apart from praying and touching the Lord. If we contact the Lord in the Word, we shall be one with Him in a practical way in our experience. Then we shall become His counterpart. By loving the Lord as our Beloved and becoming one with Him, even becoming His love, His word will become the life supply to us. The law is the condensation of His word. Whenever we contact the Lord in a direct, intimate way, becoming one with Him, His word supplies us with life. By this life we grow, become His expression, and live in a way which corresponds to what He is. Such a living corresponds to God’s law and to His word. This is the proper way to use the law of God and the Word of God.